AP Gov Unit 5 sec. 3 part 1

High-Tech Politics

behavior of citizens and policymakers, as well as the political agenda itself, is shaped by technology

Mass Media

reach out and profoundly influence not only the elites but the masses via means of popular communication

Political Success

depends on control of mass media to effectively communicate a message, to guide media's focus, candidates must limit what they report on, image making is part of day-to-day work

Media Events

staged primarily for the purpose of being covered

30 Second Presidency

refers to 30 second sound bits/commercials on television, can cause the public to miss the context, too quick

Free Press

essential part of democracy, uninhibited institution that places an additional check on government to maintain honesty, ethics, and transparency; shapes how people engage with government and how government acts in return

How did mass media start?

daily newspaper as first form of MASS media in late 19th century, radio and television in the first half of the 20th century

FDR and the Media

extensively used media to speak to American people, promised 2 press conferences a week, presidential meetings with reporters (became staple of presidency), press did not report on political leaders' private lives

Vietname and Watergate Scandal

make press sour on government, gave rise to cynicism and doubt in government, press filters out the truth since politicians rarely tell the whole story

Investigative Journalism

use of detective-like reporting methods to unearth scandals/corruption, pits reporters against political leaders, contributes to greater public cynicism and negativism about politics

Print Media

first form of mass media

Newspapers

big companies are most influential, decline in these since the rise of televised news, those who read these are more politically informed and more likely to vote

Associated Press Wire Service

news bureaus around world that pool resources and share stories nationwide to prevent hiring more journalists, lead to no local connections to national news, created to keep medium/small city news in existence

Magazines

political content is slim, serious ones of political news and opinion are primarily read by the educated elite, include online versions that may have a more editorial slant (ideological partisan bias)

Broadcast Media

includes radio and TV broadcast networks/affiliates (local stations), gradually replaced print media as main source of news and information due to visual power (can see it, not just listen), took the nation to war in Vietnam and exposed progress (or lack thereof) which led to war in Vietnam and at home with anti-war protesters

Government Regulation of Media

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates use of airwaves in broadcast media, rules to limit number of stations owned by one company, conducts periodic examinations of goals/performance of stations, issued fair treatment rules concerning access to airwaves for political candidates and officeholders

Fair Treatment Rules

equal time for all candidates to purchase ads, equal amount of free non-news coverage for all candidates

Cable News Channels

brings news to people as it happens, 24-hour news cycle began, criticized for lack of deep news value and in-depth reporting, little substantive news (same sensational stories repeat), more commentary than factual news, gave rise to "infotainment"

Ideological Focused News

designed to appeal to a group of voters, helps acquire profit as a business

Narrowcasting

stations target narrow audiences, more ideologically charged, leads to selective exposure

Selective Exposure

people tend to choose info sources with similar points of view to their own and avoid discordant information

Impact of the Internet

just because it's available doesn't mean people take advantage of opportunities to become well informed, skewed toward the educated, same news but in a different format, subtle impact (may encourage sensationalism, sloppy reporting, errors and corrections), blogs can promote activists and bias

Impact of the Internet on Campaigns

ability to post information and communicate with supporters has helped political mobilization

Private Control of the Media

big business, independent in content (separate from business side), dependent on advertising revenue (cannot exist without this which cannot exist without viewers), major newspapers owned by chains which dilutes local coverage

Social Media

primary vehicle for many Americans to consume news, news outlets use this to promote their reporting, consumers produce citizen-journalism by posting on-the-scene videos (often without broader context; do not present everything), use to organize news-worthy events

News

business in America in which profits shape how journalists decide what is newsworthy, where they get their information and how they present it, TV networks define this as what is entertaining to the view, whatever is timely/different

Types of Media Coverage

political reporting, political commentary, political analysis

Political Reporting

standard "just the facts" stories