POSC 340 MIDTERM

• form of cultural bias • Most Americans see the world in terms of four types of countries: friends, enemies, neutrals & non-existent. These cultural assumptions are then reflected in the way the news media frame the world. • our friends are noble and just and our enemies are horrible and cruel • our allies can sometimes do bad things, but our enemies will almost never do anything good • When American officials talk to journalists, they don't merely pass on information, they also attempt to explain what happened --> they frame the events! • also occurs in domestic news...media picks a villain and a friend side

"friends and enemies" frame

AGENDA, AGENDA SETTING AND AGENDA BUILDING • Agenda: a list of issues and events that are viewed at a point in time as ranked in a hierarchy of importance o "media agenda" = they have a goal to get messages out, • "events": a discreet happenings that are limited by space and time • "issues": a series of related events • Agenda setting: a process through which the mass media communicate the relative importance of various issues and events to the public o A process - the media communicates the importance of certain issues/events to the public o The media picks the issues that will be discussed o Many events happen every day - not all get as much attention as others • The agenda setting function of the media is a tendency of the media to affect what people will think about, what they perceive as important o Brings up the events of the issues that ought to be considered important and discussed (More coverage = more important) •Agenda Building: A process through which the policy agendas of political elites are influenced by a variety of factors, including media agendas and public agendas

Agenda, Agenda-setting and agenda-building

• Analogies and metaphors (pg 94-95) o Author talks about analogy of George Bush 41 comparing Saddam Hussein to Hitler...pick the analogy because you have a certain goal in mind o You need to have public support for an action and because Hitler has a huge public consensus, Bush compared him to his action of wanting to go to war in Iraq o But if he use the Vietnam War to Iraq, public support probably wouldn't have been as high o the analogies and metaphors people find compelling depend not only on the extent to which the elements of the current situation map onto elements of the analogy, but also on their goals (and on the emotions that provide "fuel" for our goals)

Analogies and metaphors

• modern political journalism rests on two dominant values: objectivity & autonomy • autonomy has upstaged objectivity as the guiding principle of journalists' behavior • in the era before media politics, the press maintained an objective stance on the campaign by providing regular opportunities for both candidates to reach their audience • Objectivity simply required equal exposure; the candidates' partisan rhetoric canceled eachother out • after the 1988 election, leading reporters argued that recycling the candidates' message of the day was an inappropriate form of campaign journalism because it made reporters captive to the agenda of campaign consulting. • To protect their autonomy, reporters turned to a more analytic form of news coverage that centered on interpretations and analysis of the candidates' actions. • This amplified the voice of the journalist. The campaign correspondent was now a solo author of the news, whose own analysis was more newsworthy than what the candidates had to say.

Autonomy and objectivity as dominant values

• cognitive constraints: imposed by the information we have available • emotional constraints: imposed by the feelings associated with one conclusion or another • "The more sophisticated people are politically (e.g. the more they know about an issue), the more able they are to develop a complex rationalizations for dismissing data they don't want to believe. Politically knowledgeable citizens also tend to be partisans, which gives us the strongest reasons for distorted reasoning " (pg 100) o People who know more, educated more are also able to develop complex rationalizations for dismissing data they do not want to believe o If you know a lot about history, it is easier to go back in history and find an example to help you rationalize an opinion and facts to help explain/prove you opinion

Cognitive constraints and emotional constraints

- rude critiques - name calling - swearing - mockery

Examples of online incivility

FORMS OF REGULATION • Mandating frequency and timing of news broadcasts • Diversity of perspectives • Equality of coverage across parties (case of equal time in the US) • Ownership restrictions (ie -ban on cross ownership) • Subsidies

Forms of media regulation

FRAME'S CHARACTERSITICS • Problem definition - media explains why something is happening • Hypothesized cause - motive behind the problem • Moral evaluation - explanation as to why the problem is happening • Proposed remedy - solution or outcome FRAME COMPONENTS • Event • Actor • Issue

