Polisci 120B
End of Network Domination
Before the 1980's, there were three main news channels that everyone watched: CBS, ABC, NBC CNN, created in 1980, became the first 'all news' cable network channel. It was soon followed by Fox, MSNBC, etc By 2002, 82% of American households had access to cable. Fox currently dominated cable ratings. It has prompted CNN and MSNBC to adopt more 'talk' and partisan views.
broadcast audiences
Broadcast news audience is tiny compared with sports/entertainment The top three network newscast (their combined audience) equals the circulation for the top 40 newspapers Cable news attracts a much smaller audience than networks. Cable audience grow during periods of crisis or controversy
The end of network domination
CNN, the first 'all news' cable network created in 1980. It was soon followed by FOX, CNBC, and MSNBC By 2002, 82% of American households had access to cable Fox dominated the cable ratings. It has prompted MSNBC and CNN to adopt more 'talk' and partisan views Ratings went up for cable news talk shows from 2015 to 2017
collective action
How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives, including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. its extremely easy to organize collective action now Using social media and twitter to mobilize and network campaign activists - 'smart mobs' Using the internet for fundraising L owering the cost of communication lowers threshold for mounting a campaign Any candidate with a website or facebook page can instantly sign up volunteers, send them assignments for upcoming events, and solicit funds IT thus levels the playing field
Political bosses and immigrants
Immigrants exchanged political independence for well-being/security. Urban machine = able to facilitate immigrants' political/economic integration Immigrants: formed the "docile mass base" bosses needed. They would buy votes with services: representatives, career ladders, group recognition Three kinds of needs 1. Basic needs 2. Buffer against an unfamiliar state 3. Social ties
Targeting via social media
In 2016, the Clinton-Trump campaigns spent $80 million on Facebook ads, a figure representing 40 percent of all their online ads, and nearly one-quarter of their spending on broadcast ads With online ads advertisers can target their audiences more precisely because web browsing behavior has been integrated with marketing and political databases revealing individuals' preferences not just about politics, but
Difference between European and American parties
In European democracies, you are required to vote with your party. In the US, defection is not normal but not uncommon.
Regulation on TV
In cities with more than 4 TV stations, a single owner can control a newspaper and two TV stations In 1976, stations were required to air a least 5% community programming and 5% news and public affairs (so only 10% NON ENTERTAINMENT) In 1984, the FCC abandoned these requirements. Now they only need to 'aire some programming that meets the community needs'
Exposure to public broadcasting
In most European countries, market shares of the public broadcasters are substantial (30-40%) PUBLIC BROADCASTER IS GIVEN EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO COVER SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE COUNTRY. Ex: BBC has all rights to the Olympics In the US, the public market share for broadcasting is LESS THAN 1%
Winnowing and Momentum
In races with multiple candidates, journalists have an interest in 'winnowing' the field; they do so by writing obituaries on the candidates who do not perform well in early primaries (Iowa) Early primaries are overrepresented in the media Level of support for John Kerry in 2004 skyrockets after the Iowa primary. McCain was similar in 2008 after New Hampshire. Doing well means beating the "expectations game"
Political disobedience and social media
In recent years several dictatorships have been toppled because anti-regime groups mobilized thousands of their supporters Case of the Arab spring: authoritarian rule in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia challenged through online mobilization London Riots: twitter and blackberry brought hordes of teenagers together to attack neighborhoods throughout the weekend.
cognitive dissonance
Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions. Dissonance avoidance as an inevitable human response to conflict and controversy
Voter care on competence
It directly affects the probability of his or her being able to deliver benefits once elected With limited info, voters will choose someone who seems capable of managing the affairs of the country If candidate is elected, he or she will have to solve many problems no one can anticipate on election day.
Authoritative sources
It turns out that most of the information and serious data we get can be traced to official (government) sources. This makes us think journalists and the government has an adversarial relationship Example: Department of homeland security were significantly undercounting the number of families separated.
