Chapter 12: The Media
GOVERNMENT AND THE NEWS
-Every government agency and public official spends a lot of time trying to shape public opinion. Any politician or agency that fails to cultivate public opinions will find itself weak, without allies, and in trouble. PROMINENCE OF THE PRESIDENT: -Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to raise the systematic cultivation of the press to an art form. -He said he would give inside stories to friendly reporters and withhold them from hostile ones. Every day he did something newsworthy. He created a special room for reporters in the White House. -Franklin Roosevelt institutionalized this system and made his press secretary a major instrument for cultivating and managing as well as informing the press. -Today the press secretary heads a large staff that meets with reporters, briefs the president on questions he will be asked, and attempts to control the flow of news from cabinet departments to the press. -No other nation in the world has brought the press so close to the head of its government. COVERAGE OF CONGRESS: -Congress has watched all this with irritation and envy. They want press attention but it is not certain how it can compete. -There are so many members of Congress which play numerous specialized rules that they do not get much individualized press attention. -The House was quite restrictive about television until 1978 when it allowed television cameras on the floor. -Significant live coverage of committee hearings began in 1974 when the House was discussing the impeachment of President Nixon. -Since 1979, cable TV has provided gavel-to-gavel coverage of speeches on the House floor. -The Senate has used television much more fully. Radio and television coverage of the Senate floor was not allowed till 1978. -Since 1950, committee hearings have been televised frequently. -Because Senate has made good use of televised committee hearings, it has become the incubator for presidential candidates. WHY DO WE HAVE SO MANY NEWS LEAKS?: -The American government is the leakiest in the world. -Many people find it depressing that our government can't keep anything secret while others think the public have a right to know. -We have many leaks because of the Constitution: The Separation of powers, and a decentralized government. We also don't have any laws that restrict the press from receiving and printing government secrets. -We have an adversarial press which is eager to expose leaks and hear the whole story of government issues. -The cynicism of government have led to an era of attack journalism in which the media covers gaffes and other small mistakes of politicians. -Many people do not like the media's rising cynicism about the government and the cynicism of the media is mirrored by the public's increasing cynicism about the media. -The general public believes that the media's "political views affect coverage" and a majority say they would require a license to practice journalism and a majority support court-imposed fines for inaccurate or biased reporting. -The adversarial relationship between government and media and the constitutional separation of powers result in many leaks. SENSATIONALISM IN THE MEDIA: -The economics of journalism and the ideas of reporters have changed and this is why sensationalism has become so popular. -Competition has increased and each program has a big incentive to rely on sensational news stories. -Covering such stores is also cheaper than investigating actual policies. -When actual policies are discussed, the public thinks highly of the media and listens to them more. But when they cover sensationalist stories the public confidence in the media collapses. GOVERNMENT CONSTRAINTS ON JOURNALISTS: -An important factor works against the influence of ideology and anti-official attitudes on reporters: the need every reporter has for access to key officials. -Thus journalists must keep a balance between expressing their own views and having a source to back themselves up. -The increase in staff makes this easier. -The press officials try to win journalistic friends benefiting them and the journalists. -Public officials and their press officers can try to reach the local media directly by giving interviews or appearing on talk shows. -The ultimate power of the government is to shape the press to its liking by rewarding favorable reporters and punishing unfavorable ones. They maintain a stormy relationship between one another because they need each other.
ARE THE NATIONAL MEDIA BIASED?
