News Media: The Fourth Estate

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News MediaThe Fourth Estate
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• The largest interest group in the U.S. is the
  American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
  It has about 30 million members, which makes it
  roughly the same size in population as the entire
  nation of Canada, and half again larger than
  Australia.

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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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1) Functions of the Media

• Government Watchdog
• Media monitor the government and report
  wrongdoings to the public.
• Checks the power of the government
• Clarify Electoral Choices
• Reporting on candidates and parties to clarify
  differences.
• Provide Policy Information
• Government should respond to public opinion, but
  public opinion should be well informed.

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1) Functions of the Media

• Government Watchdog

MSNBC September 05
How Bush Blew It Bureaucratic timidity. Bad
phone lines. And a failure of imagination. Why
the government was so slow to respond to
catastrophe.
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1) Functions of the Media

• Clarify Electoral Choices

S.C., Wis., Va. Approve Gay Marriage Ban
Amendments to ban gay marriage won approval
Tuesday in three states including Wisconsin,
where gay-rights activists had nursed hopes of
engineering the first defeat of such a
ban. Nationwide, a total of 205 measures were on
the ballots in 37 states ranging from routine
bond issues to a riveting contest in South
Dakota, where voters chose whether to uphold or
reject a toughest-in-the-nation law that would
ban virtually all abortions. Activists on both
sides of the abortion debate were on edge over
the campaign, and early returns showed a close
contest. If the ban is upheld, abortion-rights
supporters are likely to launch a legal challenge
that could lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
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1) Functions of the Media

• Provide Policy Information

Medicaid Wants Citizenship Proof for Infant Care
Under a new federal policy, children born in the
United States to illegal immigrants with low
incomes will no longer be automatically entitled
to health insurance through Medicaid, Bush
administration officials said Thursday. Doctors
and hospitals said the policy change would make
it more difficult for such infants, who are
United States citizens, to obtain health care
needed in the first year of life. Illegal
immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid but
can get coverage for treatment of emergency
medical conditions, including labor and delivery.
In the past, once a woman received emergency
care under Medicaid for the birth of a baby, the
child was deemed eligible for coverage as well,
and states had to cover the children for one year
from the date of birth. Under the new policy,
an application must be filed for the child, and
the parents must provide documents to prove the
childs citizenship.
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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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2) Evolution of the Media

• Partisan Press
• Penny Press (1830s)
• Yellow Journalism (1890s)
• Objective Press (Post WWI)

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Robert Outcaults The Yellow Kid
http//library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/ye
llow.htm
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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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3) Is There a Liberal Bias in Media?

• Journalists are generally more liberal.
• Little evidence that this influences the News
• Conservative corporate owners
• Make the decisions to hire and fire people
• Candidate endorsements
• Bias like beauty, is in the eye of the
  beholder. Tom Brokaw

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3) Is There a Liberal Bias in Media?

• Prescription
• People seem to choose up sides, especially those
  in the world of communications be it media or
  academia. This is most unfortunate. For
  example, it is hard to find an intelligent
  columnist or commentator whose views or
  conclusions on a particular issue. The public
  needs a calm, intelligent discussion of issues
  where the participants recognize the complexity
  of a topic and help listeners and readers work
  through it.
• (Robert Bresler Media Bias and Culture Wars,
  p. 314)

Jessicas prescription Balance your media
sources!
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Media Consolidation

• Is this a bad thing?
• Interlocking Directorates
• When board members from one corporation overlap
  with other major corporations.

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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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4) Freedoms and Limits of the Press

• Freedoms of the Press
• First Amendment of the US Constitution
• Congress shall make no law abridging the
  freedom... of the press.

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• b) Limits to Freedom of the Press
• Legal
• Libel Laws and Slander
• Obscenity
• Prior Restraint
• Other limits
• Government secrecy
• Government pressure
• Limited access to news stories

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Remember Geraldo Rivera?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military said Monday
that Fox News Channel Correspondent Geraldo
Rivera was being expelled from Iraq for divulging
details of a future military operation.
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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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5) How the News is Reported

• Agenda Setting Theory
• Media can influence what the public considers to
  be important by
• Priming Focusing on certain issues
• Framing Interpretation of stories

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• Priming Bringing some issues to the foreground,
  sending others to the back.
• How do Journalists select the news?
• Conflict
• Proximity
• Timeliness
• Pack Journalism
• Video availability (TV)

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• Framing Interpretation (slant) of stories
• How do Journalists tell the story?
• Though journalists may try to be objective, it is
  easy to slant a story.
• Management makes offers while labor unions
  make demands.
• Framing is inevitable, but should be used
  cautiously (Lakoff).

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• Framing, contd.
• Last nights news!
• CNN 756
• Projections Dems on a roll
• Democrats have picked up seats in the Senate
  and in the House in early results as the party
  attempts to end years of Republican domination in
  Congress, according to CNN projections.
• FOX 756
• 5 GOP Seats Remain Up for Grabs in Senate
• Dems edge closer to controlling House Allen,
  Webb locked in Virginia Senate battle West Coast
  polls close at 11 p.m. ET

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Problems with Media Reporting

• Campaign Trail
• Horse Race Journalism
• Covering Photo Opportunities
• Using Sound Bites
• Reporting campaign election results
• Reporting Leaks

Mark Felt AKA Deep Throat
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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes

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6) New Media / Big Changes

• Newspapers declining
• Rise of Cable TV
• Rise in Talk Radio
• Rapid Growth of the Internet

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Internet Usage
North America has over 331 million people and 69
internet usage
Europe has over 308 million people and 38
internet usage.
Asia holds over 3 billion people and only has 10
internet usage
Africa has over 915 million people and only 3.6
internet usage
www.internetworldstats.com.
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Outline

• Functions of Media
• Evolution of Media
• Liberal bias in media?
• Freedom / Limits of the Press
• How the News is Reported
• New Media / Big Changes