Feeding frenzy
Usually, when a story about the personal misconduct of a candidate comes out (Gary Hart), the media feeds on it and the candidates almost always misdraws This shows the inherently adversarial relationship between journalists and politicians However, Trump somehow managed to win despite this feeding frenzing, even though all political analysts predicted it was his downfall Obama and Reverand Wright feeding frenzy: he went on national television during his campaign and made a speech about race relations But this happened after the Iowa caucus... what would have happened if it happened before? These include Gary Hart, Herman Cain, and Donald Trump, which some might say the three major networks covered way too much.
Stability of PID
parent-offspring agreement for Pid around 65 percent In stoker-jenning study, high school seniors interviewed 5 times throughout life. Parent ID and presidential vote choice remain constant
Default Value
parties ideologies create values on which party voters often rely upon for default
Super delegates
party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses. These superdelegates have strengthened the prevalence of political parties in the primary election cycle.
Information shortcut
people use limited amounts of information to draw conclusions on voting Most Americans are not very well informed about the government and politics. • Shortcuts are used to keep people somewhat informed • Americans use past experience, daily life, the media, and the opinions of others as shortcuts
Historic progress of American media landscape
Before 1950, this was the heyday of american print media. Radio was also popular during WWII. 1950's-1980's: rapid diffuse of TV media and emergence of news networks as #1 source 1980-1990: advent of cable TV weakens network domination 1990-2015: new technologies, social networks; from websites to twitter
motivated reasoning
processing information in a way that allows consumers to reach the conclusion that they want to reach. As political discourse becomes more conflictual, and partisans become more loyal, the expectation is that Americans will increasingly seek out supportive information
rational ignorance
the state of being uninformed about politics because of the cost in time and energy. The public uses cues and heuristics as inexpensive substitutes. Popkin's notion of "gut rationality" and "fire alarms" Party ID and competence as shortcuts Incumbency and "experience
Bayesian framework
what you believe to be true (in terms of news) depends partially on priors, as well as with models of motivated reasoning.
Varieties of selective exposure
"Attentive Public Hypothesis": the rich get richer, gap between the information haves and have-nots is widened. Some americans don't pay attention to public affairs Polarization hypothesis: people seek out information they expect to agree with Issue public hypothesis: people seek out information on issues that affect them personally Implications: withdrawal of the apathetic, polarization of the junkies We no longer have this large audience of Americans that consume similar news, people are self selecting
Partisanship of fake news
- as there has been a general decline in trust of the media, people are turning to alternative news sources -anti-Clinton fake news stories got more traction than anti-Trump news stories. Republicans are for some reason more likely to enjoy or believe fake news A lot of people can't tell the difference between real and fake news. Lots of fake news is shared via facebook.
Impact of 1968 reform
- weakened position of party elites -increased candidate autonomy -increased importance of media coverages and momentum -Mobilizing factions rather than broad-based coalitions became the dominant strategy; -Professionalization of campaigns - polling and advertising as specialized tasks
Party Identification & Shortcuts
-Party identification functions as a shortcut for voting -Studies have shown that party loyalty undermines the effects of mass media. Uncertainty allows for party ideology/identifications: Voters are often uncertain about policy specifics and benefits and revert to the default values of their party.
1968 Election
-Robert Kennedy, McCarthy, and Hubert Humphrey were all trying to get the democratic nomination. Humphrey entered the race late and relied on 'old politics' (support from bosses and elites), while Kennedy and McCarthy relied on new politics and tried to get the nomination through popular support. Although McCarthy was very popular and anti-Vietnam, Humphrey got the nomination. Afterwards when he was defeated by Nixon, the whole primary election cycle changed to give greater power to the public.
Facebook echo chambers
-Tailored news based on algorithms (what you like to read and what your friends share) -your social network base of followers, friends, or subscribers shared content -Although normative scholars often argue that exposure to a diverse "marketplace of ideas" is key to a healthy democracy, a number of studies have found that exposure to cross-cutting viewpoints is associated with lower levels of political participation.