-Everyone believes that the media has a profound effect, for better or for worse, on politics. -Are the political opinions of writers and editors influencing the effect of media? Three questions will answer this: 1. Do members of the media have a distinctive political attitude? 2. Does that attitude affect what they write or say? 3. Does what they write or say affect what citizens believe? A LIBERAL MAJORITY: -Members of the national press are more liberal than the average citizen. -In 1992, 91 percent of the media members voted for the Democratic candidate while only 43 percent of the public voted that way. -The media is not only liberal but also secular. -The public believes that members of the media are liberals. -Conservative media outlets have become more visible in recent years, however. -More radio talk shows are politically conservative. -The radio talk shows are predominantly conservative. Why are conservative talk shows so common?: 1. There are more self-described conservatives than liberals in this country. 2. Conservative listeners do not think their views are reflected in what big-city newspapers, the major television networks, and leading news magazines display. 3. Much of the liberal audience is broken up into distinctive racial and ethnic groups that have their own radio outlets. NEUTRAL AND OBJECTIVE?: -In the US, the journalistic philosophy in many media documents is that the press, when it reports news should be neutral and objective. This rule does not cover radio talk shows, but it does cover newspapers. In other nations, newspapers are owned by one party or the other, and therefore the rule of neutral and objective does not work. -It is hard to measure if news stories are really objective because one would have to take into account many details, including the tone and adjectives used to describe people and policies. -News stories often significantly differ in the opportunity for bias: 1. Routine stories cover major political events that will be covered by many reporters and that involve relatively simple matters. Routine stories are covered in the same way by reporters. 2. Feature stories cover events that, though public, a reporter has to seek out because they are not routinely covered. 3. Insider stories cover things that are often secret. -Feature and insider stores may more easily reflect the views of reporters and editors. -Early in the history, newspapers had virtually no routine stories. Everything was an expression of opinion. -By the 20th century, the advent of the telephone and telegraph lines made it easy for news organizations to send the same story to almost every newspaper resulting in commonplace routine stories. -With the advent of radio and television, feature and insider stores became much more important for newspapers to compete with the routine stores of television and radio. -The way certain newspapers and magazines describe and cover certain politicians and issues find that the editors and journalists are sometimes biased in the way they describe. -A newspaper's bias tends to reflect the political views of its readers rather than the views of the publishers. -Public distrust of the media has grown and so the number of people who believe news organizations has declined. MEDIA'S INFLUENCE: -Some people will be influenced by what they read or hear but others will not be. -There is a well-known psychological process called selective attention. It means that people remember and believe only what they want to. If they see things inconsistent with their beliefs, they will tune out these messages. -A study found two things: 1. Newspapers that endorsed incumbents on their editorial pages gave more positive news coverage to them than newspapers that did not endorse them 2. The voters had more positive feelings about endorsed incumbents than they did about non- endorsed ones. -In short, editorial views affect news coverage, and news coverage affects public attitudes. -What the press covers affects the policy issues that people think are important. -There are limits to media influence. -Estes Kefauver a little-known senator from Tennessee became extremely popular due to the media. From that time, developing a strong media presence became a a top priority for political candidates. -Studies show that television commentary about presidents affect their popularity.
JOURNALISM IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY
-Important changes in the nature of American politics have gone hand in hand with major changes in the organization and technology of the press. -There are five important periods in journalistic history. THE PARTY PRESS: -In the early years of the Republic, politicians of various factions and parties created, sponsored and controlled newspapers to further their interests. -Party control was possible because circulation was hard and because newspapers were expensive. There were few large advertisers to pay the bills so the newspapers required subsidies that frequently came from the government or a political party. -The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, created the Gazzette of the United States. The Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, retaliated by creating the National Gazette. Ever since, presidents have started and subsidized newspapers. -Due to this party control, newspapers were relentlessly partisan in their views. -Only a few people read newspapers. THE POPULAR PRESS: -Changes in society and technology made possible the rise of a self-supporting, mass-readership daily newspaper. -High-speed rotary press enabled publishers to print thousands of copies of a newspaper cheaply and quickly. The invention of the telegraph and the creation of the Associated Press in 1848 allowed the telegraphic dissemination of information to newspaper editors on a systematic basis. AP provided stories that had to be brief and that went to newspapers of every political hue. Because of this, they could not afford to be partisan or biased. -Newspapers soon didn't need government subsidies and all printing contracts that Washington newspapers once enjoyed were put to an end. -The mass-readership newspaper was scarcely nonpartisan, but he partisanship it displayed arose from the convictions of its publishers and editors rather than the influence of its party sponsors. -Sensationalism seeped into newspapers so as to provide great appeal for the average citizen. -Strong-willed publishers could often become powerful political forces. