American Politics and the Mass Media I. the Mass Media

8/14/2019 American Politics and the Mass Media I. the Mass Media

1/7

American Politics and the Mass Media

I. The Mass Media TodayA. The American political system has entered a new period of high-tech politics in which

the behavior of citizens and policy makers, as well as the political agenda itself, is

increasingly shaped by technology.B. We have in America what is known as media centered politics this means that themedia dominates campaigns through its coverage of candidates and often causesdisillusionment with the electoral process.

C. The mass media are a key part of that technology. Television, radio, newspapers,magazines, on-line services, and other means of popular communication are called themass media or "the press," because they reach out and profoundly influence not onlythe elites but the masses. Nonetheless, entertainment programming represents theeconomic heart of the television industry.

D. Modern political success depends upon control of the mass media.1. Candidates have learned that one way to guide the media's focus is to limit

what they report to carefully scripted events (which is the most effective wayto manage news coverage) a strategy that both Bush and Clinton usedeffectively in 1992. These events are known as media events, that is, an eventthat is staged primarily for the purpose of being covered.

2. Image making does not stop with the political campaign. It is also a criticalelement in day-to-day governing, since politicians' images in the press areseen as good indicators of their clout. For example, the Reagan administrationwas particularly effective in controlling the president's image as presented bythe media. Reagans press secretary and media consultants would talk onlyabout things that they wanted to talk about, control the flow of information,stay on the offensive, and even rev helicopter engines so the president wouldnot be able to hear reporters and possibly give an unrehearsed answer. Alarge part of today's so-called 30 second presidency (a reference to 30-secondsound bites on TV) is simply a slick produced TV commercial.

3. Critics fear that the media can determine the American political agenda byaiding one candidate while ruining another.

E. The consistent thread running from the drafting of the United States Constitution andthe role of the media in today's society is that the Framers understood the importanceof a free speech in a democratic system.

II. The Development of the Mass MediaA. Broadly defined, "the press" includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, wire

services, and on-line services, among others.B. The daily newspaper is largely a product of the late nineteenth century, while radio and

television have been around only since the first half of the twentieth.C. As a result of the Progressive Era, muckrakers came to the forefront. Muckrakers were

members of the press who wanted to end political corruption of the late 1800s.Ushered in the era of yellow journalism.

D. As recently as the presidency of Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), reporters submitted theirquestions to the president in writing, and he responded in writing (if at all).

E. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) was the first president to use the media effectively.To Roosevelt, the media were a potential ally. and he promised reporters two pressconferences (presidential meetings with reporters) a week.

1. Roosevelt fulfilled his promise and held about one thousand press conferencesin his twelve years in the White House.

2. FDR was the first president to use radio; he broadcast a series of 'firesidechats" to reassure the nation during the Great Depression.


2/7

F. At the time of Roosevelt's administration, the press had not yet started to report on apolitical leader's private life. In his instance, the press never even reported to theAmerican public that the President was confined to a wheelchair.

1. The events of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal soured the presson government. Today's news people work in an environment of cynicism; thepress sees ferreting out the "truth" as their primary job since they believe that

politicians rarely tell the whole story.2. Investigative journalism the use of detective-like reporting methods tounearth scandals pits reporters against political leaders. There is evidencethat TV's fondness for investigative journalism has contributed to greaterpublic cynicism and negativism about politics.

3. The First Amendment gives legal protections to the American media that areunavailable in most other countries. Even in democratic nations like GreatBritain, there is more censorship through government regulation of mediacontent.

G. Scholars distinguish between two kinds of media: the print media, which includenewspapers and magazines, and the broadcast media, which consist of television andradio. Each has reshaped political communication at different points in Americanhistory.

