AP Govt ch. 16 vocab

News Media

A broad term that includes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, internet sources, blogs, and social media postings that cover important events

Social Media

Forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share ideas, information, personal messages, and other contentA

Agenda setting

The media’s ability to determine which issues are considered important by the public and by politicians are highlighting certain issues or not

Mass media

Sources of information designed to reach a wide audience, including newspapers, radio, television, and internet outlets

Wire service

An organization that gathers news and sells it to other media outlets. The invention of the telegraph in the early 1800s made this type of service possible

Investigative Journalism (muckrakers)

An approach to news-gathering in which reporters dig into stories, often looking for instances of wrongdoing

Broadcast Media

Televison and radio, as compared with print media

Media Consolidation

The trend toward a few large corporations owning most of the media outlets in the country

Partisan Bias in the Media

The slanting of political news coverage in support of a particular political party or ideology

Horse Race Journalism

Coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues

Selective Exposure

The process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own