AP gov chapter 6
political agenda
a list of issues that people identify as needing government attention. Those who set the political agenda define which issues government decision makers should discuss and debate. -Even when crime rates fall, the public encounters a continuing gusher of crime news and, as a result, a relatively high fear of crime.
watchdog journalism
journalism that scrutinizes public and business institutions and publicizes perceived misconduct hey consider it their job to search for inaccuracies in fact and weaknesses in argument
Mass communication
process by which information is transmitted to large, heterogeneous, widely dispersed audiences
The First Amendment to the Constitution
prohibits Congress from abridging the freedom of the press. Over time, the press has come to mean all media, and the courts have decided many cases that define how far freedom of the press extends under the law. -they have not permitted obscene expression under freedom of the press
Broadcast media
radio and television, communicate information electronically, through sounds and images. The Internet has made the distinction between print and broadcast media problematic, as newspapers and magazines now have an online presence that provides video clips to accompany news articles, and television and radio news programs have websites that provide tex
efforts to maintain order
whether the media should be allowed to publish information about "sensitive issues related to national security" or whether the government should be able to prevent publishing such information, a solid majority (59 percent) favored government censorship. The media's ability to report whatever they wish and whenever they wish certainly erodes efforts to maintain order. -But we should not ignore the fact that democracies sometimes sacrifice order when they preserve this freedom
horse race journalism
which media coverage becomes primarily a matter of which candidate is leading in the polls and who has raised the most money. Study after study of news coverage of presidential elections find that horse race coverage dominates and that horse race content increases as Election Day approaches. Journalists cover the horse race because it offers new material daily, whereas the candidates' programs remain the same.
media relating to polls
-Citizens and journalists both complain that heavy reliance on polls during election campaigns causes the media to emphasize the horse race and slights the discussion of issues. But the media also use their polling expertise for other purposes, such as gauging support for going to war and for criminal justice reform. -Decades of public opinion research confirm that public opinion often influences policy, a clear indication of government functioning according to the majoritarian model of democracy.
Regulation of Content
-The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits Congress from abridging the freedom of the press. Over time, the press has come to mean all media, and the courts have decided many cases that define how far freedom of the press extends under the law.
the FCC operated under three rules to promote the public interest
-The fairness doctrine obligated broadcasters to provide fair coverage of all views on public issues. - The equal opportunities rule (also known as the equal time rule) required any broadcast station that gave or sold time to a candidate for a public office to make an equal amount of time available under the same conditions to all other candidates for that office. -The reasonable access rule required that stations make their facilities available for the expression of conflicting views on issues by all responsible elements in the community. -the FCC repealed the fairness doctrine.
three rules to promote the public interest concerning political matters
-The fairness doctrine obligated broadcasters to provide fair coverage of all views on public issues. -The equal opportunities rule (also known as the equal time rule) required any broadcast station that gave or sold time to a candidate for a public office to make an equal amount of time available under the same conditions to all other candidates for that office. - The reasonable access rule required that stations make their facilities available for the expression of conflicting views on issues by all responsible elements in the community. -he FCC repealed the fairness doctrine
Contributions to Democracy
-in a democracy, communication must move in two directions: from government to citizens and from citizens to government.
Federal Communications Commission
Federal agency that regulates the radio, television, wire, satellite and cable communications. sets social, economic, and technical goals for the communications industry and deals with philosophical issues of regulation versus deregulation. Today, the FCC's charge includes regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable, and satellite. -as issues of ownership, access, and cross-platform content have arisen. -which has five members (no more than three from the same political party) nominated by the president for terms of five years. The commissioners can be removed from office only through impeachment and conviction. -By law, its vague mandate is to "serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity." -The FCC sets social, economic, and technical goals for the communications industry and deals with philosophical issues of regulation versus deregulation. --Today, the FCC's charge includes regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable, and satellite. -Advocates of dropping all FCC content regulations argue that the broadcast media should be just as free as other media to decide which candidates they endorse and which issues they support.
media influences
How the media cover the news can either exacerbate or diminish socioeconomic differences in levels of political knowledge. When the news is presented with lots of expert commentary—which tends to involve jargon and complex explanations—those who are more affluent and educated learn more from news coverage than those Americans who are less well off. But when the news is presented in a more contextual fashion—which tends to focus on the historical and factual background of an issue—socioeconomic differences in political knowledge diminish. -News is also often communicated to the public via entertainment instead of journalism. So-called soft news refers to general entertainment programming that often includes discussions of political affairs -The media's ability to influence public opinion by defining "the news" makes politicians eager to influence media coverage. Politicians attempt to affect not only public opinion but also the opinions of other political leaders.
Government Regulation of the Media
In general, government regulation of the mass media addresses three aspects of their operation: technical considerations, ownership, and content.
gatekeepers
Media executives, news editors, and prominent reporters directing the news flow: they decide which events to report and how to handle the elements in those stories. They not only select what topics go through the gate but also are expected to uphold standards of careful reporting and principled journalism.
Is Reporting Biased?