Frame characteristics and components

• in the wake of a national crisis and perceived threat to security, the president can exert control over the dominant frame to define events • the news media index coverage to reflect the range of elite debate, reinforcing the dominant White House frame when there is consensus among national leaders and offering more critical coverage when debates break out among policymakers. In this sense, the media mirror the views held by key policy makers • once debate reaches a certain level, the news media become active players in the framing process, challenging elite frames and offering critical perspectives on policy • the public can also influence the framing process, through elections and opinion polls. However, the public is ordinary reactive, taking a back seat to frames wielded by policymakers and the press

Framing wars

- provide an electoral forum in which all candidates can solicit support from voters - expected to erect a public sphere where voters can sample from a variety of perspectives on the issues that concern them - act as an agent of the public by policing the behavior of government officials - Inform the people (deliver information on the issues of the day)

Functions of media in democracies (4) Perloff ch.1 pg.5, OR ch.2 pg.19 OR Thurs 9-14 notes

HARD VS SOFT NEWS • Hard news: politics, war, economics, crime • Soft news: arts, entertainment, and lifestyles • Not always clear cut but soft news is "less important"

Hard vs Soft news

FIRST PHASE OF US REGULATORY POLICY • Early regulations aimed at promoting competition and programming diversity o Local TV Multiple ownership rule in 1964 limited a broadcaster to just one local station per market. o In 1976, FCC made made broadcasters air 5% informational programming, 5% local programming and additional 10% non-entertainment programming. o Ban on cross ownership o No cable operator could control more than 30% of a market FAIRNESS DOCTRINE (1949-1987) • Required stations to air balanced treatment of controversial issues • Repealed after broadcasters mounted legal challenges to the first amendment THE DEMISE OF EQUAL TIME • The equal time rule was designed to ensure that the public would have equal exposure to opposing candidates • The FCC interpreted the rule as requiring only that broadcasters make time available to candidates on equal terms DISAPPEARANCE OF "PUBLIC SPHERE" • Absence of "serious" programming in US is attributed to weak regulatory framework and strong economic incentives • Weekly supply (in hours) of non-entertainment programming in Philadelphia market fell from 58 in 1976 to 24 in 1997 • Corporate interests have begun to exert influence over news programming in a number of subtle ways, such as by encouraging journalists not to pursue stories that reflect poorly in their parent corporations or by imposing programming in keeping with their political preferences.

History on US media regulation and deregulation

• Cognitive constraints (objective political indicators) and emotional constraints (partisan feelings) can jointly predict people's judgements about political issues (like the economy) • 80% of the time we can predict voters' judgements about complex issues form passions that bear no logical relation to the truth • which means 20% of the electorate is influenced by something else other than their feelings toward the two parties. •the remaining 20% are most likely swing voters who do not follow politics as much

Impressionist politics

•The nasty effect is the negative cognitive and emotive influence vitriolic comments have on those who read an online article. • nasty comments can harm healthy back-and forth dialogue central to democracy • early research shows that incivility in online comments can be a polarizing factor in how people perceive issues in the media • incivility has been found to affect people's perceptions of the context covered in news articles...a phenomenon dubbed "the nasty effect" • an individual exposed to incivility is likely to have more negative perceptions of the news article that precedes the comments, especially if he/she is more religious

Incivility - what is the "nasty effect"

INDEXING • Is the process of adjusting coverage of an issue according to the level of disagreement and debate about the issue among policy elites o Politicians and government agencies are the official sources most journalists use BUT they have their own agenda and interests so their answers are misleading o The watchdog function falls entirely on the reporters even though the reporters are constrained by lack of expertise o This leads to misinformation of the public • the higher the level of elite dissent, the easier it is for the reporter to pit competing sources against eachother • means that the press can represent an adversarial posture only when opponents of government policy outnumber proponents

