Chapter 16

News Media

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

Social Media

Forms of electronic communication that enables users to create and share content or to participate in social networking

Agenda Setting

The media’s ability to highlight certain issues and bring them to the attention of the public

Mass Media

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

Wire Service

an organization that gathers and reports on news and then sells the stories to other outlets

investigative journalism

Journalists act as detectives, looking for instances of wrongdoing

Broadcast Media

Outlets for news and other content including radio and television that bring stories directly into people’s homes

The Radio Act of 1927

established the federal radio commission and required broadcasters to obtain a license to broadcast on specific frequencies

media consolidation

the concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations

telecommunications act of 1996

significantly raised the percentage of a national audience a corporation was allowed to reach

partisan bias

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

horse race journalism

coverage of political campaigns that focus more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues