7 Pump Primer List the various types of mass media in today’s society. Which media outlet do you believe is the most effective? Explain your answer

7Pump Primer

List the various types of mass media in today’s society.

Which media outlet do you believe is the most effective? Explain your answer.

7Mass Media and the Political Agenda

7Biblical Integration

Being informed politically is a part of being a good steward.

It also enables a Christian to protect the civil liberties God has granted Americans.

Video: The Big Picture

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Edwards_Ch07_Mass_Media_and_the_Political_Agenda_Seg1_v2.html

7

7Learning Objectives

Describe how American politicians choreograph their messages through the mass media

Outline the key developments in the history of mass media and American politics

7.1

7.2


List the major criteria that determine which news stories receive the most media attention

Analyze the impact the media has on what policy issues Americans think about

7.3

7.4


Explain how policy entrepreneurs employ media strategies to influence the public agenda

Assess the impact of the mass media on the scope of government and democracy in America

7.5

7.6

Video: “Constructing Public Opinion”

7

“Constructing Public Opinion” Google Videos. 2006. Web. 2 Sept. 2010 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3332036626702728686#

Video: The Basics

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg2_Media_v2.html

7

Mass Media Today

Controlling the political agenda

Media events Carefully staged Reaches the masses Sound bites

30-second presidency

Commercials 60% of presidential campaign budget Nearly always negative

Image-making

7.1

Image: Politicians often stage activities primarily for the benefit of TV cameras

7.1

Politicians often stage activities primarily for the benefit of TV cameras. The sight of a major presidential candidate walking the streets asking ordinary people for their support is something that the media will find hard to pass up.

7.1 How do politicians control their public image?

a. Penning articles for Op-Ed pages

b. Informal Q&A sessions with journalists

c. Tightly-scripted media events

d. Frequent visits to talk shows

7.1

a. Penning articles for Op-Ed pages

b. Informal Q&A sessions with journalists

c. Tightly-scripted media events

d. Frequent visits to talk shows

7.17.1 How do politicians control their public image?

Development of Media Politics

Print Media

Emergence of Radio and Television

7.2

White House dunk tank 7.2

The White House press secretary battles daily with the press corps. Correspondents try to get ever more information, while the president’s spokesperson tries to control the news agenda and spin stories in the administration’s favor.

Symbolizing this conflict, President Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs offered to give members of the press a chance to dunk him in a tank at the annual White House luau one year.

Development of Media Politics

Government Regulation of Electronic Media

From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: Rise of Cable and Cable News

Impact of the Internet

Private Control of the Media

7.2

Print Media

Newspapers and a free press

Newspaper readers better informed Yet, circulation declines

Online news How to make money?

– Public unwilling to pay – Doesn’t generate the same advertising revenue

Magazines Suffering same fate

7.2

Emergence of Radio and Television Radio - 1930s

– Fire-side Chats – Roosevelt– Yellow journalism

• Turn of the century• Sensationalized accounts of violence, corruption, wars, and gossip

Television – post-WWII– Kennedy–Nixon Debate (1960)– Harder to hide or mislead public

• Investigative journalism

7.2

Emergence of Radio and Television

Cable television – 1980s

• Network news broadcasts declined

Internet – 1990s

End of the golden age of network news

7.2

Video:“Press Secretary Grilled Over White House Photographer Access” YouTube.com 12 Dec 2013. ABC News. Web. 15 Jul 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWIdcTCi8Zw

7.2

Video: In Context


7.2

Government Regulation of Electronic Media

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 1934 Limits monopolies Stations must serve public interest Fair treatment rule

If a station sells advertising time to one candidate, it must be willing to sell equal time to other candidates for the same office

Right-of-reply rule If a person is attacked on a broadcast other than the news,

then that person has a right to reply via the same station Fairness doctrine abolished

7.2

From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: Rise of Cable and Cable News A general audience no more

Changing usage patterns Infotainment

Blend of information and entertainment

• Narrowcasting - target particularly narrow audiences • Breaking news• “Talk radio on television” (cable news)

Incredibly weak Simplistic, repetitive, lacks substance, is poorly researched and

written, and ignores many important topics.