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. -Mass-readership newspapers began to create a common national culture, to establish feasibility of a press free of government and to demonstrate how exciting and profitable the criticism of public policy and the revelation of public scandal could be. -Mass politics arose and every had access to newspapers MAGAZINES OF OPINION: -These magazines grew out of a desire of the middle class for political reform and a belief in the progressive movement. -National magazines devoted to issues of public policy sprouted. -These magazines provided the means for developing a national constituency for certain issues. -In time, the great circulation wars between big-city daily newspapers started to wane, as the mores successful papers bought up or otherwise eliminated their competition. -This reduced the need for sensationalism. -In the late 19th century, politics dominated the pages of most national magazine. -Interest groups formed ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM: -Radio came on the national scene in the 1920s. Television came in the 1940s. -This represented a major change in the way news was gathered and disseminated. -A broadcast allows public officials to speak directly to audiences without their remarks being filtered through editors and reporters. They could reach the nation without reliance on the services of parties, interest groups, or friendly editors . -Regardless, there was an offsetting disadvantage: people could easily ignore a speech broadcast on a radio or television station, either by not listening at all or by tuning to a different station. By contrast, the views of politicians and public figures would receive prominent and often unavoidable display in newspapers. -On top of this, newspapers were cheaper and could carry more information than a broadcast on radio or television. -To gain electronic media coverage, then, public officials had to do something noticeable and sensational to gain free access to radio and television news. -As television became more popular, public officials had to do something more exciting to receive access to television or radio. Once they received attention, they received very little time and had to do something that kept the audience awake instead of having some traditional "talking-heads" news shows. -Politicians are able to build bridges to voters THE INTERNET: -The internet has been widely used by a majority of all Americans to get political news about elections. -The internet is the ultimate free market in political news: no one can ban, control, or regulate it, and no one can keep facts, opinions, or nonsense off of it. -The internet allowed for: 1. Scanning political ideas posted on blogs. 2. It played a huge rule in politics and elections 3. Voters and political activists can talk to each other. -The internet has profoundly affected politics by making it easier to: 1. Raise money in donations 2. Organize people to attend meetings 3. Take instant opinion polls 4. Disseminate instant criticism of your opponent 5. Mobilize local followers 6. Provide campaigners with the names of people they should contact.
RULES GOVERNING THE MEDIA
-Ironically, the least competitive media outlets are almost entirely free from government regulation while the most competitive ones must have license to operate and must adhere to a variety of regulations -The First Amendment has been interpreted to mean that no prior restraint may be placed on a publisher, but after the publication a newspaper or magazine may be sued or prosecuted if the material is libelous or obscene or if it incites someone to commit an illegal act. CONFIDENTIALITY OF SOURCES: -Reporters believe they should have the right to keep confidential the sources of their stories. -Some states agree and have passed laws to that effect. -Most states and the federal government do not agree, so the courts must decide on a case by case basis whether the need of a journalist to protect confidential sources does or does not outweigh the interest of the government in gathering evidence in a criminal investigation. -In general, Supreme Court has upheld the right of the government to compel the reporters to divulge information as part of a properly conducted criminal investigation. REGULATING BROADCASTING: -Although newspapers and magazines by and large are not regulated, broadcasting is regulated by the government. -No one may operate a radio or television station without a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The license is renewable every seven years for radio and every five for television stations. -An application for renewal is rarely refused, but until recently the FCC required the broadcaster to submit detailed information about its programming and how it planned to serve "community needs" in order to get a renewal. -Lately, a movement has arisen to deregulate broadcasting on the grounds that so many stations are now on air that competition should be allowed to determine how each station defines and serves community needs. -Radio Broadcasting has been significantly deregulated resulting in: 1. A few large companies now own most of the big-market radio stations 2. The looser editorial restrictions that accompanied deregulation mean that a greater variety of opinions and shows can be found on radio. -Deregulation has also lessened the extent to which the federal government shapes the content of broadcasting In the past a "fairness doctrine" required broadcasters that air one side of a story to give time to opposing sides. Now, controversial talk radio shows are allowed. There still exists an equal time rule that obliges stations that sell advertising time to one political candidate sell equal time to that person's opponents. CAMPAIGNING: -A broadcaster must provide equal access to candidates for office and charge them rates no higher than the cheapest rate applicable to commercial advertisers for comparable time. -This meant that a broadcaster could not broadcast a debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates for office without inviting all other candidates as well, Libertarian, Prohibitionist, 3rd Party -The only way to do such a debate would be by having a organization sponsor the debate and then broadcast the event as a "news event" -Though candidates can buy time at favorable rates, not all candidates take advantage of this. This because television is not always efficient. Candidates for president will definitely use television, but candidates for senate and the House may only use it in a specific market. -Market: An area easily reached by a television signal; there are about 200 markets in the country. -People are concerned with horse-race journalism, that is covering a campaign based on guesses about who is ahead rather than on candidates' positions on the issues.
