Gov Chapter 10

How many sources were there in the era of objective journalism?

1,500 daily newspapers & 1,000 local TV outlets. Journalists covered political developments in similar ways..

4 Main Ideas of the Chapter

1. Amer news initially tied to nation's polit party system (partisan press) but developed an independent position (objective press). News shifted from a polit orientation (emphasizes polit values & ideas) to journalistic orientation (stresses newsworthy information & events) 2. New forms of media have emerged—cable TV shows, partisan talk shows, & Internet outlets. norms & standards differ from each other, & from traditional news media. 3. Media outlets seek to attract audience by meeting ppls info needs, playing to partisan bias, & feeding desire to be entertained. All outlets engage these activities 4. Audience for public affairs has been fragmenting, as a result of expanded # of outlets created by cable TV & Internet. ppl have more choices than before & have tailored their choices to their info interests & partisan leanings.

Monthly Unique Visitors to Online News Sources

1. Huffington Post (80 million) 2. Breitbart (60 million) 3. Drudge Report (30 million) 4. Politico (25 million) 5. The Hill (20 million) 6. Slate (18 million) 7. Daily Kos (15 million) 8. Info Wars (9 million) 9. Salon (8 million) 10. The Blaze (7 million)

What two things blunt politicians' efforts to manage the news?

1. Journalists' norm of partisan neutrality. Get statement from officials of both parties. 2. Although news stories originate in the words of political officials, they don't monopolize them. TV newscasts have multiple pieces woven together in story form, with the journalist acting as the storyteller.

Outlets that started on the internet:

1. The Huffington Post (started by liberal activist Arianna Huffington) 2. Breitbart (alt-right, founded over a decade ago by conservative donor Robert Mercer. 75 million visitors per month.) Steve Bannon was one of the biggest reporters until his firing in 2017. Bloggers on the internet, the most extreme & popular are on the right & have 100,000 or more followers.

What did different news outlets say abt DT's tariffs?

1. WSJ: drive up consumer prices. 2. Breitbart: create 19,000 new jobs 3. MSNBC (Rachel Maddow): DT was clueless abt trade policy. 4. Fox News (Sean Hannity): Embraced tariffs, DT's efforts to protect & build Amer 5. Washington Post: stupid. 6. CNN: Quoted steel executive saying: "thank you, Mr. President."

News by 1900

100,000 copies. height papers' power & low point in civic responsibility.↑ in yellow journalism.

How many ppl got Russian-sponsored content during the election

150 million Amers (half adult population)

Percentage of Internet Access & News Access through Media

8/10 of Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, & Washington- states w/ ↑ levels of Internet penetration—have regular access. 6/10 of Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, & Tennessee— states w/ lowest levels of Internet penetration—have access. States that are poor & rural have ↓ rates of Internet penetration. Less-affluent ppl are not able to afford Internet, & Internet companies are less likely to offer it in rural areas because of ↑ installation $.

What happened in the 1950s?

90% of Amer homes had TV set. FCC imposed Fairness Doctrine. Broadcasters cant use news coverage to promote 1 party/issue position at expense of other, had to promote reasonable discussion of conflicting views. Objective reporting law for broadcasters.

Information Commons

A shared set of facts transmitted to ppl through news. sometimes had blind spots & different interpretations, it was a balanced & common rendition of news. Began to break apart in the 1980s.

Russia in Michigan

A widely circulated fake story during the 2016 U.S. election, for instance, tried to stir up anger against Muslims. It falsely claimed that Muslim men in Michigan with multiple wives were collecting welfare checks for each of them.

Alexander Hamilton's use of the paper

AH wanted John Fenno to start, Gazette of US, as a means of publicizing policies of GW's administration. AH granted it Treasury Dep's printing contracts. AH's polit rival, TJ, dismissed Gazette's reporting as "pure Toryism" & convinced Philip Freneau to start National Gazette as opposition paper. TJ gave Freneau authority to print State Dep docs.

The Partisan Function

Acting as an advocate for a particular viewpoint or interest—was traditionally the responsibility of political leaders, institutions, & organizations. Today, however, a large number of media outlets & programs operate in this way. They're in the business of promoting a partisan agenda by playing to their audience's partisan bias.

"wanted as little partisanship as possible . . . as few judgments as possible."

Adolph Ochs to his reporters.

Architect of Objective Journalism

Adolph Ochs. Bought NY Times in 1896, daily circulation was 9,000, & brought it to 82,000 4 years later. Got reputation as best paper.