Disappearance of public sphere
-the absence of serious programming in US is attributable to weak regulatory framework and strong economic incentives -weekly supply of nonentertainment programming fell dramatically after deregulation -with the influx of cable news and online media, people now have more options of where to get their news from
4 functions of news media
1. Inform the people: Deliver information on the issues of the day 2. Public Sphere: Provide exposure to a wide range of political perspectives 3. Electoral Forum: Permit candidates, parties, and other groups to make political presentations before a mass audience This 'mass audience' doesn't exist anymore. We now have niche audiences (FOX, MSNBC) 4. Watchdog Function: Monitor actions of government officials. 'Whistle blowers' -Recently, the press has also turned into the lap dog function.
Reasons to produce fake news
1. Low bar of entry: costs are not high, and you can produce it from anywhere (like Macedonia) 2. ad revenue 3. political gain: try to spread fake news about your opponent in order to gain support for your opponent
Importance of primaries.
1) Increased importance of media coverage and 'momentum' -The primary process is 6 months worth of elections -In the early races, the press is trying to winow the field; label some candidates as having no change and being losers. -They do this by looking at the New Hampshire and Iowa primaries. Creates a bandwagon effect EX: Obama beat Clinton in the Iowa primary 2) Mobilizing factions rather than broad-based coalitions became the dominant strategy; Additional problem of representativeness of primary electorate -People who vote in primaries are hard line republicans or hard line democrats; they are over represented. -So, the candidates that win primaries tend to be less centrist. This is a huge problem; the overrepresentation of ideological extremes. 3)Professionalization of campaigns - polling and advertising as specialized tasks
Functions of Political Parties
1) Nominating function- nominate a candidate through the primary elections 2) Voters: Mobilize citizens to vote Reduce information costs of voters. Known as ballot roll off (at the bottom of the ballot, you get a lot of people not voting because you don't have R or D next to the name) 3) Elections: Deliver policy benefits following election. There are key driving forces in elections (Healthcare for Obama, a Wall for trump)
Role of social media in galvanizing protests
1) Solves free rider problem by giving protest leaders ability to monitor actions of followers and by giving people information on the 'risk threshold' 2) provides counter narrative to official media by publicizing grievances and reports of 'atrocities' (shooting of unarmed civilians) 3) lowers cost of recruiting group members 4) strengthens feelings of collective identity and in-group solidarity 5) allows protestors to attract global audience and sympathy
Effects of increasing campaigning through new media
1. Candidates and political parties will regain their ability to communicate directly with voters in their own words. They can reshape and create their own narrative away from journalists. 2. IT may redress age-related inequalities in political participation • Youth especially fluent in IT • Synthesis of IT and politics may get them involved in political process - case of 2008
Softening of the news
1. Changes in management culture News divisions no longer subsidized. They need to adapt to a market model now. 2. Cost cutting in the 1990's 'Several of the most basic principles of serious journalism - worldwide news coverage, multiple correspondents working the same story, and the commitment of getting the story right all became victims of the new economic logic' The vanishing of international bureaus: because of lack of funding, news organizations no longer have that many offices or correspondents abroad. Instead, they often take footage and buy it from foreign companies. 3. Acceleration of the news cycle The case of the Lewinsky dress... if you're not first you're last. This may lead to some inaccurate reporting 4. Declining Personnel the number of journalists entering the field has decreased while the workload of each one has increased
Types of primaries
1. Closed primary (most common): eligibility to vote based on registration 2. Open primary - open to ANY registered voter; opposed by party organizations as it permits strategic voting -(But sometimes voters of opposite parties can try to deliberately weaken the nomination of the other side) 3. Blanket or 'top two' primary (CA and WA) - all candidates from all parties on the same ballot; in practice, outcomes from CA and WA not different from those in states with closed systems
socialization agents
1. Family-Parents (There isn't necessarily a deliberate indoctrination. But there is a high correlation between parent view and offspring view) 2. Peer group 3. Civic education-schooling 4. Mass media 5. Direct experience
Forms of Regulation
1. Mandating frequency and timing of news broadcasts 2. Diversity of perspective (fairness doctrine) 3. Equality of coverage across parties (case of equal time in the US) 4. Ownership restrictions (ban on cross ownerships) 5. Subsidies
Different models of media
1. Mirror image: News is a reflection of the real world. It is a reliable and unbiased sample of the major events of the day. 2. Market model: news is what sells. News organizations seek to survive in a competitive environment. 3. Organization process model: professional norms and standard operating procedures of journalism are key influencers on judgements about newsworthiness
Consequence of echo chambers
1. Misinformation and biased beliefs -CNN lied about covington high school -Trump lied about inauguration crowd. 2. Reinforcement of partisan sentiment 3. Intolerance- Animosity, weakening of democratic norms People do not tolerate other points of beliefs anymore.