H. The print media1. Newspapers

a. Traditionally, educated people are the ones that read newspapersleading us back to the theory that the educated are the ones that aremore likely to participate.

b. Newspapers are probably the most effective of all forms of mass mediabecause it leaves a MUCH longer impressionbecause sometimes ittakes longer to understand than what is heard on TV or the radio.

c. The first American daily newspaper was printed in Philadelphia in 1783,but daily newspapers did not become common until the technologicaladvances of the mid-nineteenth century. Rapid printing and cheap papermade the "penny press" possible a paper that could be bought for apenny and read at home.

d. By the 1840s, the telegraph permitted a primitive "wire service," whichrelayed news stories from city to city faster than ever before. TheAssociated Press, founded in 1849, depended heavily on this newtechnology.

e. Two newspaper magnates, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst,enlivened journalism around the turn of the century. This was the era ofyellow journalism, where the main topics were sensationalized accountsof violence, corruption, wars, and gossip. The term yellow journalism isused to describe sensational news reporting.

f. Newspapers consolidated into chains during the early part of thetwentieth century. Today's massive media conglomerates controlnewspapers with 78 percent of the nation's daily circulation; thesechains often control television and radio stations as well.

g. Among the most influential newspapers today are The New York Times

(a cut above most newspapers in its influence and impact almost fromthe beginning), The Washington Post (perhaps the best coverage insideWashington), and papers from a few major cities (The Chicago Tribune,

The Los Angeles Times, and others). For most newspapers in medium-sized and small towns, the main source of national and world news is theAssociated Press wire service.

2. Magazinesa. The political content of leading magazines is pretty slim. Newsweeklies

such as Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report rank well


3/7

behind popular favorites such as Reader's Digest, TV Guide, and NationalGeographic.

b. Serious magazines of political news and opinion (such as the NewRepublic, the National Review, and Commentary) are primarily read bythe educated elite.

c. While you have already been advised that the United States Supreme

Court has banned the concept of "prior restraint," the government issuedan order restraining Progressive Magazine from publishing an article onhow the hydrogen bomb works.

I. The broadcast mediaa. The broadcast media have gradually displaced the print media as

Americans' principal source of news and information.i. Radio was invented in 1903; the first modern commercial radio

station was Pittsburgh's KDKA, whose first broadcast was of the1920 Harding-Cox presidential election returns.

ii. As a form of technology, television is almost as old as radio; thefirst television station appeared in 1931.

b. The 1950s and 1960s were the adolescent years for American television.i. The first televised presidential debate was the 1960

Kennedy/Nixon debate. The poll results from this debate illustratethe visual power of television in American politics: whereaspeople listening to the radio gave the edge to Nixon, those whosaw it on television thought Kennedy won.

ii. President Kennedy was the first to hold a live, televisedpresidential news conference.

iii. Television took the nation to the war in Vietnam during the1960s, and TV exposed governmental misinformation (some saidit was outright lying) about the progress of the war. President

Johnson soon had two wars on his hands, one in Vietnam and theother at home with antiwar protesters both covered in detail bythe media.

c. Today, the average American watches about 21 hours of television everyweek.

d. With the growth of cable TV, particularly the Cable News Network (CNN),television has entered a new era of bringing news to people (and topolitical leaders) as it happens. It has been shown that, particularly as aresult of the Persian Gulf War, in a foreign policy crisis news stationssuch as CNN brings the news faster to Washington than thegovernments secure communications channels. One of the mostcommon types of television show is the magazine-style news program,such a 60-Minutes, 20-20, and Prime Time Live.

e. Since 1963, surveys have consistently shown that more people rely onTV for the news than any other medium; and by a regular two-to-onemargin, people think television reports are more believable thannewspaper stories.

f. CBS, NBC, ABC and the FOX Network all represent the four leadingtelevision positions in the industry.

g. Another trend associated with the growth of cable TV and the Internet isthe development of narrowcasting, where broadcast stations targetparticularly narrow audiences.

h. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 required manufacturers to includea "v-chip" in most new television sets. The chip was designed to allowparents to block programs that they do not want their children to view.

III. Reporting the NewsA. Defining news


4/7

1. News reporting is a business in America in which profits shape how journalistsdefine what is newsworthy, where they get their information, and how theypresent it.

2. Some important characteristics of the TV news business result from the natureof the viewing audience.

a. In their pursuit of high ratings, news shows are tailored to a fairly low

level of audience sophistication.b. To a large extent, TV networks define news as what is entertaining to theaverage viewer.