CrowdTangle

Alerts news sources to topics that are trending on social media & they produce stories on the topic until the traffic slows down. Used by hundreds of local newsrooms.

Trump Tweets Stat

An estimated 99 percent of Amers' exposure to DT's tweets was from hearing abt them through stories generated by the news media.

Black Pigeon Speaks

An operative who offers uncompromising world views designed to demonize particular groups. He espouses a white nationalist ideology wherein Jewish bankers are trapping us in debt slavery, Muslim immigrants are plotting to impose Sharia law, & women are betraying their biological heritage by placing their careers above childrearing. Black Pigeon Speaks said of women, "This half-century long experiment of women's liberation & political enfranchisement has ended in disaster for the West."

The Inattentive Audience

Before cable, only option was evening news, many watched it as "inadvertent viewers." 2/3 young ppl watched it every night. Today there aren't as many because they can watch everything from sports to just entertainment. Compared w/ ppl over 50, under 30 are 1/3 likely to follow public affairs closely through a paper, 1/2 likely to watch TV news regularly & less likely to consume news on Internet. Most know little abt polit; uninformed & susceptible to disinformation & conspiracy. Today, ppl see more media than ever - 10 hours a day. Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon noted, this leads to information overload where we can't process everything. David Meyer calls digital media a modern day "Skinner's box," reference B. F. Skinner's famed stimulus-response studies of 1930s. phones, TV remotes, & other devices offer instant gratification, conditioning us to seek more of it. Media multitasking has magnified "more is less" effect. When you multitask your function ↓ - Sherry Turkle (MIT psychologist)

Who said "the Press may not be successful much of the time in telling ppl what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling them what to think about."

Bernard Cohen

Rupert Murdoch

Billionaire started Fox news in 1996. Didn't follow objective journalism. Conservatives distrusted established networks so would embrace a channel that offered a conservative version of the news. Hired Roger Ailes, a Rep Politi Consultant, to run it, & he hired conservative talk show hosts. Most heavily watched cable news network.

Cable TV

By 1990 half of Amer homes had cable access. Transmitted through privately owned wire rather than broadcasting, so it wasn't subject to broadcasting regulations.

Ebola

CNN reported that Ebola may be transmitted through the air, like the cold or the flu, but there is no evidence per the WHO that this could be the case. It is fluid-borne. Nobody who got ebola in the US died but still, 2 in 5 Amers were worried they or a family member would catch the disease (Pew Research).

Cable News Network that treats news like entertainment

CNN. Offered conspiracy theories on Malaysian Airline Flight 370, which went missing. Ratings went ↑.

What ↑ entertainment content in traditional news outlets?

Cable. In the 1980s & 1990s, Americans had additional choices like HBO's movies or ESPN so a theatrical style of news emerged to compete with cable entertainment. Aimed at the marginal news consumer (those with a weak interest in news who would tune in if they were entertained).

Power-Driven Printing Press

Destroyed partisan press. Publishers could print papers cheap & quick. $ ↑ as circulations ↑ lessening dependency on gov patronage.

The Telegraph

Destroyed partisan press. papers had access to breaking news abt events outside local area, → substitute news reports for partisan commentary.

Digital Technology's Contribution to Watchdog

Digital technology has enlarged the media's watchdog capacity. Nearly everything that public figures communicate through the Internet, & even some of what they say in private settings, is recorded in one way or another & can prove damaging if it becomes known. One such recording sent DT's 2016 campaign into temporary tailspin. DT was caught on microphone making lewd comments & bragging abt kissing & groping women without their consent, saying that "when you're a star, they let you do it." DT had made the claim in 2005 as he was arriving at a studio lot to make an appearance on a TV show, unaware that the microphone was open. The audio recording was provided by an anonymous source to The Washington Post, which quickly published it.

Foreign Actors

During 2016 election, Russia payed more than 1,000 individuals to spread false information abt HC

What happened in 1987?

FCC rescinded Fairness Doctrine bc emergence of cable TV & expansion of FM radio had alleviated problem of scarce frequencies. 1. All radio stations were forced to air public affairs content (brief newscasts per hour) but now they dropped the newscasts. 2. Stations didn't have to worry abt running partisan content so now they ran partisan talk shows.

Fake News

Fictional stories that originate on the Internet & aim to undermine a political opponent.