Indexing

THE RISE OF INTERPRETIVE JOURNALISM • From description to interpretation o Journalists value autonomy, resist efforts at spin and manipulation o Aftermath of 1988 campaign, recognition of need to resist candidates - from description to interpretation o Ad watches o Shrinking soundbite... journalists' voices replace those of the candidates • strategy forms - analysis of the rational and strategy underlying the candidate's rhetoric and positions - emerged as the single most frequent theme in coverage of political campaigns • News is no longer limited to what the candidates say; it also reports why they say it • the most popular element of interpretive journalism is the state of the horse race. Reporters invariably frame the election not as a contest of ideas or policy platforms but as a race between two teams, each bent on securing more votes than the other

Interpretive journalism

Professional norms of autonomy and objectivity in journalism lead journalists to interpretive forms of coverage, emphasizing ad watches candidates strategy the horse race and scandal stories

Journalistic norms

• Political frames selected by journalists can influence citizens and policymakers • political elites strategically choose frames, harnessing them to gain power, push issues , and control the policy process • Three theoretical perspectives between elites and journalists when it comes to framing 1. Hegemony: the notion that political leaders can enforce their will on the mass public by manufacturing consent, harnessing mass communications in the service of their political objectives (usually in communist countries) 2. Indexing: the idea that political media index news so that it closely matches media calibrate coverage so that it reflects the assertions of key elite policy makers (author of the reading compares it to a "parrot" - gov officials telling journalists and journalists telling the public exactly what they were told without objectivity) 3. Cascading activation: a model stipulating that frames flow downward from the Whitehouse, through other elites, the media, and to the public, with each actor in the process affecting political communication, as well as being influenced by it. Influence moves from the white house to other major elite groups, like congressional leaders and via news media frames, to the public as measured by public opinion polls. Influence can also flow upward from the public to the white house • cascading view gives the media the most autonomy.

Macro aspects of framing

CREDIBILITY • Poll: level of confidence in the media o 1973: "hardly any" - 10% o 2008: "hardly any" - 45% • Public confidence in press has been measured in polls for years • If people do not trust the press, then the press doesn't play a huge part in voting behavior • CNN and Fox News were polled the most credible in 2010. Fox enjoys higher credibility than the NYT or WSJ. • Pew Research Center conducted that newspaper circulation fell 7% between 2014 & 2015 o Cable TV went up 8% o Network TV news went up 1% in evenings, down 2% in mornings o Local news went down 5% in evenings, 2% down in mornings • In economic trend: o Ad newspapers declined 8% between 2014 & 2015 • Only 14% of Republicans trust the media compared to 51% of Democrats (30% independents) • Studies show media credibility one consistent pattern: people who tend to hold strong political views, such as those affiliated with a political party or cause, are especially likely to view the news as biased. Enthusiasm for the party line makes partisans dubious of news presentations designed to present a balanced perspective on the day's events. This is called HOSTILE MEDIA PHENOMENON • Recent research demonstrates that most people who view the media they use most often as favoring their own views.

Media credibility

MEDIA POLITICS AS THE SUCCESSOR TO PARTY POLITICS The widespread adoption of primaries and changes in campaign finance in 1968 increased the importance of the media. Candidates started to appeal directly to the public. o Hired people to work on campaigns o Media helped campaigns o From 68-72, the nomination process of candidates underwent changes because before, party elites controlled more of the primary process. This diminished and then delegates voted on behalf of primary elections. This made candidates appeal more to the public -Via TV, radio, rallies -Example: first televised debate between JFK and Nixon on 9/26/60 • The development of technologies and spread of mass media

Media politics as successor to party politics

DO THE MEDIA ACTUALLY SET THE AGENDA? • Is there a correlation between the media agenda and the public agenda? o The media agenda would be what media covers the most and prioritizes o Public agenda would be what people perceive as important o In order to establish media agenda, we see what media covers to identify issues and then determine what public agenda is through example, (like surveying people) o Short answer here is YES - research shows correlation -The issues covered extensively are perceived as important by the people -Correlation does not imply causation...doesn't mean that people perceive issues as important just because of media coverage o What is also important is that context matters - you can't assume public perceives a soundbite as important news • Does the agenda-setting operate for different issues and in different contexts? o Elections...campaigns are more convenient when studying issues