What two theories predict the determinants of news coverage?
1. News as 'mirror image' News is a reflection of the real world A reliable and unbiased sample of the major events of the day 2. Market model News is 'what sells' News organizations seek to survive in a competitive environment
Properties of media systems
1. Ownership -In the US, it is all private ownership, with the exception of NPR and PBS. -In Europe, it is subsidized by taxpayers 2. Regulation -US has relatively weak regulation compared to Europe 3. Party Parallelism - Are their linkages between media organizations and party organizations? In the US there is not as much as we think there is. For example, NYT, CNN, Washington Post are all independent. The outliers are MSNBC and Fox. But, the perception is that the New York Times is super liberal. BUT, there is still a tradition of objectivity in America -In other countries, the tradition of partisan news is much more developed. 4. Journalism -Professionalized... this is a profession with requirements, not just random. You have to get a degree in journalism. There are values and norms that go into reporting the news. -In other countries, it is politicized, and there are far fewer requirements
Properties of American media system
1. Private ownership 2. Weak Regulation 3. Tradition of Objectivity 4. Professionalized Journalism
Role of journalists
1. Professionalized journalism in the US: there are well-developed norms and codes of conduct, ie 'social norms' 2. There is autonomy from political movements or groups. For the most part, there is 'objectivity' in the US -Objectivity is usually defined by how much time you give to each side in a debate or interview Note: dominance of partisan press in the US from 1800-1850). For the most part, US news outlets are pretty objective, even compared to European outlets. 3. Media vs Unmediated coverage of political actors -Interpretive coverage in the US... gives you an explanation for WHY something happened, not just if something happened. Now, the voice of the journalist is very important. -Descriptive reporting everywhere else
Types of Broadcasting
1. Publicly owned broadcasting Government subsidized broadcasting. Ensures the provision of certain types of 'welfare-enhancing' programming that the market alone would not provide This is serious news, like about climate change, which people may not be interested in, but are still really important. 1. Commercial broadcasting -Seeks to deliver largest possible audience at lowest possible cost -Deliver programs with shallow but wide appeal
Who believe fake news the most?
1. Republicans 2. Those that use social media a lot 3. Those without a diverse range of friends on social media 4. Those who already decided who they were going to vote for 3 months before the election.
Properties of Public Opinion
1. Valence: positive/negative, liberal/conservative 2. Stability: basic predispositions such as PID remain stable over the life cycle (subject to some fluctuation) 3. Informed vs uninformed-misinformed; does it matter that Americans know little? Would elections come out differently if voters were well informed?
