media and politics nerv

Third person theory

"I'm not susceptible to advertising" but believe everyone else is

Republic 2.0

-"daily me" -we are only hearing like minded information

Model of news making: political

-"everyone has ideological biases. journalists cover those with political power, ignoring powerless"

Model of news making: civic journalism

-"journalists should engage the public sphere, help citizens, facilitate dialogue"

Model of news making: professional

-"we are professional, fair and balanced, we know what we are doing"

Functions of the media

-Democracy needs news! -often called the 4th branch of media -gatekeeper (present the issues) -watchdog role (media guarding public) -foster competition among ideas -seek info from the appropriate experts -link citizens & representatives (Voice of public opinion) // -surveillance of public needs and private personal needs ( hard vs soft news, entertainment, relaxation) -interpretation: what the world needs -socialization: establishing cultural norms -manipulation: journalists get involved & become political actors ***muckraking: digging scandalous things up

US government system

-Legislative (pass laws) (House =majority rule and super powerful) (Senate=minority rule, -no time limits rule: filibuster) -Executive (administer laws) (President) -Judicial (interpret and enforce laws) - Fourth estate (press/news media)

Mediatization

-Media shapes political communication and society where the communication takes place -momentous changes occurring in political /media ecosystem -politics is mediated (highly selective sample of events) (mediatization participation) ("media logic" is public sphere logic) (news makers conform to media logic) -alarmist positions are extreme ***when logic of media / what makes something become newsworthy switches over to politics

Spiral of silence

-Noelle neumann -people make judgements about which side is ahead and gaining support in controversial issues -the "loosing side" stops voicing opinion, starting a spiral of silence, which ultimately affects change of opinion and behavior -news media will silence minority opinion so those people don't speak up -EX socialism with bernie

Benefits and negatives of private vs public ownership of media

-Private (+ = more budget, more entertaining, better production) (- = biased toward incentives, profit > good) -Public (+ = more transparency, niche, more for public good) (- = less entertaining, less budget)

Paradox of objectivity

-balance vs fairness (if one side is more wrong, do we report on them equally?) / objectivity vs truth -politics is political -obligation of press to communicate information that people don't want -adversaries in news? (embedded reporters sign up with military to get success / -embeds/"in-beds" because they get too close and personal

Model of news making: Bargaining / organizational

-bargaining between elites of journalists and political PR people -the news is made through complex relationships among journalists, sources, editors and constraints

Why have political news audiences fragmented?

-because there are so many news channels and options these days -confirmation bias -people have niche channels -media consolidation = more worried -cheap to start, had to keep going in news -cable news =makes more money but produces less news

Priming

-by telling you what to think about, influencing how you think -drawing attention to an issue can change the crier used to evaluate political leaders -issues high on the public agenda serve as basis for judging the success or failure of elites -EX: pro life but republican...will evaluate trump more positively if he gives a speech on pro life -EX: media attention to persia gulf war primes positive evaluation of bush , but reversed when focus went back on economy

Restrictions on cable

-cable has been treated differently than broadcast television -cable must carry local stations -gov has interest in: 1. preserving free television 2. disseminating info widely from a variety of sources

Inaugurations

-ceremony in our civic religion -Epideictic style: ceremonial rhetoric -unify the audience by reconstructing "the people": nonpartisan -draws from the past and rehearses communal values (the American mission, calling upon a higher power) -sets forth the general political principles of new administration -seek popular support & political continuity

FCC - Federal communications act of 1934

-established federal communications commission -independent federal agency charged to regulate broadcast communication (tv, cell phones, radio, etc.) -5 commissioners (3 for press, 2 other side) -nominated by president -licenses stations every 8 years -limits foreign ownership (why? - might not care about our priorities) -free market could eliminate bias

Hostile media affect

-everyone thinks the media is against them -partisans perceive media coverage as biased against their opinions, regardless of the reality or political party -"working the refs": incentive to attack journalists

Representative Democracy: Liberal public sphere // Functions of the news media in a democratic public sphere // Liberal public sphere theory

-for a democracy to work: must have a healthy public sphere -Public sphere: a network of communicating information and points of view -Market place of ideas: facts, opinions and policies are tested in competition with other facts, opinions and policies with the best ideas winning majority support -healthy public sphere requires free speech // -watch dog (media guarding public), gate keeper, entertainment // -media is a plural noun -Representative, Citizens and Media all influence each other -the Polis (citizens) and the Agora (public sphere to debate)

Early regulation /Mayflower doctrine / Fairness Doctrine

-gave no frequency to private radio -federal district court ruled that congress lacked authority to regulate radio -airwaves belong to the people to serve them (weather reports) / -Mayflower doctrine: radio stations cannot editorialize / have opinions // -Fairness: the public has a right to hear a balanced representation of viewpoints -programming must accept political advertising from both sides -Right of Reply: must give attacked group the opportunity to reply on air -died in 80s

What do voters want?

