CHAPTER 7 GOVERNMENT - The Mass Media and the Political Agenda

what is John Kingdon's definition of policy agenda?

- John Kindon defines policy agenda --- policy agenda - the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time

note Farnsworth and Lichter's analysis of the 1998 to 2008 campaigns

- Farnsworth and Lichter's content analysis of the 1988 to 2008 campaigns concludes that "the networks consistently focused on the horse race, shortchanged matters of substance, and accentuated the most negative aspects of the campaign trail, and in so doing failed to provide an accurate and fair reflection of the presidential campaigns - the problem they point to is that the media all too frequently fail to pass this on to the public, or at best present only small morsels of what the candidates are trying to get across - the problem of getting the networks to cover serious issues in-depth scarcely goes away once a president assumes office

discuss the emergence of radio and television

- Gradually, electronic media -- beginning with the radio and then television -- have displaced the print media as Americans principal source of news and information - for example, in the first ever televised 1960 John Kennedy face-off against Richard Nixon, the poll results from this debate illustrate the visual power of television in American politics: people listening on the radio gave the edge to Nixon, but those who saw the debate on television thought Kennedy had won

who practically invented media politics and what was involved in this? How did the structure of media politics change over time?

- Hoover's successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) "invented" media politics --- to him, the media was practically a potential ally --- roosevelt promised reporters two presidential conferences a week - this relatively, cozy relationship between politicians and the press lasted through the early 1960's --- with the events of the vietnam war, and the watergate scandal though, unquestioning acceptance soon gave way to skepticism and even cynicism --- newspeople have come to assume that politicians rarely tell the whole story and that their own jobs is to ferret out the truth

what is a key part in maintaining this period of "high-tech politics"? (broad, general thing)

- THE MASS MEDIA --- television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication - they reach and profoundly influence not only the elites but also the masses

what is high-tech politics?

- a politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shared by technology

distinguish between public ownership and private ownership.

- although the American media are Independent when it comes to journalistic content, they are totally dependent on advertising revenues to keep their businesses going - public ownership means that the media can serve the public interest without worrying about the size of their audience; private ownership means that getting the biggest possible audience is exacerbated by the fact that the media in America today tend to be part of large conglomerates

assess democracy and the media.

- although widespread access to information could be the greatest boon to democracy since the secret ballot, most observers think that the great potential of today's high-tech media has yet to be realized - whenever the media are criticized for being superficial, their defense is to say that this is what people want - it is not their fault if the resulting news conference is superficial, network executives argue; blame capitalism or blame the people--most of whom like news to be more entertaining than educational --- thus, is people are not better informed in the high-tech age, it is largely because they do not care to hear about complicated political issues. in this sense, one can say that the people really do rule through the media

discuss private control of the media.

- because of private ownership of the media and the First Amendment right to free speech, American journalists have long had an unfettered capacity to criticize government leaders and policies - in established democracies where major networks are government-owned, government ownership is not supposed to inhibit journalists from criticizing the government, because the journalists are assured autonomy

What is a way that politician's guide the media's focus?

- by giving the media carefully staged events to report on - such --> media events <-- are events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant just because the media are there

how has the print media been affected by electronic media?

- ever since the rise of TV and TV news, American newspaper circulation rates have been declining - many people believe that the future of newspaper lies with the Internet --- for most major newspapers, online editions have become a source of advertising revenue - Overall, the newspaper business is clearly in financial trouble... the red ink that the newspaper business is facing is of concern to many policymakers today

How has the Federal Communications Commission's monitored the use of airwaves?

- first, to prevent near monopolies of control over a broadcast market, the FCC has instituted rules to limit the number of stations owned or controlled by one company - second, the FCC conducts periodic examinations of the goals and performance of stations as part of its licensing authority --- Congress long ago stipulated that in order to receive a broadcasting license, a station must serve the public interest - third, the FCC has issued a number of fair treatment rules concerning access to the airwaves for political candidates and officeholders --- the equal time rules stipulates that if the station sells advertising time to one candidate, it must be willing to sell equal time to other candidates for the same office --- in addition, if a channel allocates time to a candidate that isn't part of the news show then the channel is required to give equal coverage to other candidates request it - the fairness doctrine, for many years, required broadcasters to give time to opposing views if they broadcast a program slanted to one side of a controversial issue --- but with the development of so many TV channels via cable, by the late 1980s this rule was seen as unnecessary and was abolished

How has narrowcasting affected media usage patterns?

