Longman PoliticalScience Interactive

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.,Publishing as Longman

LongmanPoliticalScienceInteractive

Magleby & LightGovernment by the People

Chapter 10

The Media and American Politics

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.,Publishing as Longman Hall

Role of the Internet in the 2008 Presidential Election

The Internet was extremely beneficial to Barack Obama’s campaignBy March 2008, Obama had about 1 million “friends” on MySpace and Facebook“Friends” received invitations to campaign events, links to speeches, and requests for campaign contributionsMusic videos supportive of Obama on YouTubeObama also advertised on Web sites

MASS MEDIAMeans of communication that reach the publicNewspapersMagazinesRadioTV (broadcast, cable, satellite)InternetFilmRecordingsBooksElectronic Communication


NEWS MEDIAMedia that emphasizes the newsHave entertainment value 60 MinutesDatelineColbert ReportTalk shows with Larry King, Oprah Winfrey



NewspapersDaily newspaper circulation has been declining in

the past 30 years, especially among younger persons

USA Today is the nation’s top-circulation newspaper

News organizations are driven by ‘profit motive’

Radio Continues to reach U.S. households & cars (1 in 100

homes do not have a radio) More than 9 out of 10 listen to the radio every week Candidates use radio ads to “microtarget” particular

audiences National Public Radio (NPR) is an important source of

news on the radioRadio personality examples: Rush Limbaugh, Howard

Stern– Americans have access to the news even in the car– Listeners can interact (call-in) on radio show to express

their opinion


The Influence of the Media on Politics: Television

• Until the late 1980s, 90% of the

audiences got their news from the television

• Recent growth of around-the-

clock cable news and information shows (C-SPAN)

Television•Most people in the

U.S. watch some kind of TV news every day

•Most voters rely more on TV

commercials for information about

candidates and issues and less on

news coverage



The Impact of Broadcasting

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to recognize the effectiveness of radio to reach the public


The Impact of Broadcasting

TV added a dramatic visual dimension

Many local stations provide 90 minutes of local news every evening

20/20 and other newsmagazine shows are popular in the primetime evening hours

In 2004, an investigative team at CBS News uncovered and

aired this and other photos of prisoner abuse in Abu

Ghraib. Although the military had been privately

investigating the situation for several months, the actions

of the CBS reporters brought the tragedy into the national

spotlight.


The InternetHas grown to have over 8 billion documents23% of Americans use the Internet is their primary source of news76% of teens get news online51% of teens use Internet everydayCandidates now use the Web for fundraisingThe Internet provides an inexpensive way to communicate with volunteers, contributors, and voters


The Changing Role of the American News Media

First newspaper: Boston News-Letter, April 1704

Avoided controversial issuesRevolutionary War: Press abandoned impartiality and worked to build resistance to British policiesEarly 1800s: Press was used a a mouthpiece for political leaders1833: Advent of the penny press

Price went from an annual subscription fee of $8-$10 to 1 cent a paper, making it affordable for working classExpanded circulation, increased advertising, enabled newspapers to become financially independent

1848, creation of the Associated Press (a group of NY newspapers joined together)

Rather than competing, they would coordinate a concentrated effort to provide readers with wider coverage of important events

Yellow journalismAttempt to use catchy headlines & biased articles to convince people to buy newspapers & create sensation

Centralization of ownership of newspapers in early twentieth century has continued to this day


Media Consolidation

Emergence of large conglomerates owning multiple media outlets

Rupert Murdoch, founder of the FOX network, owns 35 TV stations in the U.S., DirecTV,

20th Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers, MySpace.com, and TV Guide, which has

the largest magazine circulation in the U.S.

As a result of media conglomerates:

News is homogenized (uniform consistency)The same news is found in many different sources

There is a danger that alternative viewpoints will be excluded



Investigatory JournalismSeymour Hersh and

the Pentagon Papers – revealed how US became involved in the Vietnam War

Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein and Watergate –

Spotlight on Nixon & his attempted

burglary of Watergate building

Nina Totenberg (NPR) and Clarence Thomas – Supreme

Court Justice scandal


Regulation of the Media The Federal Communications

Commissions (FCC) is an independent regulatory

commission that oversees TV and radio

licensing, financing, and even content

FCC continues to regulate licensing issues and occasionally fines or

penalizes broadcasters who violate decency

standards

Question:Is the media simply a reflection of society?



Mediated PoliticsThe pervasiveness of the media confers enormous influence on the individuals who determine what we read, hear, and see because they can reach so many people so quicklyMedia has actually taken over the roles of the political parties and interest groups


The Media and Public Opinion

The ability of TV to present images and communicate events has influenced U.S. public opinionExamples:– Civil Rights movement – Vietnam War– Watergate hearings– September 11– Hurricane Katrina

Civil Rights Movement (1950s & 1960s)

Television footage of violence done to black and white protesters during 1950s and 1960s made the issue more real and immediate


Vietnam WarNews coverage galvanized the antiwar movement in the US because of the horrible images news shows brought into people’s homes


Watergate HearingsThe testimony of White House staff before the Senate Watergate and later House Judiciary committees further weakened confidence in the Nixon administration


Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina = coverage of the storm left indelible impressions on all who watched



Political Socialization

Selective Exposure

Audience Fragmentation

Selective Perception

Needs

Factors That Limit Media Influence on Public Opinion

Are the Media Biased?


What conclusions can be made from this bar graph?



What conclusions can be made from this pie chart?

TV News BiasIdeological Agenda Examples: Chris Matthew’s Hardball (MSNBC - liberal); The O’Reilly Factor (Fox News - conservative)Late Night TV Examples: Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, NBC’s Tonight Show

a) superficial coverage, in-depth coverage rare

b) War can look like a video game on TVc) ‘Fake news’ news becomes the ‘real’

newsd) Americans have more choices in news

coverage

Internet Biasa) accessibility of the news

dramatically increasedb) not all internet information is

credible c) increasing digital divide

between young-old, rich-poor, educated-uneducated

Intense Competitiona) Profit motive - strong incentive to investigate

personalities and expose scandal (ex: Election night 2000 prime example of profit motive behind major networks) -strong competition, have to stay one step ahead and can not be behind

b) Sensationalism - “feeding frenzy” i.e. “we like dirty laundry” (death and dirt sell papers and increases TV ratings)

c) Rush to get a story out without properly checking sources or researching it thoroughly


How Media Affects Public Opinion

Issue Framing

The power to set the context, to frame the issue, to interpret the

facts, and potentially to provide legitimacy for

people, issues, or groups are powerful and

controversial functions of the media

Agenda Setting

Deciding what will be decided, defining the

problems and issues to be addressed by decision

makers


The Media and Elections:Choice of Candidates

Presidential candidates welcome invitations to appear with Oprah, Leno, or Letterman, and try to reformulate their messages in a light, comedic style that fits the program

Consistent with the media’s focus on personality is its highlighting of mistakes and gaffes by candidates


Campaign EventsOfficials want to control information about themselves and their policies, including the way such information is framed and presented by the media


Technology

With the Web, citizens now have the opportunity to interact with each

other on a wide range of political

topics


Image Making and Media Consultants

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln as “Abe the Rail

Splitter”

Role of media consultants: Campaign

professionals who provide candidates with

advice and services on media relations,

advertising strategy, and opinion polling

- Give advice on what colors to wear, how to

behave and act on TV

- Use focus groups and public opinion polls to

determine what the candidate says and does

- Media consultants have taken over the role

party politicians formerly played


The Media and Voter Choice

Personality over substance

The horse race

Negative advertising

Information about issues

Making a decision

Election night reporting

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