Unit III: Elections, Campaigns, and THE MEDIA

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Unit III Elections, Campaigns, and THE MEDIA
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What are the roles of the media in the political
system and the impact of the media on public
affairs?
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Free Press an uninhibited institution that
places an additional check on the govt to
maintain honesty, ethics, and transparency
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History Defining the Media-Government
Relationship

• JFK
• First to use the power of tv to his advantage
• JFK v. Nixon debate is turning point for
  campaigns tv dominates
• 1st live press conferences
• Assassination became largest tv event

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History Defining the Media-Government
Relationship

• Adversarial Press A press that skeptically
  questions govt action
• Vietnam
• 1960 10 American journalists were assigned to
  Vietnam
• 1968 500 full time correspondents representing
  print, TV, and radio

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History Defining the Media-Government
Relationship

• Adversarial Press cont
• Cronkite and Vietnam
• We have been too often disappointed by the
  optimism of American leaders, both in Vietnam and
  Washington, to have faith any longer in the
  silver linings they find in the darkest clouds.
• LBJ if Ive lost Cronkite, Ive lost America
• LBJ refused to seek reelection
• Watergate
• Trust that had existed btw
• the Nixon White House and the
• Washington Press Corps vanished

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The Roles of the Media

• Gatekeeper decides what is newsworthy when they
  present events or focus on certain issues

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The Roles of the Media
Scorekeeper judges or allows the public to judge
successes and failures of govt officials,
businesses, and celebrities

• Campaign season horserace journalism
• Reporters emphasize public opinion polls bc it is
  the only data that changes from day to day
• Presidential polling
• George W. Bushs approval rating dropped after
  reporting of his handling of Hurricane Katrina

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The Roles of the Media
Watchdog exposes action, or inaction, that
public officials or leaders might prefer to keep
hidden
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• When a local TV station broadcasts a report of
  the mayor embezzling public money, the media has
  served the function of
• Scorekeeper
• Watchdog
• Gatekeeper
• Disseminator
• Regulator
• (B) Watchdog

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
regulates the use of the airwaves. Since its
creation, the FCC has

• Licensed stations
• Assured EQUAL TIME to political candidates
• Helped facilitate noncommercial broadcasts
• Prevented rigged game shows
• Assured decency on radio and TV
• Prevent near monopoly control of market

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Narrowcasting media programming on cable TV or
Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed
at a particular audience, e.g., C-SPAN, ESPN

• Fox News
• Roger Ailes
• Bill OReilly
• Sean Hannity

• CNN and MSNBC
• Chris Matthews
• Lawrence ODonnell

The narrowcasting trend has blurred the line
between news and commentary. Many American
viewers are merely confirming their already
biased notions.
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• 1848
• Telegraph lines to send and receive information
• Writing for a national audience and so many
  different client newspapers, the AP departed from
  partisan preferences and standardized its
  unbiased reporting to gain and keep customers.

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The Media (Mostly) Are Private Corporations Who
Want to Make Profits
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• Presenting the News
• Superficial describes most news coverage today.
• Sound Bites short video clips of approximately
  10 seconds
• Major TV networks devote less time to covering
  political candidates