Media, public and policy agendas / agenda buildup in the digital age

• first real test of the media's ability to challenge official accounts • the news media did little to question the administration's account of the North Vietnamese attacks, instead deferring entirely to the Pentagon • As American military involvement in SV increased, news organizations assigned reporters to file stories from the immediate vicinity of the conflict • Coverage was originally supportive of stated American policy and avoided details and depiction of military combat • As the war continued, McCarthy's antiwar message during the NH primaries was politically viable • The Tet offensive (which showed killings of civilians and destruction of villages) and resulting images on TV screens casted serious doubt on the official accounts of the war. Reporters began to question Pentagon officials more aggressively in an effort to contrast the clinical tone of the daily briefings with the bloody chaos on the ground • News coverage of the war provides a clear case of elite opinion leading the news in situations of both consensus and dissent. • Defense Department learned that unrestricted battlefield coverage by the media could hamstring US strategy by weakening public support for military conflict.

News coverage of the Vietnam War

1. Classical direct democracy o Majority rule o Direct citizen participation...Citizens come together and discuss/debate policy o Idealistic but impossible to achieve - Tyranny of the majority - Electorate may not be diverse - Impractical in mass society o Equality o Citizen obligation to society o Direct citizen participation o Well-crafted rhetorical arguments 2. Liberal democracy o Free market --> private marketplace of ideas o Emphasis of individual rights and freedoms o In modern sense: this theory is referred to as "democracy" o Natural rights because you are human - Life, liberty, property o Public and private spheres - Private = people can do as they please - Public = representative government o Can be flawed because government can limit rights o Communication plays crucial role because they view politics as a market place of ideas - Hence why competition is important - If the idea works, public opinion grows = can become policy o Treats citizens as a private commodity rather than public good 3. Deliberative democracy o Normative component that emphasizes civility - Thoughtful citizens contributing o Not just about making sure everyone has rights, they say that they should do it in such a way that it enhances the collective good of society o Reasoned public deliberation about issues o Civil discourse o Collective dialogue that influxes police o Forums/articles that encourage deliberation o One of the problems is that "deliberation" may be preachy and dismissive of decisions not based on pure deliberation

Normative theories of democracy (3 - Perloff ch.1)

The routines and procedures followed by news organizations - deadlines in the news cycle, the assignment of reporters to beats (expertise with a particular area or subject matter), and reliance on official sources - have substantial impact on the content and form of news, as do the accessibility and appropriateness of competing stories. o Journalists rely on SOPs for uncovering and reporting the news o an example of an SOP is to examine and mimic the offerings of the competition. A fixture in any broadcast newsroom is the panel of television monitors playing the newscasts of other stations. o You work for media outlets, so you work for a company o Routines: establishing deadlines, assigning reporters, relying on authoritative sources o Pack journalism: the tendency of high prestige news organizations to define the daily agenda

Organizational processes and routines

• 2 aspects - government regulation (public) - privately owned (private) • Government-subsidized media outlets are typically required (by statute) to provide minimal levels of public affairs content, whereas privately owned outlets are generally free to do as they please • 3 models of ownership - purely public - mixed (government funding and private donations like PBS) - purely commercial

Patterns of media ownership

• an individual exposed to incivility is likely to have more negative perceptions of the news article that precedes the comments, especially if he/she is more religious • people with stronger views are more likely to respond to incivility negatively • in the experiment in the reading, those who saw uncivil comments perceived more bias in the news blog post compared with those who saw civil comments

Potential effect of incivility on the issue perception

PRIMING • The impact of the media agenda on the criteria voters employ to evaluate candidates for public office o When the media becomes important because many peoples' perceptions come from what they see in outlets -Covered more = bigger issue -Media shapes perception on who/what to vote for -"this is the issue you need to focus on" • A psychological concept that describes the way that a prior stimulus influences reactions to a subsequent message o Issues like the economy..."if you don't have a job you cannot pay the bills...focus on the economy!"

