Unit 5: Political Participation (The Media)

1st Amendment

• “Congress shall make no law” abridging freedom of speech → Absolutism → No rights are absolute

• Community vs. individual rights → COVID vaccines

• Sedition: speaking ill of the government

Eugene V. Debs

• Debs spoke out against the war (He was a socialist)

• Was the judge acting on reason or fear when he convicted Debs under the Sedition Act? 

  • Xenophobia

Schenck v. U.S.

• Schenck passed out flyers telling people not to register for the draft

• United States won - Schenck was convicted of violating the Espionage Act 

• The Supreme Court held that this established a clear and present danger (like falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater)

• Established that the 1st Amendment is limited and does not protect speech that creates a clear and present danger

Abrams v. U.S.

• Congress determined that propaganda pamphlets (leaflets that spoke against war material production) posed a clear and present danger to the war effort

• Dissenting opinion → Free speech should not be limited because it will prevent the marketplace of ideas (only good ideas will rise to the top and be accepted by society)

Brandenburg v. Ohio

• Klansmen wanted to overthrow government and gave orders to kill groups of people (this was protected speech!)

• Best thing to do to handle speech is counter it with more speech

• Imminent and Likely Lawless Action (replaces clear and present danger test) → makes it difficult to attach speech to actions (expands free

Gerrymandering

• Purpose: to create non-competitive elections

• Only illegal to gerrymander based on race

Realignment

• Group of democrats votes republican (or vice versa) because of a certain candidate

N.Y. Times v. U.S. (Pentagon Papers Case)

• During Vietnam War

• Pentagon papers were leaked and revealed things that were embarrassing to government that the American people were lied to

  • Government had been giving people false hope

• Ellsburg photocopied every page and gave them to the NY Times to publish

• Prior Restraint: Government stopped the rest of the story from being published

  • Comes with a “heavy presumption against its constitutional validity”, and the government failed to reach this, which is why they couldn’t stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers

• NY Times won

• Court ruled that the government could not stop the press from publishing unless there’s “direct and immediate harm” to national security

  • There was no direct and immediate harm because the papers were published years before

The War in Iraq

• Fought under false pretenses and misconceptions

• President (Bush) → CIA Director (chosen by the President) → Agents who did believe the curveball story/Agents who didn’t believe the curveball story

• Beat Reporter was Judith Miller in this case

• The story that spoke against the curveball story was on the 6th page of the Washington Post (so no one saw it!!)

• Those who did believe the curveball story thought that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction

  • Which is where the Judith Miller got her sources and published them in the NY Times (which is liberal because of the editorial board → but the front page is always fact)

24 Hour news cycle

• Finding stories just to fill the time

• Media blends political news and information with entertainment

Narrowcasting

• Only publishing certain information to target a certain audience

• Ex. FOX narrowcasts to conservatives

• Ex. ESPN narrowcasts to sports fans

The Echo Chamber

• Confirmation bias

• People see media confirming their pre-existing political beliefs

• Causes polarization

Slander vs. Libel (both illegal)

• Slander → spoken false information that could ruin someone’s reputation

• Libel → (think “letters”) written false information that could ruin someone’s reputation

• For both, it must be proven that the person who did these did it knowing the information was false

Linkage Institutions

• Connect the people to the government

• Elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

• Political activists/policy entrepreneurs/whistle blowers try to change policy; they are dependent on the media to get their ideas out

FCC Act of 1934

• Established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate communications by radio, satellite, and cable

• FCC Public Interest Clause: Congress stipulates that in order to receive a broadcast license, a station must serve the public interest

  • Needed because there are a limited number of broadcast slots/stations on radios and TVs

FCC - “decency police”

• Public/broadcast media can not use vulgarity or indecency

• All expression can be limited by time, place, and manner

1941 Media Ownership Rules

• Meant to ensure a “marketplace of ideas” by preventing one media company from owning too many outlets (preventing media monopolies) and creating more competition