7.2

Leno talks with Romney 7.2

With so many channels to choose from in the narrowcasting age, major politicians often agree to interviews on entertainment shows in order to reach people who don’t watch the news. Here, Mitt Romney can be seen chatting with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show.

From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: Rise of Cable and Cable News A general audience no more

Breaking news – reported as it is happening Politicians have less control over how the situation is covered

“Talk radio on television” News coverage is incredibly weak, especially on cable news

“Outrage discourse” Generated to attract attention from viewers Using sensationalism, personal attacks, misleading information or

even lies

Selective exposure today’s viewers choose programming that is in line with their own

political views MSNBC – more liberal Fox – more conservative

7.2

From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: Rise of Cable and Cable News

A general audience no more From prestige to profit

The focus on profit, not prestige, reduces efforts toward quality journalism.

7.2

FIGURE 7.1: How the audiences of cable news channels have polarized into rival partisan camps

7.2

Impact of the Internet

Information at your fingertips• Internet is purposive – people choose what to learn

about• Pop culture over politics

Facilitating communications• Potential to inform Americans about politics

– Meetup and Facebook

Blogs• Provide additional information about news stories

7.2

TABLE 7.1: Top 25 Lycos searches for the week of the first 2008 presidential debate

7.2

Every week, the search engine Lycos lists the search terms that its users have most frequently keyed in to look for information on the Internet.

Here you can find the top 25 searches for the week ending September 30, 2008—the week of the first Obama–McCain presidential debate.

Political bloggers

7.2

Blogs are playing an increasingly important role in the reporting of political news. In 2005, 23-year-old Garrett Graff, who was writing a blog about the news media in Washington, became the first person to receive a White House press pass for the specific purpose of writing a blog. Here, bloggers cover a candidate’s speech during the 2012 presidential primary campaign.

Private Control of the Media

Private v. public ownership Private more common in U.S. Public more common abroad Freedom of the press varies

Profit orientation Advertising revenue Decline of foreign news reporting

7.2

7.2 Watching only news programs that reflect the viewer’s politics is called

a. Selective exposure

b. Narrowcasting

c. Infotainment

d. High-tech politics

7.2

7.2 Watching only news programs that reflect the viewer’s politics is called

a. Selective exposure

b. Narrowcasting

c. Infotainment

d. High-tech politics

7.2

Explore the Media: Where Do You Get Your Political News?

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/long/long_edwards_mpslgia_16/pex/pex7.html

7.2

Reporting the News

Finding the News

Presenting the News

Bias in the News

7.3

Finding the News Beats

• Specific locations where news frequently emanates Congress

Trial balloons

• Politicians feed information to the media to gauge public reaction

Symbiotic relationship

• Journalists rely on politicians and vice-versa Pulitzer Prize winning journalism

7.3

Presenting the News

Skimming off the cream 10-second sound bites Complex policy issues ignored Politicians can’t present issues Politicians can avoid issues

Presidents rebuffed Shunted to cable

7.3

“How to Be a TV News Reporter : How Sound Bites Are Used in TV News” YouTube.com. 10 Feb 2008. Web. 14 Jul 2014.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMC7BCsLqa0

7.3

Bias in the News

Do the media have a liberal bias?• Do the media have a liberal bias?

• Studies have shown no systematic bias

“If it bleeds, it leads”• Visual stimulation: no talking heads• Entertaining, not informative• Public is drawn to stories that involve

conflict, violence, disaster, or scandal

7.3

Clip: “Political Chief Admits Liberal Media Bias”

7.3

TABLE 7.2: Stories citizens have tuned in and tuned out

7.3

7.3 Why do news outlets seek to entertain rather than educate?a. They do try to educate, but they aren’t

successful at it.

b. They are motivated by profit.

c. They believe education is the job of schools.

d. They understand that it is the best way to present complex issues.

7.3

7.3 Why do news outlets seek to entertain rather than educate?a. They do try to educate, but they aren’t

successful at it.

b. They are motivated by profit.

c. They believe education is the job of schools.

d. They understand that it is the best way to present complex issues.