Priming

• In the U.S., the print media have never been subject to the same level of regulation as the broadcast media, because the principal rational for government regulation of broadcasting - that airwaves are a scarce and publicly owned resource - does not apply to print • Over the years, the newspaper industry has become the one of the most monopolistic markets in the american economy • New media are forms of media that are native to computers, computational and relying on computers for distribution. Some examples of new media are websites, mobile apps, virtual worlds, multimedia, computer games, human-computer interface, computer animation and interactive computer installations. • In trying to determine the impact of new media on political campaigning and electioneering, the existing research has tried to examine whether new media supplants conventional media. Television (old media) is still the dominant news source, but new media's reach is growing. What is known is that new media has had a significant impact on elections and what began in the 2008 presidential campaign established new standards for how campaigns would be run. Since then, campaigns also have their outreach methods by developing targeted messages for specific audiences that can be reached via different social media platforms. Both parties have specific digital media strategies designed for voter outreach.

Print media vs. the new media

• Citizens are neither able nor motivated to partake in politics o Americans on average are not able to participate in politics; so they are not participative in American Democracy o In order to participate, you have to have certain knowledge o Many people are not interested - uneducated and/or don't care • The media are neither free nor diverse • Politics is awash in greenbacks • Contrary to deliberative democratic ideals, media coverage of politics is simplistic and superficial and negative

Shortcomings in U.S. democracy

• Spreading activation and spreading inhibition (pg 90) o Shape how we see things and how we see issues o This stereotype is activated and guide how we see the problem o activation spreads from the broad category to a subordinate category o ex: bird is broad category...robin or penguin is the subordinate category

Spreading activation

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE ABOUT AMERICAN MEDIA? • More private ownership o Other countries have 1+ government owned network o If the media is funded publicly, it's supposed to be utilized as public good. So there are requirements and restrictions • Less regulation o More autonomy..can do as they please, cover what they want • more freedom of the press = less corruption

The American system in comparative perspective

THE FCC • Regulates interstate and international communications by radio, TV, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the DC and US territories • Promotes competition, innovation and investment in broadband services and faculties • Revises media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity and localism o Many have been abandoned • Provides leadership in strengthening the defense of the nation's communications infrastructure

The FCC

• It may be psychologically painful to be confronted with information that contradicts what we believe o If we believe in something then we are likely to seek news coverage that confirms our beliefs • Humans engage in wishful thinking o Common trait o 'Wishful' = ideal thinking • Humans seek out even weak evidence to support existing beliefs, and to ignore other evidence o We are not necessarily rational all the time in evaluating what arguments are stronger and what evidence is better o We are more inclined to information that supports our beliefs and reject information that does not • Humans tend to overgeneralize from dramatic examples o Generalize from one example but if that example is dramatic, then it can make it seem like it is reflected of the situation but it may not be that way (Example: generalizing the Muslim faith after 9/11)

The psychology of deception

• Image of a leader o Media can portray a leader Can portray his/her policies Can portray his/her personality • Image of a state o State has to be strong because it has to protect its resources and people o Maximize their power o Cultivate strengths overall The media - both news and entertainment - exert a preeminent effect on the conduct of politics. This viewpoint notes that the news media's choice of issues, and the way they frame the news, can influence leaders and the public.

The role of image in politics

Politics is a process whereby a group of people, whose opinions or interests are initially divergent, reach collective decisions which are generally regarded as binding on the group and enforced as common policy. • Who gets what, when and how o Who the actors are (people, states, institutions, NGOs) o What = resources (natural/ not natural) o When = timing, conditions under which resources could be distributive o How = methods of distribution

What is politics?