-homophily: like me (people pick candidates like how they pick friends) -also must be distinctive -self made and humble origins -trustworthy and honest -consistency -attractive, real figure -warm and friendly communicator ** common everyday-ness but also newness and freshness

Framing

-how a journalist covers a story / their way of looking at it

Functions of the representatives

-impartial guardians of the public interest -deliberate -->communicate -balance national and parochial (church) interests

Selective exposure

-individuals' tendency to favor information which reinforces their pre-existing views while avoiding contradictory information.-motivated selection of pro attitudinal messages and the motivated avoidance of counter attitudinal messages -Effects: reinforce partisan self concepts, make earlier political decisions, increases participation

Hypodermic needle model / magic bullet theory

-inject a message into a passive audience (dan ordering dominos) -2 step flow: 1. opinion leaders get info from other people 2. society gets most of their info from opinion leaders

Pack journalism

-journalists go in packs / feeding frenzies -they all report on the same thing / agenda setting

Access theory

-market place of ideas theory -"best truth is power of thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market" -is there equal access to the marketplace of ideas? -free speech is threatened by both government & private censorship -options: mandatory access to privately owned media, free airtime, expanded editorial sections, laws that require balance -private vs publicly owned ***not a market without diversity of opinion, important to limit one person from owning all broadcasts

Who brings news? / Beltway press

-media "elite": reporters, editors, producers of national print and broadcast publications -"gang of 500" -characteristics of beltway: white male, investigative, middle upper class, secular, educated, northeastern **they are overwhelmingly democratic (especially on social issues)

Social construction of reality

-media acts as mediators between the world outside and the pictures in our head -people construct a pseudo environment that is a subjective, biased & necessarily abridged mental image of the world -the press and media do not reflect reality --> they filter and shape it

Frame

-media tell us how and what to think -pulls attention to particular attributes -promotes a particular way to think of a story -frame must be available, accessible and applicable -ex: negative frames of immigrants can increase stereotypes

Campaigns are about... // The message box // 4 Qs campaigns strive to answer

-money -media -message (vision, values, ideas) (must have a brand promise and explain why you are running) -mobilization // -what you say about you, what they say about them, what you say about them, what they say about you // 1. what is your vision?/what are you trying to accomplish? 2. who do you need to talk to? 3. what do you need to say to them? 4. How will you deliver that message? (channel)

Model of news making: Mirror model

-news is straight fact not opinion -"we don't make the news we just report it"

Partisan media bias

-no research consensus on partisan bias issue -Effects of bias: dissatisfaction with media (both from citizens and journalists), distrust of media, potentially contribute to increases in cynicism, incivility and political polarization -influenced by supply/demand

Agenda setting // things that influence agenda setting

-not telling us what to think, but what to think about -cause and effect relationship between media agenda and public agenda -people think things covered by the news are most important **Agenda: collection of problems, understanding of causes, symbols, solutions and other elements of public problems to come to the attention of the public, the news media and gov - 3 agendas: 1. public 2. news 3. policy // -journalistic norms (the story) -journalist background (education, attitudes, etc) -news broadcast PR -profit motive -large societal norms

What makes something news? // What makes a story a story

-novelty -relevant -proximity -current events -scandal -target audience // -timing -specifics and details -sourcing -news peg -persistence by reporters

Parachute journalism

-parachuting in and setting up shop in order to see what its like to be an american in a different country

Mediated politics

-politics = communication -media appeals and strategic communication are routine in the day to day business of government -media management is now a core skill required for leadership and governance -campaigns are continuous -optics: how does this look?

Democracy without citizens

-public is often marginalized (cut out) by politicians and journalists -they are less concerned with the publics right to know

Media choice theory

-some people choose to engage -smart people: become more engaged with more choices -not engaged people: focus less and less with more options

Long tail - segmented news problem

-tail now goes on forever; can find anything on the internet -alters balance of power between journalists and uses -decreases gatekeeping (publish first, if facts are wrong, edit later)

Paradox of choice

-takes longer to choose & are less satisfied with what they choose because they feel like they're missing out

Indexing

-tendency of mainstream news organizations to adjust the range of view points in a story to the dominant viewpoints of those in political institutions who have enough power to influence the outcome of the situation -framing of stories is indexed to elite politicians in washington

Walter Lippmann - "Public opinion"

-the world outside and the pictures in our heads -politics is mediated -media frames & narratives influence public perceptions of events -world outside and in our heads (public opinion = socially constructed)

"Truthiness" - Bennett: "politics of illusion" // Attention economy // Bennett's political brand

-truth that comes from the gut, not book -belief > empirical evidence - truthiness and the iraq war -ex: people feeling that global warming is a myth // -attention economy (we are not scarce on attention and social media wants more of it from us) // -message shaping, how you saturate the channels with your message, message credibility, message framing

Functions of the citizens

-ultimate authority -expose themselves to available information & make the best judgement possible -while self interested, they should also consider the common good **importance of first amendment freedoms

Uses and gratifications

-understanding how and why people seek out media -audience centered 1. Information: finding out about world 2. Personal identity: reinforcement of personal values 3. Integration and social interaction: insight and identify with others 4. Entertainment: diversion, relaxation, emotional release

News peg / hook

-what you're hanging on your story -ex: an image, source, press conference etc

Who should control news making?

1. Authoritarian control 2. Democratic systems (private vs public ) 3. Corporate profit logic: -driven by advertising -how is US news funded?:advertising, circulation, nonprofit -New revenue streams: "sponsored content", premium content, selling mild-party product, branded content, crowd-funding -journalism and content are NOT the same

Stages of coverage of extraordinary events

1. Stage 1: rush the scene, breaking coverage, challenge = accurate info 2. Stage 2: perspective & error correction 3. Stage 3: long-range perspective, policy implications

Open internet - 4 freedoms

1. freedom to access content (consumers can choose any legal content) 2. freedom to use applications (consumers can choose any application) 3. freedom to attach personal devices (consumers can choose any device to attach 4. freedom to obtain service plan info (transparency and non-discrimination)

News narrative

taking frames over time, the same way, overarching