Chapter8TheMedia.pptxChapter 8: The Media
American National Government
PL-102
Instructor Walter Pearn
Chapter Objectives
Explain what the media are and how they are organized.
Describe the main functions of the media in a free society.
Compare different media formats and their respective audiences.
Discuss the history of major media formats.
Chapter Objectives
Compare important changes in media types over time.
Explain how citizens learn political information from the media.
Identify circumstances in which the freedom of the press is not absolute.
Compare the ways in which the government oversees and influences media programming.
Chapter Objectives
Identify forms of bias that exist in news coverage and ways the media can present biased coverage.
Explain how the media cover politics and issues.
Evaluate the impact of the media on politics and policymaking.
Media
The term media defines a number of different communication formats from television media, which share information through broadcast airwaves, to print media, which rely on printed documents.
Mass media is the collection of all forms of media that communicate information to the general public.
Includes television, print, radio, and Internet.
Public Relations,
Is communication carried out to improve the image of companies, organizations, or candidates for office.
A public relations spokesperson is paid to help an individual or organization get positive press.
Public relations materials normally appear as press releases or paid advertisements in newspapers and other media outlets.
Media
Journalists and reporters are responsible for uncovering news stories by keeping an eye on areas of public interest, like politics, business, and sports.
Once a journalist has a lead or a possible idea for a story, he or she researches background information and interviews people to create a complete and balanced account.
Editors work in the background of the newsroom, assigning stories, approving articles or packages, and editing content for accuracy and clarity.
Television
Television alone offers viewers a variety of formats.
Although most programs are created by a television production company, national networks—like CBS or NBC—purchase the rights to programs they distribute to local stations across the United States.
Cable
Before the existence of cable and fiber optics, networks needed to own local affiliates to have access to the local station’s transmission towers.
Towers have a limited radius, so each network needed an affiliate in each major city to reach viewers.
While cable technology has lessened networks’ dependence on aerial signals, some viewers still use antennas and receivers to view programming broadcast from local towers.
Cable
The Cable News Network (CNN) was the first news station to take advantage of this specialized format, creating a 24-hour news station with live coverage and interview programs.
Other news stations quickly followed, such as MSNBC and FOX News.
A viewer might tune in to Nickelodeon and catch family programs and movies or watch ESPN to catch up with the latest baseball or basketball scores. The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, known better as C-SPAN, now has three channels covering Congress, the president, the courts, and matters of public interest.
Internet news
Unfortunately, the proliferation of online news has also increased the amount of poorly written material with little editorial oversight, and readers must be cautious when reading Internet news sources.
Sites like Buzzfeed allow members to post articles without review by an editorial board, leading to articles of varied quality and accuracy.
The Internet has also made publication speed a consideration for professional journalists. No news outlet wants to be the last to break a story, and the rush to publication often leads to typographical and factual errors.
Even large news outlets, like the Associated Press, have published articles with errors in their haste to get a story out.
Social Media
Allows users to instantly communicate with one another and share with audiences that can grow exponentially.
Facebook and Twitter have millions of daily users.
Social media changes more rapidly than the other media formats.
While people in many different age groups use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, other sites like Snapchat and Yik Yak appeal mostly to younger users.
Tumblr and Reddit facilitate discussion that is topic-based and controversial, while Instagram is mostly social.
Who controls the media
Most media are controlled by a limited number of conglomerates.
A conglomerate is a corporation made up of a number of companies, organizations, and media networks.
In the 1980s, more than fifty companies owned the majority of television and radio stations and networks.
By 2011, six conglomerates controlled most of the broadcast media in the United States: CBS Corporation, Comcast, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox (formerly News Corporation), Viacom, and The Walt Disney Company.
The Walt Disney Company, for example, owns the ABC Television Network, ESPN, A&E, and Lifetime, in addition to the Disney Channel. Viacom owns BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and VH1. Time Warner owns Cartoon Network, CNN, HBO, and TNT, among others. While each of these networks has its own programming, in the end, the conglomerate can make a policy that affects all stations and programming under its control.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE MEDIA
The media also engages in agenda setting, which is the act of choosing which issues or topics deserve public discussion.
For example, in the early 1980s, famine in Ethiopia drew worldwide attention, which resulted in increased charitable giving to the country.
Today, numerous examples of agenda setting show how important the media are when trying to prevent further emergencies or humanitarian crises.