• There is a greater volume of political information, more instant communication between leaders and followers, and more opportunities for voter to exert control over a message • It has vastly increased the supply of information, with conventional media, website galore, blogs, and politically oriented social media posts offering a plethora of facts and opinions about politics • technology has also greatly expanded choices, with a wealth of sources and channels available to people • candidates have a major presence on social networking sites • campaign attack ads are immediately posted on YouTube • technology has made it easier for citizens to communicate with leaders • Can be dangerous because of websites like WikiLeaks publishing classified information • it has also lead to uncivil dialog due to internet trolls launching prejudiced invectives against public officials

The role of technology in political communication

1. Personalization - refers to the use of individual human tragedy and trials as a form of news , instead of looking at the large societal, political or economic impacts. 2. Dramatization - basically refers to the art of storytelling in the news. Bennett says that "news drama emphasizes crisis over continuity, the present over the past or the future, and the personalities at their center." (Bennett, 41) 3. fragmentation - "the isolation of stories from each other and from their larger contexts so that information in the news is becomes fragmented and hard to assemble into a big picture." (Bennett,42) 4. Authority disorder bias - refers to the act of reporting the news so that stories are focusing on the restoration of authority in society, rather than on other issues that could be just as worthwhile. the reading gives an example of a newscast in Orlando. The anchor lead in with "breaking news" about the death of an elderly woman. the reporter was on the spot and the cops said "they don't know what happened" and the news played it as a mysterious murder. Turns out the woman naturally died of a heart attack The common link between all 4 biases is that they all essentially get rid of any "issues reporting" in the news.

What are the 4 information biases?

There are three: 1. broad group of leaders and influence agents (elites) 2. the media (news, bloggers, journalists) 3. citizens (civic groups, wall street execs, labor unions)

What are the key players of political communication?

• Create meanings through symbols o Social media o Verbal/talking o Writing o Express via dressing, non-verbal, body language • Strategic o Different audiences you are communicating with o Trying to answer someone's question o How you portray yourself (ex: job interview) o Convincing someone your opinion / to do something • People transmit, interpret and confer meaning

What is communication?

Political communication is the process by which language & symbols , employed by leaders, media or citizens, exert intended or unintended effects on the political cognitions, attitudes or behaviors of individuals or on outcomes that bear on the public policy of a nation, state or community.

What is political communication?

THE MEDIA'S MISSION • Spread information o People can choose whether or not to engage • Shape public opinion o Important in democracy o People elect their representatives and those reps are supposed to promote their causes • Can be used as a tool to advance certain political agenda o Or affect political agenda • Can help shape political parties They apply their own judgements and rules, - it has become such a centerpiece of governing that politicians adapt their behavior to the media's criteria of news-worthiness.

What is the mission of the media?

WHEN DOES AGENDA SETTING WORK? • Who is the most influenced? people engaged by politics but uncertain (about who to vote for etc.) o Media can sway your opinion • News play. Lead news are more influential o People perceive them as more important if they tell you they're the top stories • Partisan media. Facilitating political polarization o Fox News vs MSNBC -People who are more liberal watch MSNBC - People who are more conservative watch Fox News - Pushes differences between ideologies/parties instead of finding common ground • Political system... The more freedom the media has, the more opportunities there are for them to challenge the government's political agenda o Authoritarian states only have 1 media outlets that covers what the government wants to cover = no freedom o Democratic societies = media has freedom of press and can talk about agenda setting

When does agenda setting work?

