THE MASS MEDIA

1
THE MASS MEDIA ELECTIONS

• Magruders American Government
• Chapter 8-3

2
What effect does the media have?

• Click here for a clip!
• What happened to Howard Dean as a result of this
  speech?

3
Television

• It is estimated that the candidates in this
  years election will spend 3 billion on TV
  advertising before November 4th.
• It is estimated than 100 million Americans watch
  political debates (about the same as the
  Superbowl)
• Which candidates are favored by TV?

4
Need a hint?

• Click here for a clip!
• Who do you think this favors?
• There are LOTS more of these from Stephen Colbert
  on You Tube!!

5
Radio

• Radio was once thought to be replaced by TV, but
  its numbers have grown despite TV.
• Radio is portablepeople can listen at home, in
  their cars, over the Internet
• The average person hears 20 hours of radio per
  week. Even pop stations have brief news
  broadcasts.
• In the 1930s and 40s, people gathered around the
  radio in the evenings to listen.

6
Radio contd.

• Click here for a clip!
• What about radio continues to be appealing, even
  in the TV age?
• Do candidates still use radio?
• What will happen to this medium in the iPod Age?

7
Magazines

• There are magazines that appeal to all different
  types of people.
• What magazines do you read? Your parents?
  Friends?
• Why are magazines useful for political
  campaigning?

8
Magazine Covers!
9
Newspapers

• Thomas Jefferson once said, were it left to me
  to decide whether we should have a government
  without newspapers or newspapers without a
  government, I should not hesitate a moment to
  prefer the latter.
• What does this mean?
• Today, there are more than 10,000 newspapers
  published in the USA.
• But, in most cities, there is only one daily
  paper.

10
Newspapers, Contd.

• The nations most influential papers
• New York Times
• Washington Post
• Chicago Tribune
• LA Times
• Wall Street Journal
• USA Today
• Christian Science Monitor

11
Newspapers, Contd.

• Do papers tend to favor a liberal candidate, like
  television does?
• To examine this further, we will look at some
  examples of newspaper articles.