Russia supporting right-wing policies

Finally, Russia has tried to tilt popular support toward right-wing parties, on the assumption that such parties are more likely to take ultranationalist foreign policy positions rather than positions that would oppose Russia's efforts to expand its sphere of influence. That strategy was employed during the French, Austrian, & Bulgarian elections.

Partisan Programs that don't fit the outrage model

Fox & MSNBC. But, they report different things -- Fox reported less of the election meddling & more the good stock market, & MSNBC did the opposite.

Pew Research Center Poll

Fox News: 54% conservative, 11% liberal MSNBC: 6% conservative, 19% liberal The Daily Show: 1% conservative, 21% liberal Rush Limbaugh: 21% conservative, 2% liberal

1st Amendment

Freedom of Religion, Speech, PRESS, Assembly, & Petition

2016 election scandal

HC sent e-mails as secretary of state from a private server rather than Dept of State's secure server, news called it a scandal & ran story for months, contributing to ppls perception that HC was not trustworthy. controversy widened during closing weeks of 2016 campaign when WikiLeaks leaked thousands of e-mails from accounts of HC aides, including campaign manager, John Podesta. hacked e-mails included speeches that HC had privately delivered to Wall Street firms & contained statements at odds w/ her public remarks. release of HC's e-mails sparked another round of watchdog reporting when it was discovered that Russians had hacked e-mails, to damage HC's campaign & promote DT. it became clear that Russian meddling extended into other areas of campaign, news organizations launched investigations.

The Daily Show by Jon Stewart

Had the look of a conventional newscast, but its content aimed to entertain. Headlines were slanted, news reports poked fun at those in power, editorials blended satire with serious commentary. Spawned similar programs like on Comedy Central & other nontraditional news channels. The most frequent target of their jokes is whoever happens to be president at the moment. During his first hundred days in office, Trump set the record for a seated president. There were 1,060 jokes on the humor talk shows mocking Trump's performance as president—roughly 10 jokes per day on average.

Change in 1920

Hundreds of radio stations were broadcasting news.

The Traditional Audience

In 70s, 50m watched evening news. Combined circulation of morning & evening papers was 60m. Intro of cable news → ↓ in traditional audiences. Today, 25m watch evening news & daily circulation of newspaper is 30m. traditional news audience is shrinking. in 1970, ppl spent 30 minutes reading news; today is 16. In 1980, average viewer of ABC, CBS, & MSNBC was 40 & now they're 60. cable news is 50. Heavy consumers of news are most polit informed. Heavily correlation between reading physical news & being informed. Are usually moderate bc exposed to other side. Aren't informed, just followers of the news -- see things & forget it. Issues aren't prominent in the news because they don't change that much. During 2016 election, 5/150 NY Times articles compared DT & HC policy positions. Journalists cite polls & focus on political conflict first. Coverage of public affairs has been diluted w/ blend of hard & soft news. In broadcast evening news, studies abt govt & polit has ↓ from 70 to 50%.

Russia undermining the EU

In referendums in Britain & Netherlands, for example, Russia's disinformation efforts aimed at undermining support for the European Union.

Who started Gazette of the US

John Fenno (pressured by AH) (fewer than 1500 readers) (Needed party patronage to survive.)

MSNBC

Liberal news network promoted as the alternative to Fox in the 2000s. Focused more on talk shows than news reporting. Big figures are Rachel Maddow & Chris Matthews.

"There was little variation in news viewing habits by age. TV news producers could hardly write off young adults, given that two out of three said they had watched such broadcasts every night."

Martin Wattenberg

The news media (press)

Media outlets that are in the business of creating & reporting original news stories. They perform three functions—the signaling, common-carrier, & watchdog functions—that contribute to the public's information needs.

Partisanship in the era of objective journalism

Most papers backed 1 polit party or other on their editorial & opinion pages. However, it was hard to see what party a paper backed bc if a high-ranking public official got embroiled in a scandal or policy blunder, paper played it up, whether official was a Rep or Dem.

"I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed. Ignorance is always correctable. But what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledge?"

NYU's Neil Postman warned abt consequences of treating news as a form of entertainment.

What Did DT Announce on March 8, 2018?

New tariffs on imported steel & aluminum

Media Outlets are Gatekeepers

News sources choose what messages reach the public. These messages affect what ppl see, hear, think & talk abt. Messages are selected by: need of media outlets to attract an audience. Without advertising or other revenue sources, a media outlet would go out of business. Media outlets attract attention by providing content that meets ppls information needs, plays to their partisan bias, or feeds their desire to be entertained.

