American National Government POLS 1101

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American National Government POLS 1101

• The Media Politics

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Why is the Media Important?

• The Media Information
• Information permits citizens to
• choose between political candidates
• organize for their own interests
• formulate opinions on the policies and decisions
  of the government

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Media Sources

• Historically
• Print media
• Modern era
• television
• Future
• internet

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History of Media

• Limited Role
• Mass Readership Newspapers
• Electronic Media
• Expansion of the Electronic Media

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Key Media Functions

• Entertainment
• Reporting the news
• Identifying public problems
• Socializing new generations
• Providing a political forum, and
• Making profits

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The Media and Political Campaigns

• Three Key Roles
• Advertising
• Methods of News Coverage Management
• Technical accommodations
• Manipulation of media competition
• Effective planning
• Spin
• Campaign debates
• Favors challengers
• Various styles
• Focus on style
• Image projection
• Opportunity to gain votes

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Campaigns and the Internet

• Increasing source of political information
• Internet strategist
• create and maintain the campaign Web site
• managing the candidate's email communications
• tracking campaign contributions made via the site
  
• Discussion The Internet and Howard Dean

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Media and Voters

• Measuring impact is difficult
• Decided voters
• Undecided voters
• Varied use of media outlets
• Money

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Media and Government

• Influences public policy decisions
• President
• Reciprocal relationship
• Primary Mechanism
• WH Press Corps
• WH Press Secretary
• Public Agenda
• Ongoing process

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The Press and the Government

• The government often attempts to manipulate the
  press and to manage the news by putting a
  favorable "spin" on events.

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Government Regulation of the Media

• Philosophy of Freedom of the Press
• Primary Regulatory Strategies
• Focus on Electronic media
• Ownership
• Content

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Public Access to the Media

• Legal right to access media
• Airwaves are public
• Additional Government Regulation
• Equaltime rule
• Personal attack rule

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Constitutional Issues

• Prior Restraint
• Free Press and Fair Trial
• Confidentiality
• Libel

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Media Bias

• Is there bias in the media?
• Political bias versus self interest
• Supporting the status quo

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Media Importance today

• Are the media important today?
• How
• Present political stories, debates, and issue
  discussion
• Source of political advertisement
• Source of information about America and the world
• Internet Expanding our access to differing
  perspectives on the issues
• Different internal perspectives
• Foreign perspectives on America

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Why is the media important?

• Madison "A people who mean to be their own
  governors must arm themselves with the power
  knowledge gives. A popular government without
  popular information or the means of acquiring it,
  is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or
  perhaps both.

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QUESTIONS?