The Media

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The Media

• Chapter 6

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(No Transcript)
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The Future of the Media

• The printed daily newspaper as we know it in
  decline
• More and more people access news and information
  via the Internet
• Important questions
• Is democratic accountability threatened by the
  loss of newspapers?
• Is web-based journalism democratizing?

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People, Government, and Communications

• Mass communication transmits information to large
  audiences
• Mass media do the communicating
• Print media
• Broadcast media
• Media has important role
• Information from government to citizens
• Information from citizens to government

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The Development of Mass Media in the United
States

• Print and broadcast media primary means to convey
  political messages
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Television
• Internet
• And sometimes, music and film

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Newspapers

• First U.S. newspapers not really mass media
• Number of newspapers published has declined over
  time
• Most cities and towns have only one traditional
  daily newspaper

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Figure 6.2Audiences of Selected Media Sources
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Magazines

• More specialized news than daily newspapers
• Can influence attentive policy elites
• Two-step flow of information then influences mass
  opinion
• However, circulation also has declined

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Radio

• Regular radio broadcasting began as local
  broadcasts in 1920
• Coast-to-coast broadcasts first heard in 1937
• More than 13,000 licensed stations today
• Audiences continue to grow
• News and talk radio popular

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Television

• First major broadcasts in 1940 color and
  coast-to-coast broadcasts in 1951
• In 2009, U.S. had over 1,300 commercial and 300
  public television stations
• Around 99 percent of homes have TV
• TV has biggest news audience after Internet

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Television
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The Internet

• Began in 1969 as connection between four
  universities (ARPANET)
• Later networks linked in 1983, creating Internet
• Used mainly for e-mail among researchers
• World Wide Web (WWW) created in 1991 by European
  physicists
• Over 70 percent of Americans use Internet

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The Internet

• Majority of government agencies and political
  organizations have websites
• Private citizens operate websites and blogs on
  politics and public affairs
• Rapid way to transmit information and mobilize
  public opinion
• Major stories starting to originate on blogs
  many authors consider selves journalists

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Compared With What?
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Private Ownership of the Media

• In U.S., private ownership of media taken for
  granted
• China has Internet police to prevent subversive
  content
• In some countries, print media privately owned
  but broadcast media run by government
• U.S. has only about 300 public TV stations and
  400 public radio stations

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Private Ownership of the Media
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The Consequences of Private Ownership

• Private media ownership means more political
  freedom, but also dependence on advertising
  revenues
• When looking at overall coverage, media functions
  more for entertainment than news
• Criteria for newsworthiness is audience appeal

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Figure 6.3Getting the News Consider the Source
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Market-Driven Journalism

• Larger audiences earn higher advertising rates
• Outside agency determines market share of shows
  for broadcast media
• So, news broadcasts and commercials are targeted
  for viewing audiences, both national and local
• Major news organizations like CBS, ABC, and NBC
  are part of larger corporations
• Must make a profit

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The Concentration of Private Ownership

• Media owners increase profit by increasing
  audiences or purchasing other publications or
  stations
• Rupert Murdochs News Corporation owns Fox, the
  Wall Street Journal, and MySpace
• Some analysts concerned about control of news by
  only a few owners
• Propose non-profit newspapers

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Government Regulation of Media

• Although privately owned, mass media regulated by
  government
• Broadcast media more regulated than print media
• Technical regulations
• Ownership regulations
• Content regulations

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Technical and Ownership Regulations

• Federal Radio Act (1927) first licensed radio
  stations to impose order on frequency allocation
  process
• Federal Communications Act of 1934 established
  Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• An independent regulatory commission
• Today regulates radio, TV, telephone, telegraph,
  cable, and satellite
• Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated many
  rules and regulations

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Politics of Global Change
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Regulation of Content

• The First Amendment prohibits Congress from
  abridging freedom of the press
• Federal courts have decided many cases defining
  how far freedom of the press extends in various
  areas
• Most news allowed, except for strategic
  information during wartime
• FCC initially designed to ensure radio and TV
  served the public interest
• Fairness doctrine and equal opportunity rule