Partisan Press

Newspapers openly backed by polit parties.

Frederic Remington

Noted painter & sculptor. News artist for Hearst, was going to return home bc Cuba seemed safe, but Hearst told him to stay.

Approach of partisan internet sites

Outrage. Inflame the partisan divide through lies & deceptions.

Selling Cards of Conservative & liberal talk shows

Outrage. They name call, misrepresent, mock, belittle, etc. They make the other party look bad.Senator Charles Schumer is "Up-Chuck,"HC is a "feminazi," Tea Party members are "a bunch of greedy, water-carrying corporative-slave hypocrites," Obama supporters are "Obamatards," & DT is "a clown" & "an orange-utan." As for ordinary citizens who side w/ other party, they're "fools" or "morons." partisan divide is main point of attack for talk show hosts, but cultural divide is 2nd. Issues are played less as policy questions than as questions of cultural identity. On conservative talk shows, gun control isn't abt trigger locks or background checks but instead abt guns as cultural identity. Attempts to control guns are portrayed as a liberal plot to destroy a way of life that's been around since frontier days.

How many reporters cover the White House

Over 200. presidency gets way more coverage than Congress & its 535 members..

Difference between News outlets & parties/groups as intermediaries

Parties seek influence to promote leaders/policies. Some media outlets have that goal, but others seek to inform public abt polits & others use it as entertainment

Comedy Talk Shows

Partisanship seeped in here. While the top draws of conservative talk shows are Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Laura Ingraham, the top-rated partisan comedy talk shows have liberal hosts like Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, John Oliver, & Samantha Bee.

Who started National Gazette

Philip Freneau (pressured by TJ in opposition to AH)

Upworthy Method

Puts out variations of the same headline & uses whatever one is most popular.

Most prominent news types that employ the partisan function

Radio & TV partisan talk shows are the most visible form of this type of media. What listeners liked best were rants abt opposing party (partisan outrage)

"Over the years, press coverage of Congress has moved from healthy skepticism to outright cynicism."

Scholar Mark Rozell.

Audience Concentrations use

Search Engines (2/3 of online users use Google) & Social Media (4/5 of online users use Facebook).

Soft News vs. Hard News

Soft news: Celebrity gossip, hard-luck stories, good- luck tales, sensational crimes, scandals in high places, & other human interest stories. Hard news: breaking events involving public figures, major issues, or significant disruptions to daily routines. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, & The Washington Post, stuck to the old way of doing things, but most outlets softened their news in an effort to attract a broader audience.

Ted Turner

Started CNN in the 1980s. Told his correspondents to use objective journalism.

What happened in 1934?

Stations used same radio frequencies, interfering w/ other's broadcasts. No gov oversight. Congress passed Communications Act, regulated broadcasting & created Fed Communications Center. Broadcasters to be licensed by FCC. bc broadcasting frequencies are limited in #, licensees were required to be impartial in their polit coverage & prohibited from selling airtime to a polit candidate w/o offering to sell an equal amount of airtime to other candidates for same office.

Why is freedom of the press enjoyed by more today?

The internet & its lower cost of entry. This was started by cable TV, which expanded media options for Amers.

Why is the internet not the democratic instrument that some expected?

The long tail: There are a few heavily visited sites on one end & thousands of lightly visited sites. The most heavily visited are CNN & the NY Times. Most other heavily visited sites, like Yahoo News, carry news that was gathered & reported first by established media.

Framing

The process by which journalists select particular aspects of situations & craft their stories around them. Journalists frame their stories & politics as a fight for partisan advantage.

Indicator of the fast-paced story form

The shrinking sound bite. In the 1960s, a newsmaker's sound bite (the length of time within a TV story that a newsmaker speaks without interruption) was more than 40 seconds, but today it is less than 10 seconds, barely enough time for the newsmaker to utter a long sentence. It is the journalists, not the newsmakers, who do most of the talking on TV news.

"The press in Amer . . . determines what ppl will think & talk about, an authority that in other nations is reserved for tyrants, priests parties, & mandarins."

Theodore White

Who received more attention from the press than any president of the TV age?

Trump

1990s TV strategy to up ratings

Upping crime coverage. "If it bleeds it leads" became mantra of TV news. national media playing up high-profile murder cases including kidnap-murder of Polly Klaas in CA. In previous decade, 5% of Amers believed crime was biggest problem but now 40%. Lawmakers got caught up in ppls anxiety by enacting tough sentencing policies & building prisons. ironic bc crime was declining. rate of violent crime dropped by 5% between 1990 & 1994.