• close to 50% of Americans get their news from the internet (Perloff pg 38) • Historically, where Americans get their news has depended on the development of new technologies for transmitting information. • As newspapers began to demonstrate both profitability and political independence, civic-minded publishers and editors began to push for the formal training of journalists • With the development of radio in the 1920's and the immediate popularity of radio news, newspapers began to surrender their position as the major source of news • The arrival of TV in the 1950's accentuated this trend, and broadcast news gradually replaced print outlets as the major carriers of news. • the development of cable broadcasting in the early 1980's weakened the major networks' monopoly hold on the TV audience. CNN was the first ll-news cable network • With the adoption of the PC and mobile devices as gateways to the outside world, the competition for news audiences has intensified. • today, all news organizations - big and small - provide their news offering online, giving consumers instant, on-demand access to the news.

Where do Americans get their news?

Objectivity in journalism aims to help the audience make up their own mind about a story, providing the facts alone and then letting audiences interpret those on their own. To maintain objectivity in journalism, journalists should present the facts whether or not they like or agree with those facts. Objective reporting is meant to portray issues and events in a neutral and unbiased manner, regardless of the writers opinion or personal beliefs. There is no such thing as objective news (nor can there be). The real question is not, then, whether or not the media are biased (they are) the question is how are they biased. Cultural bias has to do with the fact that every news story is rooted in a certain time and place (usually invisible - like race relations). Ideological bias is easier to recognize.

biased vs. objective

• Coverage at times of crises o Keep the public informed -Especially if you're in the area of a crisis -Governments also need public support -Audience interprets information o Keep those affected updated o Collaboration between the media and authorities -Usually significant • media helps guide the public's actions during a crisis (direct to shelter, areas that are unsafe etc)

covering crises

• News frames are organizing devices journalists use to tell a coherent story. • ongoing theme that runs throughout a particular story or particular set of stories. ex: war on terror...links a variety of different news stories • once a news frame has been established, it serves 2 important functions - operates like a powerful search engine as journalists go out in search for stories that fit the frame - tools for providing meaning to events (tell audience how to understand a particular event) • news media find themselves dealing with competitive frames

news frames

• Some deaths are more important than other for a particular audience - that is why the news reports only on certain deaths (terrorism > traffic accident) • News is a "social construction". Every society has certain ways of looking at the political world and our news is constructed by taking those assumptions into account • News happens where there are journalists. When an American newspaper decides to place most of its staff in the US, a few staff members in Europe, and none in Africa, it means there will be a steady flow of domestic news, some stories from Europe, and almost nothing from Africa • the decisions made by news editors are based primarily on assumptions about what they assume their particular audience - and their potential audience wants to hear about. This is just one reason why news could never be "objective". The very fact that editors have a very limited amount of space and they they make choices based on what interests their audience means that they are making subjective judgments all the time. • cultural bias does not only have an effect on which countries we hear about, it also has an influence on what we hear about them. ex: when we think of Indonesia, we think of the extraordinary tsunami in 2004 and that's it...one of the consequences of this process is called the principle of representative deviance. The poorer countries are only covered when something extraordinary happens which are almost always negative

cultural bias in the news

DEFINITIONS • Frame is a central organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events, weaving a connection among them. • Framing is selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation and/or solution

frame and framing

• most journalists are urban, nonreligious and liberal • 54% of journalists said they were left of center, 29% said middle of the road and 20% said right of center • journalists were far more likely to vote Democrat for president than Republican • journalists were more liberal on social issues but conservative on economic topics than the general public • journalists will construct liberal news stories • extremely difficult to measure because of news worthiness for a particular topic

ideological bias

• political ideology did not affect perceptions of bias among those who encountered civil comments • those exposed to uncivil comments perceived significantly different bias in the news blog post depending on ideology -moderates and liberals perceived similar levels of bias in the post regardless of the tone of the comments following the information - conservatives exposed to incivility perceived significantly more bias than their counterparts who saw civil comments • perceptions of bias tend to be stronger among individuals who lean toward the right of the political spectrum compared with those who lean left.

