Sources of Media Influence on Politics

1
Sources of Media Influence on Politics

• Television
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Internet

2
Factors that Limit Media Influence

• Political socialization
• Selective exposure
• Selective perception
• Recall and comprehension
• Audience fragmentation

3
Impact of Media on Public Opinion

• Agenda setting
• Issue framing

4
How the Media Affects Elections

• Choice of candidates
• Campaign events
• Technology
• Media consultants

5
How the Media Affects Voter Choice

• Media frames campaigns as horse races focusing
  on the the game of politics as opposed to the
  issues.
• Political advertising has become increasingly
  negative.
• The emergence of civic journalism
• The media seems to have greater influence on
  undecided voters.
• Election night reporting is rife with problem

6
Rules Governing the Media

• FCC
• Libel/Slander
• New York Times v. Sullivan
• Prior Restraint
• Near v. Minnesota
• Privacy
• Right of Reply
• Confidentiality of Sources
• Fairness Doctrine
• Equal Time Requirement
• Campaign Finance Reform
• New York Times v. U.S.

7
Jobs of the Media

• Gatekeeper
• Scorekeeper
• Watchdog

8
Types of Stories

• Routine
• Selected
• Insider

9
Adversarial Press
10
Media Bias

• Liberal?
• Conservative?

11
Free Expression

• Valuable because of the function it performs in
  checking the abuse of official power.
• Vietnam
• Watergate
• Iran Contra
• Iraq War?

12
By Passing The Media

• 1992 1994 candidates tried to by pass
  traditional news media and to communicate
  directly to the public. Use of electronic media.
• 1992 Perot Clinton
• 1994 Gingrich
• Video tapes, teleconferencing, talk shows,
  infomercials,

13
Relationships

• The Press and the President
• The Press and Congress
• The Press and the Courts

14
2000 Election

• Gore v. Bush
• How did the media cover the primaries
• How did the media cover the general election
  election
• Problems
• Solutions