"We're increasingly able to choose our information sources based on their tendency to back up what we already believe. We don't even have to hear the arguments from the other side."

Vox's Ezra Klein.

Watergate

Washington Post uncovered this scandal (1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee's headquarters & subsequent cover-up). Richard Nixon & Attorney General John Mitchell were forced to resign.

Signaling in 2017

When wildfires erupted in CA in 2017 & 2018, news orgs helped alert residents to dangers posed by fires, which were extensive & costly wildfires

"Please remain. You furnish the pictures & I'll furnish the war."

William Hearst to Frederic Remington

"editor has no objection to facts if they are also novel. But he would prefer a novelty that is not a fact to a fact that is not a novelty."

William Randolph Hearst

Russia has used Internet messaging to disrupt elections in

a dozen Western countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, & Austria.

The Signaling Function

alerting the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen

High-choice media system

audiences have such a wide range of choices that they can largely control the type of information to which they are exposed

Yellow Journalism

based on sensationalism & crude exaggeration.

Who got better coverage during the 2016 election?

candidate w/ most negative coverage was HC, not DT. His coverage was 56% negative to 44% positive during campaign, whereas her coverage was 62% negative to 38% positive.

Awaiting burial at Arlington National Cemetery are

coffins of U.S. troops who died during Span-US War. Washington Monument is visible in distance.

Priming

context est. by media messages affects how ppl will interpret info they receive. When seeing or hearing something abt polit, most ppl do not judge it by what they know. They respond in terms of thoughts that come to mind. When press consistently frames politicians as ppl who seek to win at all costs, ppl are "primed" to see politicians as self-serving. They'll ordinarily assume that what a politician has done is motivated by self-interest & judge politician's actions through that lens.

Flat Presses

early newspapers were printed on. limited production & ↑ $.

The Partisan Audience

era of information commons, only partisan outlets magazines were The Nation & The National Review. Today, partisan outlets are readily available & easy to access. some prefer traditional news sources, many prefer news outlets that confirm what they already believe (echo chambers). most partisan ppl. Social Media is echo chamber -- interact w/ ppl that share ur views. Fox: 13X Rep than Dem MSNBC: 5X Dem than Rep Breitbart: 10X Rep over Dem Huffington Post: 3X Dem over Rep Exposure to partisan outlets helps us understand our own party's positions better. Warps understanding of & generates hostility toward opposing party. Heavy exposure to partisan outlets generate distrust of traditional media.

Exceptions for FCC licensees.

for election debates; broadcasters can televise them even if 3rd-party candidates are excluded.

Purpose of the Associated Press

had 3,000 reporters stationed throughout country & world to gather & transmit news. Avoided partisanship because it served full range of Amer news outlets.

How many viewers did ABC, CBS, & NBC have in the 1970s?

more than 50m viewers. CBS had biggest audience & anchor Walter Cronkite was most trusted man in US.

What is the true bias of the media?

negativity. Congressional coverage has been steadily negative since the 1970s, regardless of which party controlled Congress or how much or little was accomplished.

The news

news is an account of obtruding events (timely dramatic & compelling)

What did local TV stations rely on in this era?

outside sources for national news coverage. Relied on video feeds from ABC, CBS, & NBC.

Watchdog Function

press exposes officials who violate accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards. fourth branch of government that checks abuses by those in power.

Common-Carrier Function

press is a conduit through which political leaders communicate with the public. Citizens cannot support or oppose a leader's plans & actions if they do not know abt them, & leaders require news coverage if they are to gt the public's attention & support.

Objective Journalism

reporting of "facts" than opinions & is "fair" bc it presents both sides of debate. Promoted at journalism schools at Columbia Uni & Uni of Missouri.

Partisan Talk Shows

take a conservative bias. More opinionated & less devoted to factual accuracy. From 1988 to 1994, # of show listeners jumped nearly 10-fold to 20m ppl.

Agenda Setting

the power of the media to bring public attention to particular issues & problems

Journalist A. J. Liebling

wrote that freedom of the press belonged to those with enough money to own a news outlet.

Circulation battle between William Hearst's New York Journal & Joseph Pulitzer's New York World

→ Span-US war by sensational reports abt cruelty of Span rule in Cuba.

What did separating the advertising department from the news department do?

↓ influence of advertisers on news content, leading to more responsible reporting.