- having grown up with narrowcasting alternatives, Young adults are less likely than other age groups to be using newspapers and broadcast media as a news and information sources - interestingly, one source of information about politics is that young people are more likely than other age groups to rely on is humerous shows that cover current events or "infotainment" --- scholars have found that by wrapping bits of political content into an amusing package, entertainment shows that cover current events can make politics more appealing to viewers, who might otherwise ignore the subject, and thereby add to their political knowledge - it is a fact that infotainment shows are not designed to convey political information that makes it desirable for politicians to appear on them person --- people who are not much interested in politics can often only be reached by appearing on shows that don't normally do politics - narrowcasting clearly has great potential for disseminating News to the American public

what are sound bites?

- in place of speeches, Americans now usually hear sounds bites of about 10 seconds on TV --- sound bites - short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. typically they are all that is shown from a politicians speech on the nightly television news - sound bites are not much longer in the established democracies

how has the internet changed the way people receive information?

- in short, for anyone with basic commuting skills, gaining information about political issues is now easier tan ever before - yet the fact that so much political information is at one's fingertips via the Internet doesn't necessarily mean that people will take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to become well informed about politics - to a far greater extent than TV, the Internet is purposive; that is, it allows people to see the product of their own international choices--and nothing else - people with limited political interest will probably not be motivated to look up detailed information about politics very often, let alone to follow politics on a regular basis

discuss CHAINS in the newspaper business particularly and how it has affected American journalism

- in the newspaper business, chains control newspapers that together represent over 80 percent of the nation's daily circulation --- chains - groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over four-fifths of the nation's daily newspaper circulation - the increasing focus on profit has had repercussions for American journalism and, specifically, political reporting - similarly, foreign coverage in newspapers has been dropped off precipitously as newspapers have to cut their costs in light of declining revenues --- striving for profit greatly shapes how the news is reported in America

How has technology affected the quality of media?

- ironically, as technology has enabled the media to pass along information with greater speed, news coverage has become less thorough - these days reporters are pressured into blogging and updating, leaving less time for unearthing facts --- the public may get the news faster, but in lesser depth - newspapers once routinely reprinted the entire text of important political speeches --- now that speech transcripts can be found via google, newspapers rarely print them, and only the most interested people search for them

What is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)?

- it was created in 1934 by Congress to regulate the use of airwaves - today the FCC regulates communications via radio, television, telephone, cable, and satellite. --- it is an independent regulatory body

what is investigative journalism?

- journalists changed their ways of reporting and began to interrogate the president about his/her personal life and sought to find "dirt" on them (presumably) TEXTBOOK DEFINITION: the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders

What is an "image" and how is it created?

- media events and TV commercials are largely about image making - politicians' images in the press are seen as good indicators of their clout - image is especially important for presidents, who in recent decades have devoted much attention to maintaining a well-honed public image --- in today's high-tech age, presidents can hardly lead the country if they cannot communicate effectively with it

what are press conferences?

- meetings of public officials with reporters (where politicians are asked question regarding the state of the U.S. and policies in general)

discuss individualism and the media.

- more than any other development in the last century, the rise of television broadcasting has reinforced and furthered individualism in the American political process - candidates are now much more capable of running for office on their own by appealing to people directly through television - individual voters can see the candidates "up close and personal" for themselves, and they have much less need for political parties or social groups to help them make their decisions

what are BEATS and TRIAL BALLOONS and how does the media use this?

- most news stories come from well-established sources - majors news organizations assign their best reporters to particular beats --- beats - specific locations which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location - politicians depend on the media to spread certain information and ideas to the general public; sometimes they feed stories to reporters in the from of trial balloons --- trial balloons - intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing the political reaction - journalists and politicians have a symbolic relationship, with politicians relying on journalists to get their message out and journalists relying on politicians to keep them in the know

discuss what is known revolving the effects of the media and the news on american political opinion and behavior.