1996 Telecommunications Act

• Government deregulation of the media industry by removing ownership limits and boundaries

• Relaxed the 1941 rules and led to the creation of megamedia

Megamedia

• Oligopoly → 5 companies in control

Free Trade

• No tariffs on trading

• Would create less blue-collar jobs and more white-collar jobs (creative destruction)

• Globalization: Free trade around the world

Talking Point

• Something a politician says over and over to get people to believe it

• Essentially propaganda

Outsourcing

• Moving U.S. jobs outside of the U.S. as to not pay the workers as much

N.Y. Times v. Sullivan

• For a public official to win a libel suit, they must prove that the statement was made with “actual malice” (if they knew that what they were saying wasn’t true)

Hustler Magazine v. Farwell

• The First Amendment protects parody and satirity directed at public figures even if the content is offensive

Shield Laws

• Statutes that protect journalists from being legally forced to reveal their confidential sources or unpublished information in court

• Comes from Branzburg v. Hayes ruling 

  • Branzburg was a reporter who refused to testify and disclose the identity of confidential resources in a trial involving drug crimesThe Supreme Court (Justice White) ruled that if there exists a “compelling and paramount interest”, the reporter cannot withhold information (a confidential source)

• No federal shield laws exist

  • Provisions vary from state to state, but most states have a shield law

Net Neutrality vs. Net Competition

• Net Neutrality: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must treat all data equally without blocking or prioritizing certain content

  • No fast and slow lanes (equal access)

  • Gives the federal government more power

• Net Competition: Broader market forces that are argued to prevent ISPs from engaging in anti-competitive practices

  • Fast and slow lanes create media that people have to pay for to have access to

  • How the media is now 

  • Prevents marketplace of ideas

Broadcast Media

• TV, radio, and other electronics

Print Media

• Newspapers, magazines, and journals

Media Event

• Staged event for the media to generate public attention

• Political theater: the idea that politicians use postering and gestures to project an image and compete for power

Sound Bites

• Amount of time per minute given for air time

• Shrinks over time

• Used by the media to convey political messages

“Talking Heads”

• Visual shot of a politician speaking to a camera

Trial Balloon

• Tactic used by politicians or government officials to discreetly release information about public policy through the media to test public reaction

“Horse Race” Journalism

• Type of election coverage that focuses on which candidate is winning or losing instead of their policies or qualifications 

• Tracking only the polls

Policy Entrepreneur

• Advocates for specific policy change

Gatekeeper role of the media

• The media controls which information reaches the public and for how long, so they influence which issues become national political topics

Agenda setting role of the media

• The media influences the public’s perception of the importance of issues by choosing which stories to cover

4th Estate

• The media acts as another branch of government and a check on the other branches

• Watchdog role, investigative journaling, Woodward and Bernstein (exposed Watergate corruption)

2003 FCC Rules on Media Ownership

• Michael Powell (approved mergers because internet still had marketplace of ideas) approved rule changes within the FCC that eased restrictions on media ownership

Hard News

• Factual reporting of serious events and issues

Beat Reporting

• Reporter is assigned to cover a specific topic of issue as to become experts

Fairness Doctrine/Equal Time Rule/Right of Reply Rule

• Fairness Doctrine: Old FCC policy (does not still apply today) requiring broadcasters to cover controversial issues fairly

• Equal Time Rule: Each political candidate should have equal air time

• Right of Reply Rule: Gives individuals the right to respond to attacks made against them on air

1992 Election vs. 2000 Election (regarding the media)

• 1992 Election: Network news coverage = 8 minutes per night (CBS, NBC, ABC) out of their 22 minute airing from 6:30-7

• 2000 Election: Network news coverage = 4 minutes per night

  • Other 4 minutes went to more entertaining subjects rather than illuminating subjects

Clientelism

• American government wants American companies to succeed

• Ex. FCC lets companies merge because they will profit from it