incivility and ideology

SOCIAL MEDIA DISCUSSIONS • Uncivil discussion is not equal to democratic ideal of healthy discussion o Offensive comments on the internet o Commentators being rude on cable news • Does incivility affect the opinions of "lurkers" - people who read online discussions without participating them? • Audiences reading uncivil language in blog comments may find the message hostile and make judgments about the issue about on their own preexisting values rather than on the information at hand o Judgment will be affected by uncivil language o Important because the content could be the same • erodes open-mindedness about an issue • A value-based predisposition, such as religiosity, can provide a vehicle for forming an opinion about a low familiarity topic • an individual exposed to incivility is likely to have more negative perceptions of the news article that precedes the comments, especially if he/she is more religious • people with stronger views are more likely to respond to incivility negatively

incivility in social media discussions

INCIVILITY IN THE US POLITCAL ARENA • Uncivil congressional debate • Political conflict • Controversy I I V • Dissatisfaction with the Senate • Negative attitudes towards politicians • Decreased perception of media credibility

incivility in the US political arena

• PRC's poll in October of 2008 said 70% of Americans believed that the press was biased for Obama and 9% for McCain •3 times as many unfavorable stories about McCain than there were positive ones . Vice Versa for Obama • the more successful politicians will always get more favorable coverage - McCain said "economy is strong" during crisis - him falling in the polls didn't help either • there are many cases in which the ideological and commercial interests of the press push in the same direction and this makes it impossible to sort out the "real" reason for bias • peace is not newsworthy - the press love conflict and war

press bias and political partisanship

• Third person effect: the notion that others will be affected by exposure to messages while we are immune o What kind of goals the media pursues • Misinformation is easy to accept if it reinforces what we already believe o Potentially if we encounter some information that is false but if it goes in line in what we think about an issue, we are more likely to think that this information is valid and legitimate • Humans tend to think in terms of stereotypes o Not all Republicans are pro-life o Not all Democrats are anti-second amendment • The hostile media effect and confirmation bias o Hostile Media Effect = people (especially those who have strong partisan views) are more likely to perceive the media as hostile against one side o Confirmation Bias = people with strong partisan views prefer media that shares their views -Conservatives prefer Fox News -Liberals prefer MSNBC -Psychics and astrologers

seeing what we want to see (very similar to traps)

STAGES OF COVERAGE • Stage 1 o The crisis is announced; reporters rush to the scene; regular programs interrupted; people directed to safety; public officials informed; information may not be accurate; reporters pressured to speculate o Media informs public officials too because information is not readily available o Information may not be the most accurate • Stage 2 o Correcting errors; details/data available; discourse being created; media still cooperating with government o The media corrects previous errors o This is when the discourse around the event is being created o Media will continue to cover the situation the way it is convenient for the government desires - Iraq War ... they focused on military operations, successes and avoided showing failures • Stage 3 o Crisis put into larger perspective; discuss aftermath, coping strategies, and plans; coverage of healing ceremonies o Media shows how the people are affected in the aftermath

stages of agenda setting

• when it comes to the type of news stories produced by news agencies, they prepare them with their most important clients in mind (wealthiest customers which are US and Europe) •political power can often be translated into power over the media -Indian journalists are more interested in the US vs vice versa due to international power •most online news sites also have to cater to their audience and including too much "foreign news" can drive people away

the new media and cultural bias

• The "root of my side" trap (page 74) o in the reading, Albert Hastorf published a study on how Princeton and Dartmouth football fans saw a penalty-ridden game in which Princeton quarterback was taken off the field with a concussion. o 86% of the Princeton students said that Dartmouth started the rough play but only 36% of Dartmouth fans saw it that way o content that agrees with out views simply seems true while material that seems biased stands out in our minds and makes us look for a reason to reject it • "Because" is a "magic word" (pg 80) o "would you like to buy a cookie BECAUSE it's for a good cause" ... you do not know what the cause it but the word "because" has a rational reason to do so o "can I cut in line to make a copy BECAUSE I'm running late" ... the word because makes someone not evaluate the reason and just go with it because SOME reason was provided to you

traps