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Regulation of Content

• Fairness doctrine repealed in 1987
• U.S. Court of Appeals struck down rules
  regulating political endorsements and personal
  attacks in broadcast media
• Print media not subject to restrictions
• Some advocate deregulation of broadcast media

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Functions of the Mass Media for the Political
System

• Reporting the news
• Interpreting the news
• Influencing citizens opinions
• Setting the agenda for government action
• Socializing citizens about politics

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Reporting the News

• News media reports on important political events
  with journalists on location
• Washington, D.C. has largest press corps
• Media relationships with president controlled by
  the Office of the Press Secretary
• Opportunities include news conferences, press
  releases, background information, off the
  record comments, and photo opportunities

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Reporting on Congress

• Must be accredited to sit in press galleries
• Most news comes from press releases and
  congressional reports
• Sometimes have leaks of information
• Live coverage of Congress and its committees not
  common until House allowed broadcasts in 1979
• Senate broadcasts started in 1986
• C-SPAN feeds to 90 percent of cable systems
  across the country

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Interpreting and Presenting the News

• Media executives, news editors, and reporters
  function as gatekeepers of news flow and validity
• Personification makes news more understandable
• Rise of Internet has made more views available
• More information available, but no gatekeepers to
  check validity of content

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Media Coverage of Elections

• Personification of political news encourages
  horse race journalism
• Most Americans want more coverage of issues
• Changing poll numbers and media events
  considered more newsworthy

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Where the Public Gets Its News

• Newspaper most important source until 1960s, then
  TV
• Today, 65 percent of Americans name TV or cable
  news networks as primary news source
• Newspapers 14 percent
• Internet 11 percent
• Multiple sources used by many, including
  late-night talk shows

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What People Remember and Know

• Although 80 percent of public access news media
  each day, most retain little
• National survey in 2009 found respondents could
  only answer five of 12 questions about current
  events correctly
• Those who rely on TV retain less than those who
  read print media
• Some media researchers believe TV is behind low
  level of citizen knowledge about public affairs

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Figure 6.5Gagging on Late-Night TV
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Influencing Public Opinion

• Difficult to measure extent of medias influence
  on public opinion
• Does the media create public opinion by its
  reporting of events?
• Studies on specific areas, such as pretrial
  coverage of serious criminal cases, show
  significant influence

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Setting the Political Agenda

• Most scholars see medias greatest influence in
  its ability to identify issues needing government
  attention
• Media can force government to address unpopular
  or unknown issues
• Some issues, such as crime, disproportionately
  covered
• Public also influences media coverage

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Setting the Political Agenda

• Politicians eager to influence media coverage
• Public opinion
• Opinions of attentive elites
• Presidents sometimes go public to advance a
  political agenda

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Setting the Political Agenda
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Socializing the Citizenry

• Young people politically socialized via medias
  entertainment function
• Media reinforces dominance of existing culture
  and order
• Today, messages about government very different
  than in past
• Media has contradictory roles in process of
  political socialization

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Evaluating the Media in Government

• Some believe news filtered through ideologies of
  media owners, editors, and reporters
• Reporters tend to be liberal (32) rather than
  conservative (8)
• Editors and owners more conservative
• Talk radio dominated by conservatives

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Figure 6.6Partisanship and the Credibility of
the News
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Evaluating the Media in Government

• In general, incumbents receive more news coverage
  than challengers
• Political bias in coverage depends on the party
  in power
• Media may also be biased in the way news stories
  reported

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Contributions to Democracy

• Most political communications from government to
  citizens through media
• News reporters tend to be critical of
  politicians, serving watchdog function
• Media polls enable reporting of public opinion on
  major issues
• Necessary for majoritarian model of government

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Effects on Freedom, Order, and Equality

• Media has played important role in advancing
  equality
• Media coverage of civil rights movement critical
  to its success
• However, media resists government efforts to use
  it to promote public order
• What is balance between free press and national
  security?