- much remains unknown about the effects of the media and the news on American political opinion and behavior - enough is known, however, to conclude that the media are a key political institution - the media control much of the technology that in turn controls much of what Americans believe about politics and government --- for this reason, it is important to look at the American policy agenda and the media's role in shaping it

how has agenda setting had far-reaching consequences?

- nonetheless, the agenda-setting effect can have a range of far-reaching consequences --- first, by increasing public attention to specific problems, the media influence the criteria by which the public evaluates political figures - the media can have a dramatic effect on hw the public evaluates specific events by emphasizing one event over others

Discussed the evolution of narrowcasting in the segmentation of the news audience and how opposing camps is good or bad for democracy

- on the positive side, it can be said that the new, more ideological tinged presentation of the news stimulates political involvement for many viewers --- it also often helps to clarify what is at stake in policy decisions - on the negative side, the increasingly strident tone in the news has turned some people off from politics and contributed to a generalized decline in trust of the mass media --- it has also made it harder for those who are politically involved to see the other side of political arguments and to be willing to compromise

What are some criticisms of cable news?

- one common criticism is that cable news channels fail to systematically cover political events and issues - two other common criticisms of cable news channels are that too much of the time they show people yelling at one another and that when a story breaks they tend to sensationalize it - in view of the criticism of cable news, it is not surprising that many scholars of the media feel that the shift from network news to cable news has reduce the overall quality of political journalism

how does the news media's depiction of a threatening, hostile and corrupt world shape American's political opinions and behaviors?

- one reason is that it is hard to separate the media from other influences --- moreover, the effect of one news story on public opinion may be trivial, but the cumulative effect of dozens of news stories may be important - in a series of controlled laboratory experiments, Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder subtly manipulated the stories participants saw on the TV news --- they found that they could significantly affect the the importance people attached to a given problem by splicing a few stories about it into the news over the course of a week --- they conclude that "what televisions news does, instead, is alter the priorities Americans attach to a circumscribed set of problems, all of which are plausible contenders for public concern" - subsequent research from Miller an Krosnick have revealed that agenda-setting effects are particularly strong among politically knowledgeable citizens who trust the media --- thus, rather than the media manipulating the public, they argue that agenda setting reflects a deliberate process on the part of sophisticated citizens who rely on what they consider a credible institutional source of information - nonetheless, the agenda-setting effect can have a range of far-reaching consequences --- first, by increasing public attention to specific problems, the media influence the criteria by which the public evaluates political figures - the media can have a dramatic effect on hw the public evaluates specific events by emphasizing one event over others

how have political activists gotten their word out?

- policy activists depend heavily on the media to get their ideas placed high on the governmental agenda - policy activists are often called policy entrepreneurs --- policy entrepreneurs - people who invest their political "capital" in an issue. According to John Kingdon, a policy entrepreneurs "could be in or out of government, in elected or appointed positions, in interest groups or research organizations" - policy entrepreneurs' arsenal of weapons includes press releases, press conferences, and emails; convincing reporters and columnists to tell their side; trading on persona contacts; and, in cases of desperation, reporting to staging dramatic events - conveying long-term, positive image through the media is more important than gaining media coverage of a few dramatic events - policy entrepreneurs, in or out of government, depend on goodwill and good images --- thus, groups, individuals, and even countries sometimes turn to public relations firms to improve their image and their ability to peddle their issue positions

distinguish the two kinds of media.

- print media --- include newspapers and magazines - the electronic media --- include radio, television, and the Internet

how are TV commercials an important tool in "high-tech politics"?

- slickly produced TV commercials are beneficial --- Moreover, in those ads, the message is typically a negative one --- help candidates be more exposed and also develop an image for the public to see them as - some politics scientists have expressed concern that the tirade of accusations, innuendos, and countercharges in political advertising may be poisoning the American political process

how has the internet impacted politics?