The Media as Agenda Setter
Part of the media’s task is to identify the current public issues that warrant government action, that is, what government should be doing.
By bringing such issues to the attention of the public through news coverage, the media can influence the processes of government, sometimes forcing the government to address issues it might otherwise ignore by mobilizing public opinion around a key issue.
For example, much attention was focused on rising gas prices in summer 2008 when prices topped four dollars per gallon, but when prices dropped several months later, coverage of oil dependence disappeared, and public interest in the issue waned.
PRINT MEDIA
Party press era, in which partisanship and political party loyalty dominated the choice of editorial content.
Papers began printing party propaganda and messages, even publicly attacking political leaders like George Washington.
Despite the antagonism of the press, Washington and several other founders felt that freedom of the press was important for creating an informed electorate. Indeed, freedom of the press is enshrined in the Bill of Rights in the first amendment.
Print Media
Between 1830 and 1860, machines and manufacturing made the production of newspapers faster and less expensive.
Benjamin Day’s paper, the New York Sun, used technology like the linotype machine to mass-produce papers
Media
Readers wanted to be entertained. Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World gave them what they wanted. The tabloid-style paper included editorial pages, cartoons, and pictures, while the front-page news was sensational and scandalous. This style of coverage became known as yellow journalism.
In 1896, Adolph Ochs purchased the New York Times with the goal of creating a dignified newspaper that would provide readers with important news about the economy, politics, and the world rather than gossip and comics.
The New York Times brought back the informational model, which exhibits impartiality and accuracy and promotes transparency in government and politics. With the arrival of the Progressive Era, the media began muckraking: the writing and publishing of news coverage that exposed corrupt business and government practices.
The Media as Investigator
Since it is impossible for the public to keep track of government officials, they rely on the media to keep tabs on them.
During the late nineteenth century, journalists who exposed the corrupt workings of government and industry were called muckrakers.
Although this term is no longer used, investigative reporters still attempt to uncover corruption.
The Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 and the impeachment of Bill Clinton are prime examples of the media’s investigator role and its ability to influence politics.
President Clinton
President Nixon
Digital Paywall
The rise of free news blogs, such as the Huffington Post, have made it difficult for newspapers to force readers to purchase online subscriptions to access material they place behind a digital paywall.
Some local newspapers, in an effort to stay visible and profitable, have turned to social media, like Facebook and Twitter. Stories can be posted and retweeted, allowing readers to comment and forward material.
RADIO
Radio news made its appearance in the 1920s.
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) began running sponsored news programs and radio dramas.
Comedy programs, such as Amos ’n’ Andy, The Adventures of Gracie, and Easy Aces, also became popular during the 1930s, as listeners were trying to find humor during the Depression.
Talk shows, religious shows, and educational programs followed, and by the late 1930s, game shows and quiz shows were added to the airwaves. Almost 83 percent of households had a radio by 1940, and most tuned in regularly.27
Radio
As radio listenership grew, politicians realized that the medium offered a way to reach the public in a personal manner.
Warren Harding was the first president to regularly give speeches over the radio.
President Herbert Hoover used radio as well, mainly to announce government programs on aid and unemployment relief.
Franklin D. Roosevelt became famous for harnessing the political power of radio. On entering office in March 1933, President Roosevelt needed to quiet public fears about the economy and prevent people from removing their money from the banks. He delivered his first radio speech eight days after assuming the presidency:
TELEVISION
Television combined the best attributes of radio and pictures and changed media forever.
The first official broadcast in the United States was President Franklin Roosevelt’s speech at the opening of the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.
CBS reported on World War II events and included pictures and maps that enhanced the news for viewers.
By the 1950s, the price of television sets had dropped, more televisions stations were being created, and advertisers were buying up spots.
As on the radio, quiz shows, and games dominated the television airwaves. But when Edward R. Murrow made the move to television in 1951 with his news show See It Now, television journalism gained its foothold.
As television programming expanded, more channels were added. Networks such as ABC, CBS, and NBC began nightly newscasts, and local stations and affiliates followed suit.
MEDIA AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The approval of the First Amendment, as a part of the Bill of Rights, demonstrated the framers’ belief that a free and vital press was important enough to protect. It said:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Slander and Libel
First, the media do not have the right to commit slander, speak false information with an intent to harm a person or entity, or libel, print false information with an intent to harm a person or entity.