7.3

Explore the Simulation: You Are the Newspaper Editor

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/long/long_longman_media_1/2013_mpsl_sim/simulation.html?simulaURL=15

7.3

News and Public Opinion

How influential are the media?Difficult to measure

• Key political institution

Agenda-setting effects Sets criteria by which public evaluates leaders Emphasizes one event over another Focuses on misstatements

7.4

Video: “Beck Media Miss Rally’s Message”

7.4

Video: Thinking Like a Political Scientist


7.4

7.4 In what area are the media most influential?

a. Agenda-setting

b. Voting choices

c. Approval rating of officials

d. All of the above

7.4

a. Agenda-setting

b. Voting choices

c. Approval rating of officials

d. All of the above

7.4 In what area are the media most influential?

7.4

Policy Entrepreneurs and Agenda Setting

Policy agenda Many issues compete for attention from

government Interest groups, parties, politicians, agencies,

all push their priorities

Policy entrepreneurs Political activists depend upon the media

Policy entrepreneurs—people who invest their political “capital” in an issue

Protests attract coverage

7.5

7.5 What is one way for an interest group to gain media coverage?a. Write letters to politicians

b. Send out requests for donations

c. Stage a protest

d. Set up a meeting with a public official

7.5

7.5 What is one way for an interest group to gain media coverage?a. Write letters to politicians

b. Send out requests for donations

c. Stage a protest

d. Set up a meeting with a public official

7.5

Understanding the Mass Media

Media and the Scope of Government

Individualism and the Media

Democracy and the Media

7.6

Video: In the Real World


7.6

Media and the Scope of Government Media as watchdog

Press criticism does more good than harm Reporters hold negative views of public officials Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)

Media as skeptic Constrains government Focus on injustices enlarges government

Linkage institutions Links people and the policymakers Profound impact on the political policy agenda

7.6

Clip: “Bob and Jerry: Public Servant, or Privileged

Class?” CAGW.com 26 Sep 2012. Web, 14 Jul 2014. http://cagw.org/content/watch-video

7.6

Individualism and the Media

TV furthers individualism No need for intermediaries

“up close and personal”

Candidates can reach individual voters

TV focuses on individuals Personality important than substance for political

candidates Focus on executive branch than legislative or judicial

7.6

Democracy and the Media

“Information is the fuel of democracy” But more info does not equal more competence

Superficial by demand Media responds to criticism Motive = profit Public appetite shapes choices

7.6

a. Televising a campaign speech

b. Reporting about an abuse of power

c. Criticizing a politician’s wife

d. Polling citizens on an issue

7.6 What is an example of the media as watchdog?

7.6

a. Televising a campaign speech

b. Reporting about an abuse of power

c. Criticizing a politician’s wife

d. Polling citizens on an issue

7.6 What is an example of the media as watchdog?

7.6

How has the development of electronic media changed the relationship between political officials and the public?

Overall, are these changes for the better or are they detrimental to our political system?

What are some specific pros and cons of media coverage of political events?

Discussion Question 7

Video: So What?

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Edwards_Ch07_Mass_Media_and_the_Political_Agenda_Seg6_v2.html

7

Video CitationBeck Media Miss Rally’s Message” YouTube.com. 30 Aug 2010 Web. 14 Jul. 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5BLoN_0c1E

Bob and Jerry: Public Servant, or Privileged Class? CAGW.com 26 Sep 2012. Web, 14 Jul 2014. http://cagw.org/content/watch-video

Constructing Public Opinion” Google Videos. 2006. Web. 2 Sept. 2010 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3332036626702728686#How to Be a TV News Reporter : How Sound Bites Are Used in TV News” YouTube.com. 10 Feb 2008. Web. 14 Jul 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMC7BCsLqa0

Press Secretary Grilled Over White House Photographer Access” YouTube.com 12 Dec 2013. ABC News. Web. 15 Jul 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWIdcTCi8Zw

Political Chief Admits Liberal Media Bias” YiuTube.com 26 Oct 2006. Web. 14 Jul 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSFYNyZmaX0

7

Documents

7 Pump Primer List the various types of mass media in today’s society. Which media outlet do you believe is the most effective? Explain your answer