B. Finding the news1. A surprising amount of news comes from well-established sources. Most news

organizations assign their best reporters to particular beats specificlocations where news frequently emanates from, such as Congress.

a. Numerous studies of both the electronic and print media have found thatjournalists rely almost exclusively on such established sources to gettheir studies.

b. Those who make the news depend on the media to spread certaininformation and ideas to the general public (sometimes via stories fed toreporters in the form of trial balloons information leaked to see whatthe political reaction will be).

c. In turn, reporters rely on public officials to keep them informed. Officialsources who have the information (such as knowledge about movementsduring the Persian Gulf War) usually have the upper hand over thosewho merely report it.

d. Very little of the news is generated by spontaneous events or areporter's own analysis. Most stories are drawn from situations overwhich newsmakers have substantial control.

2. Despite this dependence on familiar sources, reporters occasionally have anopportunity to live up to the image of the "crusading truth seeker."

a. Local reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of The WashingtonPost uncovered important evidence in the Watergate case. This is THEBENCHMARK OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMmeaning that mostinvestigative journalists strive to do what Woodward and Bernstein didwith Nixon.

b. Columnists like Jack Anderson regularly expose government corruptionand inefficiency.

3. The Watergate scandal signaled a new era in the relationship betweenjournalists and politicians. Journalists began to assume that politicians hadsomething to hide, and politicians assumed that reporters were out toembarrass them.

C. Presenting the news1. If you had to pick one word to describe most news coverage by the print and

broadcast media, it would be superficial.2. Once the news has been "found," it has to be compressed into a 30-second

news segment or fit in among the advertisements in a newspaper.3. Oftentimes, politicians will create what is known as a symbiotic relationship

with the media.a. sometimes, they will provide inside information to the press in order to

receive good press coverage.b. an adversarial relationship is one in which the two parties are constantly

fighting.4. TV news is little more than a headline service. With exceptions like the Jim

Lehrer News Hour (PBS) and Nightline (ABC), analysis of news events rarelylasts more than a minute. At the same time, complex issues like nuclear


5/7

power, the nation's money supply, and pollution are difficult to treat in ashort news clip.

5. Paradoxically, as technology has enabled the media to pass along informationwith greater speed, news coverage has become less complete. Americans nowhear sound bites of fifteen seconds or less on TV.

6. When the television news media covers political candidates, they tend to

focus on a few specific things.a. where the candidates appearedb. how big the crowd wasc. sound bites from the speechd. photo opportunities scheduled by the candidate

D. Bias in the news1. The charge that the media have a liberal bias has become a familiar one in

American politics, and there is some limited evidence to support it.a. Reporters are more likely to call themselves liberal than the general

public, and a 1992 survey of 1400 journalists found that 44 percentidentified themselves as Democrats compared to 16 percent who saidthey were Republicans.

b. However, there is little reason to believe that journalists' personalattitudes sway their reporting of the news. Most stories are presented ina "point/counterpoint" format in which two opposing points of view arepresented.

c. **** Nonetheless, surveys and polls show that an individual with liberalviews will have those view reinforced with continued exposure topolitical news in the media.

2. The news is typically characterized by political neutrality:a. Most reporters strongly believe in journalistic objectivity.b. Those who are best at objective reporting are usually rewarded by their

editors.c. Media outlets have a direct financial stake in attracting viewers and

subscribers. This is known as commercial bias.i. Creating news for everyone, not just a specific group.ii. Usually results in less coverage of important issues

3. A conclusion that news reporting contains little explicit partisan or ideologicalbias is not to argue that it does not distort reality in its coverage.

a. Ideally, the news should mirror reality. In practice, there are too manypotential stories for this to be the case.

b. Journalists must select which stories to cover and to what degree. Due toeconomic pressures, the media are biased in favor of stories with highdrama that will attract people's interest (rather than extended analysesof complex issues).

c. Television is particularly biased toward stories that generate goodpictures; seeing a talking head (a shot of a person's face talking directlyto the camera) is boring, and viewers will switch channels in search ofmore interesting visual stimulation.

IV. The News and Public Opinion

A. Overall, the media aims to develop stories for the masses, not for one particular groupof Americanssomething to which everyone can relate.

B. It is difficult to study the effects of the news media on people's opinions and behavior.One reason is that it is hard to separate the media from other influences. In addition,the effect of one news story on public opinion may be negligible, while the cumulativeeffect of dozens of news stories may be quite important.

