Chapter 10.2 (POLS:American Govt)

What are the main characteristics of thematic and episodic framing? Be sure to be able compare each type of frame.

Episodic frame: -leads the news consumer to react to an event in a visceral and emotional way; portrays an even as a stand-alone occurrence Thematic frame: -understands the causes of the event and perceives it relative to broader longer-term trends and patterns; puts the event in broader context

What is the "equal time rule"? What is the consequence for television and radio stations that break this rule?

Equal-time rule: states that registered candidates running for office must be given equal opportunities for airtime and advertisements at noncable television and radio stations being 45 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election

What is Section 230? Why is it controversial in today's social media environment?

Established that online platforms may not be sued for content posted by users on their sites even if the platforms act like publishers by, for example, moderating posts, establishing community standards, and distributing commercial advertisements

What is the "Fairness Doctrine"? Is it still in use today?

Fairness doctrine: required licensed stations to cover controversial issues in a balanced manner by providing listeners with information about all perspectives on any controversial issue -Ended in 1980s

According to the textbook, when does ideological bias become a problem?

1st: if one is exposed to biased content from only one ideological viewpoint 2nd: problematic if it leads toward false or misleading reporting

What is meant be "indecency regulations"? When (and why), according to textbooks, do current FCC regulations allow broadcasters to show indecent programming or air profane language?

Indecency regulations: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the authority to regulate obscene content

What is market bias?

Market bias: pervasive phenomenon influencing the content produced by the news media -lack of audience demand discourages investment in high-quality programming; high-quality programming costs more money, and organizations want to save

Net neutrality has been an important issue in the past decade. What is net neutrality? What is the debate around it? How did the Obama and the Trump administration each approach the issue?

Net Neutrality: the idea that Internet Service Providers must treat all web traffic equally, and therefore may not be allowed to charge different rates or discriminate against different websites -Net neutrality has been the default rule of the internet An attempt was made to fortify net neutrality rules in 2015 by the Obama administration The Trump administration, the FCC reversed that course by ending net neutrality

Be sure to know how the Supreme Court has interpreted the freedom of the press. Has it passed judgments to limit the freedom of press at all?

The freedom of press is not absolute, the supreme court has interpreted the freedom of expression as forbidding most, but not all, content-based restrictions on political expression

Be sure to know and understand each of the following types of media effects (and how they differ from each other):

o Agenda setting: covering some events and issues more than others o Priming: leading us to unconsciously bring certain considerations to the top of our head when we evaluate the issue o Framing: highlighting particular considerations or aspects of the issue

Be sure to know and understand the following terms:

o Civic Salad: the best and healthiest political information, which should be consumed in abundance: factually reliable, ideologically diverse, but not ideologically extreme o Civic Poison: the worst sources available, which should always be avoided: factually unreliable opinion, misinformation, and/or propaganda o Left/Right-Wing Dessert: Factually reliable information, but extreme left-wing ideological content that should be consumed, if at all, in moderation

Make sure to know if the following tend to be liberal or conservative:

o Journalists: liberal o Owners of (and shareholders) of major media organizations: conservative, might use their power as owners to influence content

Be sure to know which of these media are regulated by either the courts, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), or both:

o Newspapers= court o Television= court and FCC o Radio= court and FCC o Cable= court and FCC o Satellite= court and FCC

Which ideological group (liberals or conservatives) more often claims the mainstream media to be ideologically biased against them?

Conservatives/Republicans in particular are adamant that the mainstream media has a liber/Democratic party bias

According to the textbook, there are two main dimensions used to assess media sources. Be sure to know and understand these dimensions.

Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact check -provide assessments of political media sources based on the two dimensions considered here: factual reliability and ideological bias