News reports are presented as objective reality, yet critics of modern journalism contend that the news is filtered through the ideological biases of the media owners and editors (the gatekeepers) and the reporters themselves. -esearch suggests that as the parties have become more polarized (see Chapter 11) and as the presence of opinionated journalism has proliferated, political leaders increasingly go to ideologically friendly media outlets in order to criticize the rest of the media as an institution -On the one hand, news reporters are often criticized for tilting their stories in a liberal direction, promoting social equality and undercutting social order. On the other hand, wealthy and conservative media owners are suspected of preserving inequalities and reinforcing the existing order by serving a relentless round of entertainment that numbs the public's capacity for critical analysis. -The counterargument is that working journalists in the national and local media often conflict with their own editors, who tend to be more conservative. Editors, in their function as gatekeepers, tend to tone down reporters' liberal leanings by editing their stories or not placing them well in the medium. Newspaper publishers are also free to endorse candidates. -The mere act of choosing to cover some stories while not covering others can also be seen as bias, and in that sense, some degree of bias is inevitable.
Reporting the News
To meet daily deadlines, White House correspondents rely heavily on information they receive from the president's staff, each piece carefully crafted in an attempt to control the story. The most frequent form is the news release—a prepared text distributed to reporters in the hope that they will use it verbatim. -o meet daily deadlines, White House correspondents rely heavily on information they receive from the president's staff, each piece carefully crafted in an attempt to control the story. The most frequent form is the news release—a prepared text distributed to reporters in the hope that they will use it verbatim. A daily news briefing enables reporters to question the press secretary about news releases and allows television correspondents time to prepare their stories and film for the evening newscast. A news conference involves questioning high-level officials in the executive branch—including the president -Most news about Congress comes from press releases issued by its 535 members, from congressional reports, and, increasingly, from the members' own social networking accounts. Coverage of policy debates typically mirrors the intensity with which congressional actors seek to promote them.
Private Ownership of the Media
When the government controls the news flow, the people may have little chance to learn what the government is doing or to pressure it to behave differently. Certainly that is true in China. -In other Western democracies, the print media are privately owned, but the broadcast media often are not. -makes the media more dependent on advertising revenues to cover costs and make a profit. Because advertising rates are tied to audience size, news operations in America must appeal to the audiences they serve. -Entertainment increases the audience, which increases advertising revenues. The profit motive creates constant pressure to increase the ratio of entertainment to news or to make the news itself more entertaining. -he primary criterion of a story's newsworthiness is usually its audience appeal, which is judged according to its potential impact on readers or listeners, its degree of sensationalism -Local news epitomizes market-driven journalism by matching audience demographics to advertising revenue while slighting news about government, policy, and public affairs. -As parent corporations demand that news programs "pay their way," networks succumb to infotainment—a mix of information and diversion oriented to personalities or celebrities, not linked to the day's events, and usually unrelated to public affairs or policy.
Federal Radio Act
declared that the public owned the airwaves and private broadcasters could use them only by obtaining a license from the Federal Radio Commission. Thus, government regulation of broadcasting was not forced on the industry by socialist politicians; capitalist owners sought it to impose order on the use of the airwaves
four specific functions the mass media serve for the political system
reporting the news, interpreting the news, setting the agenda for government action, and socializing citizens about politics.
Ownership Regulations
roadcast media operate under more stringent regulations than print media, initially because of technical aspects of broadcasting -Federal Radio Act (1927), which declared that the public owned the airwaves and private broadcasters could use them only by obtaining a license from the Federal Radio Commission. Thus, government regulation of broadcasting was not forced on the industry by socialist politicians; -Federal Communications Commission
media events
situations that are too "newsworthy" to pass up. The media have been described as having an "alarm mode," in which it seems like every news outlet is drawn to a story to the extent that virtually every other issue gets ignored, and a "patrol mode," in which journalists remain focused on the story even after the initial burst of attention has subsided.
Print media
such as newspapers, communicate information through the publication of words and pictures on paper.Broadcast media
Repeal of Fairness Doctrine
the National Association of Broadcasters says that the elimination of the fairness doctrine has played a large role in the proliferation of news and opinion alternatives now available to media consumers. Indeed, some observers suggest that there might be too much diversity among news sources today and that the variation in content and quality is contributing to a population that is less informed and more polarized.
television hypothesis
the belief that television is to blame for the low level of citizens' knowledge about public affairs. This belief has a reasonable basis. We know that television tends to squeeze issues into short fragments, which makes it difficult to explain the news in depth. Television also tends to cast abstract issues in personal terms to generate the visual content that the medium needs. Thus, viewers may become more adept at visually identifying the public figures than at knowing facts about complex issues.
newsworthiness
the degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media
mass media
the means for communicating to these audiences. Traditionally, the mass media has been divided into two types: print and broadcast.
going public
the president travels around the country speaking to Americans directly about his policy agenda. The goal is twofold: first, to generate media coverage of the speaking event; and, second, to motivate citizens to pressure their representatives to support the president's agenda.
Communication
the process of transmitting information from one individual or group to another.