- so far, the Internet has had its main impacts on politics largely by facilitating more communication in every conceivable direction - the the Internet, journalists, politicians and interest group organizers can communicate more readily with the public at large, and ordinary citizens can respond far more easily and frequently than before - for campaigns, that ability to post information and communicate with supporters via the Internet appears to help somewhat with with political mobilization - blogs in particular have provided political activists with a means to make their concern heard to an extent that was previously possible only for professional journalists

discuss arguments regarding bias in the news

- some have argued that political reporting is biased in favor of one point of view--most often that the media have a liberal bias --- however, the vast majority of studies have found that most reporting is not systematically biased toward a particularly ideology or party - that reporting typically reflects little explicit ideological bias does not mean that it is uninfluenced by reporters' backgrounds and assumptions --- the overriding bias, however, is not an ideological bias but, rather, as we have seen, a bias toward stories that will draw the largest audience - surveys show that people are most fascinated by, and most likely to follow, stories involving conflict, violence, disaster, or scandal --- such stories have the drama that brings in big audiences - in contrast, ratings can be increased by , say, ambassadors squaring off in a fistfight at the United Nations, a scene CBS showed three times in one day--without once discussing he cause of the fight --- the result of this kind of bias, political scientist Lance Bennett points out, is that "the public exposed to a world driven into chaos by seemingly arbitrary and mysterious forces

discuss sound-bite journalism

- sound-bite journalism has meant that politicians often feel that there is little point in discussing policies in any detail - veteran news anchor Walter Cronkite wrote, "naturally, nothing of any significance is going to be said in seven seconds, but this seems to work to the advantage of many politicians. they are not required to say anything of significance, and issues can be avoided rather than confronted."

how is television particularly biased?

- television is particularly biased toward stories that generate good pictures - seeing a talking head is boring; viewers will switch channels in search of more interesting visual simulation --- talking head - a shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera. Because such shots are visually unstimulating, the major networks rarely show politicians talking for very long

assess the impact of mass media on the scope of government in America.

- the media act as key linkage institutions between the people and the policymakers and have a profound impact on the political policy agenda - the media's watchdog functions helps to keep politicians in check --- notably, this is one aspect of the media's job performance that Americans consistently evaluate positively - for over two decades, the Pew Research Centers for People and the Press has consistency found that a clear majority of the public has said that press criticism of political leaders does more good the harm - reporters themselves consider exposing officeholders to be an essential role of the press in a free society - as every new policy proposal is met with media skepticism, constraints are placed on the scope of what government can do - the watchdog orientation of the press can be characterized as neither liberal nor conservative but reformist - reporters often see their job as crusading against would play and unfairness in government and society --- this focus on injustice in society inevitably encourages enlarging the scope of government - once the media identify a problem in society, reporters usually begin to ask what the government is doing about it --- in this way, the media party government as responsible for handling almost every major problem - although skeptical of what politicians say and do, the media report on America's social problems in a manner that often also encourages government to take on more and more tasks

what was the first mass medium and why was it significant?

- the newspaper was the first mass medium and has continued to play a crucial role down through the centuries - studies find that regular newspaper readers are better informed and more likely to vote --- Robert Putnam states in his book 'Bowling Alone', "those who READ the news are more engaged and knowledgeable about the world than those who only WATCH the news" --- he concludes "newspaper reading and good citizenship go together."

discuss whether or not such media coverage is ultimately int eh public's best interest.

- the press maintains that the public is now able to get a complete, accurate, and unvarnished look at the candidates - critics of the media charge that it emphasizes the controversial aspects of a campaign at the expense of examining major issues

discuss the beginnings of print media and how it relates to todays day and age

- the ratification the first amendment in 1791, guaranteeing freedom of speech, gave even the earliest American newspapers freedom to print whatever they saw fit --- in doing so, it gave the media a unique ability to display the government's dirty linen, an ability that, as we've seen, the American press today makes ample use of

Discuss the differences between broadcasting and narrowcasting.

- the term broadcasting meant that a network's signals were being sent out to a broad audience - narrowcasting is media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience, in contrast to broadcasting

Define the basic principle of selective exposure.

- this is the process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have a few points compatible with their own

SECTION 7.1 - THE MASS MEDIA TODAY

DESCRIBE HOW AMERICAN POLITICIANS CHOREOGRAPH THEIR MESSAGES THROUGH THE MASS MEDIA