THE MEDIA AND POLITICS
-The internet is an important new venue for politics, but it presents similar challenges for politicians as earlier technological advances in communications -Politicians must have the media on their side because the media loves controversy and they are as likely to attack as to praise. -All of this confusion takes place in a country committed to a free press that there is little the government can do to control the process. -Even strongly democratic nations, restrict the press more than the United States. In this country, many things, that you would be punished for saying in other countries, are protected by the Constitution. -America has also had a long history of privately owned media whereas private ownership has only recently come to France. -There are two potential limits to the freedom of privately owned newspapers and broadcast stations: 1. They must make a profit. Media will distort the news in order to profit and build up an audience. This argument is partly true, but it is too simple. 2. Media Bias.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE MEDIA
-The relationship between journalism and politics is a two-way street: though politicians take advantage as best they can of the communications media available, these media in turn attempt to use politics and politics as a way of both entertaining and informing their audience. -There is a process of selection, of editing, and of emphasis, and this process reflects, to some degree, the way in which the media are organized, the kinds of audiences they seek to serve, and the preferences and opinions of the members of media. DEGREE OF COMPETITION: -There has been a large decline in the number of daily newspapers that serve large communities. -There were competing papers in 60% of American cities in 1900 but in only 4 % in 1972. Several large cities have more than one paper, but in some of these cities the same business owns both papers. Newspaper circulation has fallen. -More people are attracted by radio and television. Younger generations have turned away from political news. -The American press is made up of locally owned and managed enterprises. In other nations the media is owned and operated with a national audience in mind. -The American news is primarily marketed to the local market and usually there is more local than national news. -Until the 1990s no one could own more than one newspaper, AM radio station, and FM radio station in a given market. This resulted in a heavily decentralized broadcast industry. THE NATIONAL MEDIA: -The local orientation of much of the American media partially offset by certain publications and broadcast services that constitute a kind of national press. -The wire services supply most of the national news that local papers publish. -News magazines such as Time and Newsweek have a national readership. -The evening news broadcasts produced by ABC, CBS, and NBC are carried by most television stations with a network affiliation. -Some newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have acquired national influence. -These newspapers have national standing for several reasons: 1. They distribute a lot of copies. 2. These papers are carefully followed by political elites. 3. Radio and television stations often decide what to broadcast by looking at the front pages of these prominent national newspapers. 4. The editors and reporters of the national press tend to be better education and paid more than their counterparts in local locations. -The writers for national press tend to have distinctly liberal views. The national press plays the role of gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog: GATEKEEPER: -The national media can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long. -In short, reality did not change during this time, only the focus of media and political attention shifted. -In this way, the media is the gatekeeper of what is in the political agenda of the federal government SCOREKEEPER: -As scorekeeper, the national media keeps track of and help make political reputations. It notes who is "mentioned" as a presidential candidate. It helps decide who is winning and losing in Washington politics. -The scorekeeper role of the media leads the press to cover presidential elections as if they were horse races rather than choices among policies. WATCHDOG: -Once the scorekeepers decide you are the person to watch, they adopt their watchdog role. -They will maintain a close scrutiny of your every action with a desire to investigate personalities and expose scandals. -The role of the press is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." -They attack the front-runners.
Miami Herald v. Tornillo (1974)
A newspaper cannot be required to give someone a right to reply to one of its stories.
Background
A public official's statement to a reporter given on condition that the official not be named.
Sound Bite
A radio or video clip of someone speaking.
Blog
A series, or log, of discussion items on a page of the World Wide Web.
Equal Time Rule
An FCC Rule that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate, it must sell equal time to other candidates.
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Freedom of the press applies to state governments, so that they cannot impose prior restraint on newspapers.
Trial Balloon
Information leaked to the media to test public reaction to a possible policy
Routine Stories
Media stories about events regularly covered by reporters
Insider Stories
Media stories about events that are not usually made public.
Feature Stories
Media stories about events that, though public, are not regularly covered by reporters.
Horse-Race Journalism
News coverage that focuses on who is ahead rather than on the issues
Selective Attention
Paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees.
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Public Officials may not win a libel suit unless they can prove that the statement was made knowing it to be false or with reckless disregard of its truth.
HISTORY
THEN: -In 1972-1974, the Nixon administration's efforts to cover up the burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Water gate hotel in Washington, D.C., were revealed through a series of articles published in the Washington Post. -This scandal was heavily covered afterwards and received much press attention. NOW: -In 2004, CBS television news ran a story claiming that President Bush had performed poorly during his time in the Air National Guard. -Within a few hours, bloggers produced evidence proving this wrong. -Social Media is becoming a regular news source for people. One-fifth of Americans reported seeing news or headlines on a social networking site, almost twice as many as in 2010.
Adversarial Press
The tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them.
Loaded Language
Words that imply a value judgement, used to persuade a reader without having made a serious argument