AP Gov Chapter 7: The Media

What does the FCC do?

- instituted rules to limit the number of stations owned (eliminate near monopolies broadcast market)
- conducts periodic exams of goals/performance of stations
- if a station sells advertising time to one candidate, it must be willing to sell the same amount to time to another

High-tech politics

A politics in which the behaviors of citizens and policymakers, and the political agenda itself, are increasingly shaped y technology

How does investigative journalism put reporters in adverse positions?

they pit themselves against political leaders and contribute to the public cynicism and negativity towards politics

examples of liberal network narrowcasts

MSNBC, CNN

chains

groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over 4/5 of the nation's daily newspaper circulation

what has happened with the length of news throughout the years

length has shortened and become very superficial with barely any focus on the politics itself

example of media affect public perception on specific events

misstatements pointed out by press can alter credibility and competence of politicians

policy agenda

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and people related to gov or gov officials

Mass media

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, and other means of popular communication

What does mass media do?

Reach and profoundly influence elites and the masses

Media events

events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant jus because the media are there (tightly scripted appearances for candidates)

What are media events supposed to seem like?

SPONTANEOUS

What percentage of campaign funds are spent on TV ads and what type of ads are made?

60%; 2/3 are negative towards opponent

Press conferences

meeting of public officials with reporters
-FDR started these

How did FDR use press conferences?

used wrath to warn reporters off material he didn't want to cover & chastised reports he deemed inaccurate
* personal and health coverage were off limits

How did Hoover view press conferences in comparison?

Opp: didn't want to be interrogated like a chicken thief

Investigative journalism

the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes at times putting reporters in adverbial relationships with political leaders

How has news coverage on presidents become more negative?

1. emphasis of the campaign: the what rather than why
what = candidates policies
why = campaign is horse race

Two kinds of media

print & electronic

Print media

newspapers and magazines
- has def reshaped political media/comms

Electronic media

Television, radio, and the Internet
- may also reshape political media/comms but unknown

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

initially created to regulate airwave sue but now has other purposes like regulating radio, TV, telephone, cable, and satellite

narrowcasting

media programming on cable TV or the internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience in contrast to broadcasting

examples of networks that broadcast

ABC, NBC, CBS

examples of conservative network narrowcasts

FOX

infotainment shows

entertainment shows that wrap news coverage into their media and make politics more appealing

common criticism of cable news

cable news fails to systematically cover political events and issues bc their resources are far from up to the task -- they provide little substantive info

outrage discourse

involves the efforts to provoke a visceral response from the audience, in form of fear, anger, or moral righteousness through the use of overgeneralization, sensationalism, misleading or patently inaccurate info, ad hominem attacks, and partial truths about opponents

most common outrage discourse

mockery/sarcasm, misrep exaggeration, name calling, insulting language

selective exposure

the process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own and avoid sources that provide discordant info

positive of selective exposure

new, ideologically tinged presentation stimulates political involvement and helps clarify what's at stake in political decisions

negative of selective exposure

has turned off people and created public generalized distrust of the media and made ideological compromise more difficult

common criticism of media

shows too much of ppl yelling at each other and sensationalize stories that break rather than real quality journalism

main impact of internet in politics

facilitating more communication between journalists, politicians, interest groups and organizers, and the public

Internet impact on campaigns

helps with political mobilization through posting info and communicating with supporters

Internet impact on blogs

have given a small group of education, professional, and technical elites new influence in US politics but have done far less to amplify citizen voice

what is journalism in the US regarding organization

a big, capitalist business

what drives American journalism and what gets published

profits drive what is newsworthy, where journalists get their info, and how they present itagn

results of narrowcasting

motivate people to get involved, clarify policy issues, can make people more disgusted and disconnected towards politics, general distrust of media

penny press

papers sold advertising so they became indecent of political sponsorship

how did Hamilton/Jefferson view newspapers

as a mouthpiece of political parties

Gov't Printing Office (GPO)

a permanent federal agency to print gov publications

Associated Press Wire Service (AP)

edit, gather, sell, and share news beyond their perspective cities
- they sell their stories to various newspapers (also Reuters and United Press Intl sell)

yellow journalism

news was distasted and fabricated by editors seeking to sell papers' no professional credibility

muckrakers

age of investigatory and objective journalism began with Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair

Functions of Press

Watchdog, gatekeeper, scorekeeper, agenda setting

Watchdog

investigative reporting

Scorekeeper

media tracks political successes and failures (Horse race journalism)

Gatekeeper

determining what is newsworthy and therefore deciding what info the public will receive

Agenda setting

determines the important stories

beats

specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. Most top reporters work on a particular beat, becoming specialists ins hat goes on at that location

trial balloons

intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing the political reaction

symbiotic relationship between politicians and journalists

politicians rely on journalists to get their message out; journalists rely on politicians to keep them in the know

two major aspects of current media regarding what is being shown and done

transparency through combat footage and investigative reporting to impact gov conduct

sound bites

short clips of ~10 seconds typically showing politician's speech on nightly news
purpose: to hook the viewer

media fails to focus on politicians' speeches, campaign, ads, and websites filled with detailed policy info; instead they focus on what

the horse race, shortchanged matters of substance, and thhe most negative aspects of the campaign trail

what types of media shows importance of appearance over policy

photo ops, sound bites, personal info

what is the deal with bias in the media

- reporters lean liberal
- editors lean conservative
- media is not biased even tho some may say it is liberal

what is the overriding bias in media

bias to stories that will get the largest audience

talking head

a shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera because they are visually unstimulating so networks show them for a long time

minimal effects hypothesis

doubts that the the effects of media greatly influence voting: instead it affects what they think about not how they vote (frames the issue)

consequences of agenda setting

1. the media influences criteria the public uses evaluate political leaders (since it increases pubic attention to specific problems)
2. media can have a dramatic effect on how the public evaluates specific events by emphasizing one event over others

policy entrepreneurs

people who invest their political capital in an issue

Who can policy entrepreneurs be?

interest groups, politicians, people in or out of gov, elected or appointed, research orgs

What do policy entrepreneurs do

they use press releases, press conferences, emails; convincing reporters to tell their side; trading personal contacts; staging dramatic events (pr stunts)

what is better than gaining media control/coverage of a few dramatic events

maintaining long term positive image