forms of regulation
1.Subsidies 2.Ownership restrictions (ban on 'cross ownership') 3.Equality of coverage across parties (case of equal time in the US) 4. Diversity of perspectives 5. Mandating frequency and timing of news broadcasts (When American stations had to run 'hard news', they ran it during the times where people weren't watching, like at 6pm )
History of deregulation
1987: the FCC repeals the fairness doctrine. -they claimed access to the airwaves was no longer a scarce resource -cable TV was seen as a substitute for basic TV -shifted towards a more market Time Warner challenged the cap on cable ownership and won
Advertisement sweep
4 times a year , audience size is recorded for each station. Size of audience locks in advertising rates for the next quarter. So, stations 'sell' audiences to advertisers
Print media
6 news organizations own a large part of the circulation in the US. They own lots of smaller organizations Daily circulation for the top ten newspapers is approximately half that of the combined daily audience for judge judy and jeopardy Ad revenue from print media has dropped 75% since 2000! It is hard for them to be profitable anymore
pack journalism
A method of news gathering in which news reporters all follow the same story. Top-down: High prestige sources are dictating the content of the news agenda for everyone else. An example is Johnny Apple from NYT Bottom-Up: News organizations with no real prestige capture the public's interest, forcing the big boys to pick up on these stories -Example: the OJ simpson trial, where every single person was captivated. At first, the NYT didn't even send a correspondant because they didn't think it was serious enough. -So, are new media (like huffington post, vox, politico) leaders or followers?
party realignment
A period in which the composition of the party coalitions is complete realigned. There have only been four such realignments in US history, with the most recent one being FDR and the new deal in 1932. FDR lead the working class to be democratic, while wealthy people became republican.
Induced selection
A possible explanation for why there is so much spousal political agreement. Choice based on non-political attribute (e.g. wealth, race) could be correlated with PID.
Official briefing
A type of information briefing that arose especially in the area of foreign affairs and war in the post Vietnam era. The pentagon or another office would give a group of reporters facts about the situation abroad... so not exactly an equal situation.
Online Networks polarized
Almost 70% of people have facebook in America. People that are liberal or conservative tend to have higher percentages of liberal or conservative friends. Recirculation of news: Since Facebook users' encounters with political information reflect the content that is shared by their friends, there is a clear partisan bias to information exposure. Democrats tend to be exposed to more left- leaning content, while Republicans encounter more right-leaning content.
"Knowledge Gap"
Americans are much less informed than their European counterparts about political issues. 1) Differences in media systems: -Lead to differences in the production and supply of 'civic' information -Existence of 'inadvertent audience' for news 2) Market-oriented, unregulated media systems -Systematically under-produce 'serious' news (supply-side explanation) Things like the Taliban, Climate change, don't get systematic coverage (unlike Europe) 4) Differences in 'supply' -European systems require broadcasters, both private and public, to deliver frequent news programs -American media system entirely deregulated; networks and TV stations free to offer no news programming -Europeans aren't better people that want to be naturally more informed... they just are required to broadcast more hard news.
Fairness Doctrine
An FCC requirement that broadcasters who air programs on controversial issues provide time for opposing views FCC appealed it during 1987. The claim was that the media was so rich and diversified, we don't need these regulations. Television was more heavily regulated with the fairness doctrine There weren't as many channels (cable) in the 1960's so you basically all had to watch the same thing Fairness doctrine removed in the reagan era, and you have this split about what you can say on the news. Now instead of just the 'mirror image' model, you get the market mode. News is 'what sells'.
Proximity voting
Argues that all other things being equal, the voter will choose the candidate who is least distant from them. voting for candidate whose position is nearest to theirs and voters consider all candidates and parties equally able to carry out their promises
Combat Stories
Autonomy imperative leads to adversarial coverage, especially directed at front-running candidates. Unlike 50 years ago, journalists want to call their own shots and analyse instead of just repeat.
Micro-targeting
Campaign consultants analyze dozens of pieces of demographic, political, and consumer data to determine what issues, themes, and arguments are likely to move a voter or group of similar voters toward a candidate This has been done with political ads on cable television recently... using your ad to reach a number of thousands of people in a specific area.
soft money
Campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities. The increase of these contributions has been a way to give to and control candidates and increase the prevalence of parties in the election cycle.
Open style news management
Characterized by spontaneity, and open access to candidates granted to both reporters and the public.
Closed style news management
Characterized by staged media events, audience screenings, prepared questions, and lack of candidate access granted to reporters Closed-style management forces news media into a corner and results in the generation of negative, investigative coverage. As such we observe "product substitution," in which journalists provide their own, mostly negative, candidate coverage, in the absence of information from the candidate herself.