These acts constitute defamation of character that can cause a loss of reputation and income.
The media do not have the right to free speech in cases of libel and slander because the information is known to be false. Yet on a weekly basis, newspapers and magazines print stories that are negative and harmful. How can they do this and not be sued?
Slander and Libel
First, libel and slander occur only in cases where false information is presented as fact.
When editors or columnists write opinions, they are protected from many of the libel and slander provisions because they are not claiming their statements are facts.
Second, it is up to the defamed individual or company to bring a lawsuit against the media outlet, and the courts have different standards depending on whether the claimant is a private or public figure.
Slander and Libel
A public figure must show that the publisher or broadcaster acted in “reckless disregard” when submitting information as truth or that the author’s intent was malicious.
This test goes back to the New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) case, in which a police commissioner in Alabama sued over inaccurate statements in a newspaper advertisement.
Because the commissioner was a public figure, the U.S. Supreme Court applied a stringent test of malice to determine whether the advertisement was libel; the court deemed it was not.
Classified Material
The media have only a limited right to publish material the government says is classified.
If a newspaper or media outlet obtains classified material, or if a journalist is witness to information that is classified, the government may request certain material be redacted or removed from the article.
In many instances, government officials and former employees give journalists classified paperwork in an effort to bring public awareness to a problem.
If the journalist calls the White House or Pentagon for quotations on a classified topic, the president may order the newspaper to stop publication in the interest of national security. The courts are then asked to rule on what is censored and what can be printed.
Prior restraint
The Supreme Court ruled that while the government can impose prior restraint on the media, meaning the government can prevent the publication of information, that right is very limited.
The court gave the newspapers the right to publish much of the study, but revelation of troop movements and the names of undercover operatives are some of the few approved reasons for which the government can stop publication or reporting.
MEDIA AND FCC REGULATIONS
The liberties enjoyed by newspapers are overseen by the U.S. court system, while television and radio broadcasters are monitored by both the courts and a government regulatory commission.
The Radio Act of 1927 was the first attempt by Congress to regulate broadcast materials.
The Communications Act of 1934 replaced the Radio Act and created a more powerful entity to monitor the airwaves—a seven-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee both radio and telephone communication.
Fairness Doctrine
According to someone involved in the case, the FCC declined to intervene after a complaint was filed on the matter, saying the equal-time rule applied only to the actual candidates, and that the case was an instance of the now-dead fairness doctrine.
The fairness doctrine was instituted in 1949 and required licensed stations to cover controversial issues in a balanced manner by providing listeners with information about all perspectives on any controversial issue.
If one candidate, cause, or supporter was given an opportunity to reach the viewers or listeners, the other side was to be given a chance to present its side as well.
The fairness doctrine ended in the 1980s, after a succession of court cases led to its repeal by the FCC in 1987, with stations and critics arguing the doctrine limited debate of controversial topics and placed the government in the role of editor.
Indecency Regulations
The FCC also maintains indecency regulations over television, radio, and other broadcasters, which limit indecent material and keep the public airwaves free of obscene material.
While the Supreme Court has declined to define obscenity, it is identified using a test outlined in Miller v. California (1973).
Under the Miller test, obscenity is something that appeals to deviants, breaks local or state laws, and lacks value.
The Supreme Court determined that the presence of children in the audience trumped the right of broadcasters to air obscene and profane programming. However, broadcasters can show indecent programming or air profane language between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The Media and Elections
Journalists tend to focus on elections as a horse race rather than on the issues and policies being discussed in a campaign.
Incumbents receive more coverage than challengers. More time is devoted to presidential campaigns than to nonpresidential campaigns.
The increasing importance of electronic media like television instead of newspapers has helped to shape the nature of the election cycle.
Indeed, a key feature of contemporary political campaigns is the sound bite, reflecting a greater emphasis on brief messages and catchy phrases rather than detailed policy prescriptions.
The Question of Media Bias
Both liberals and conservatives accuse the news media of being biased against them.
Conservatives argue that the media are more supportive of liberal causes.
Liberals argue that the media are controlled by large corporations with a bias toward conservative social and economic positions.
Both assertions contain an element of truth. Further, a study released in August 2009 concluded that the American public is increasing distrustful of the accuracy of the news presented in the media.
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