C. There is evidence that the news and its presentation are important in shaping publicopinion about political issues.

1. The decision to cover or to ignore certain issues can affect public opinion.


6/7

2. By focusing public attention on specific problems, the media influence thecriteria by which the public evaluates political leaders.

3. There is also some evidence that peoples opinions shift with the tone of thenews coverage. Popular presidents prompt the public to support policies, butthe most powerful influence is that of news commentators on public opinionchange.

4. The media has a massive amount of influence over helping decide whatproblems the government will address.D. Much remains unknown about the effects of the media and the news on American

political behavior. Enough is known, however, to conclude that the media are a keypolitical institution.

V. The Medias Agenda-Setting FunctionA. People are trying to influence the government's policy agenda when they confront

government officials with problems they expect them to solve. (CHAPTER 1)1. Interest groups, political parties, politicians (including the president and

Congress), public relations firms, and bureaucratic agencies are all pushing fortheir priorities to take precedence over others.

2. The power of political parties has actually declined on the national level duethe rise of the media.

3. Political activists (often called policy entrepreneurs people who invest theirpolitical "capital" in an issue) depend heavily upon the media to get theirideas placed high on the governmental agenda.

a. Policy entrepreneurs' weapons include press releases, pressconferences, letter writing, buttonholing reporters and columnists, andtrading on personal contacts.

b. People in power can also use a leak, a carefully placed bit of insideinformation that is given to a friendly reporter.

B. The staging of political events to attract media attention is a political art form.1. Important political events (such as Nixon's famous trip to China) are

orchestrated minute by minute with an eye on American TV audiences.2. It is not only the elites who have successfully used the media. Civil Rights

groups in the 1960s relied heavily on the media to tell their stories of unjusttreatment. Many believe that the introduction of television helped toaccelerate the movement by graphically showing Americans (in both Northand South) what the situation was.

3. Conveying a long-term, positive image via the media is more important than afew dramatic events. Policy entrepreneurs depend on goodwill and goodimages. Public relations firms may be hired to improve a group's (orindividual's) image and their ability to sell their policy positions.

VI. Understanding the Mass MediaA. The media are so crucial in today's society that they are often referred to as the "fourth

branch of government" (a description that has also been applied to other institutionssuch as the bureaucracy).

1. The media act as key linkage institution between the people and thepolicymakers.

2. The media have a profound impact on the political policy agenda.

B. The media and the scope of government1. The watchdog function of the media helps to keep government small.

a. Many observers feel that the press is biased against whoever holds officeand that reporters want to expose them in the media. With every newproposal being met with skepticism, regular constraints are placed onthe growth of government.

b. The watchdog orientation of the press can be characterized as neitherliberal nor conservative, but reformist.


7/7

2. When they focus on injustice in society, the media inevitably encourage thegrowth of government.

a. Once the media identify a problem in society, reporters usually begin toask what the government is doing about the problem.

b. The media portray government as responsible for handling almost everymajor problem.

C. Individualism and the media1. The rise of television has furthered individualism in the American politicalprocess.

a. Candidates are now much more capable of running for office on theirown by appealing to people directly through television.

b. Congress is difficult to cover on television because there are 535members, but there is only one president, so the presidency hasincreasingly received more exposure vis-a-vis the Congress, as aninstitution. Members of the judicial branch, as a general rule, tend toshun the media.

D. Democracy and the media1. The rise of the "information society" and the "information highway" has not

brought about the rise of the "informed society."a. The media do a much better job of covering the "horse race" aspects of

politics than of covering substantive issues.b. With the media's superficial treatment of important policy issues, it is

not surprising that the incredible amount of information available toAmericans today has not visibly increased their political awareness orparticipation.

2. The media's defense is to say that this is what the people want. Networkexecutives claim that they are in business to make a profit, and to do so theyhave to appeal to the maximum number of people.

VII. Criticisms of the Mass MediaA. Can often define the campaign rather than the candidateB. Too many negative advertisementsC. Too much emphasis on pollingD. Newspapers use big wordsE. Talk radio is far too conservative.

Documents

American Politics and the Mass Media I. the Mass Media