Decline of political machines
Cited possible factors: direct primary, nonpartisan systems of election, voting machines, tightened registration requirements, city-manager schemes Elimination of patronage with installation of civil service based on merit The New Deal (1933) Decline of immigration was most important factor (Legislation in 1921 and 1924)
Product substitution
Closed-style management forces news media into a corner and results in the generation of negative, investigative coverage. As such we observe "product substitution," in which journalists provide their own, mostly negative, candidate coverage, in the absence of information from the candidate herself. "Candidates' efforts at news management will correlate with the amount of media-initiated negativity directed toward them." the way candidates manage reporters and campaign events has a large effect on the amount of media-initiated negativity they receive. "The content of political communication is heavily determined by the disparate interests of politicians, journalists, and citizens as each group jostles to get what it wants out of politics."
indexing news (domestic vs foreign)
Definition: those issues and views that are subject to high-level political debate are most likely to receive news attention that is wide-ranging; issues not subject to debate receive less critical attention. Indexing theory thus attempts to predict the nature of the content of news about political and policy topics Domestic issues often get a lot more media time because there is more 'open information'. Foreign news gets a lot less media time because there is 'closed information'. Contrast coverage of shutdown with coverage of US troops killed in Niger
Electoral function of political parties (Europe and Merica)
Deliver voters - party members versus party identifiers -We don't really have any formal membership dues and policies for being a republican or democrat. It is more of an identity... if you call yourself a democrat or republican. -However, party-line voting exceeds party line voting in Europe. Select candidates - party organizations control recruitment of elected officials in Europe and run campaigns (no messages on behalf of individual candidates) In US, 'free agent' candidates contest elections on their own with party organizations playing only a minor role
Updated European market share
Deregulation and expanded number of private broadcasters has weakened dominance of public broadcasters There is a movement in Europe towards a more privatized media machine
Persistence of early learning
Early childhood is an especially formative phrase. What you define as a high schooler is exactly what you define yourself when you are elderly
inadvertent audience
Early days- people watched the news because it was the only thing on. Public broadcasters are required to air frequent news bulletins during prime time in Europe. News therefore reaches people uninterested in politics. People are FORCED to consume news. In America, deregulation has destroyed the inadvertent audience.
Regulation and Deregulation
Early regulation had rules like One to a market rule, ban on cross-ownership, No cable operator could control more than 30% of the market. With deregulation in the 1980's, now we have giant corporations and homogeneity of program content (Fox and the Wallstreet journal are owned by the same entity) We also have the advent and rise in popularity of cable news, like CNN and Fox.
horse race journalism
Election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues. rather than talking about policy views of the candidate, they are talking about who is ahead and who is behind. This is an incredibly easy story to report... you don't have to go anywhere, and gives the reporter complete control over the storyline Horse race, sex sleaze and 'character' dominate the candidate's performance and ideology.
Difference in Supple: America vs Europe
European systems require broadcasters, both private and public, to deliver frequent news programing American media system is entirely deregulated; networks and TV stations free to offer no news programming
evidence of selectivity
Experimental studies in which sources cues are manipulated while news content is held constant (same headline attributed to either fox news or CNN Keep the info the same, but manipulate where its coming from. Does this change how people consume their news? Fox News the #1 source for Trump's primetime speech Level of audience segregation based on politics is increasing Even for soft news (travel, sports, had nothing to do with politics), this phenomena still exists. If you're republican, you prefer Fox on ANY subject matter
The culture of the Newsroom
Journalism as a career in America: you need to be trained and have credentials. This is not the same case in Under-representation of minorities. Journalism tends to be overly white This affects the news. For example, we overrepresent the role of minorities in crime Changing gender composition of the press - implications for the 'character issue'... it now matters if a politician has an affair, where in the 1950's and 1960's reporters did not care. It used to be a 'boys will be boys' thing.
Adversarial vs. Deferential Journalism
Journalists often act in an adversarial relationship to politicians, except when it comes to foreign affairs issues. Case study; iraq.
The Rise of Interpretive Journalism
Journalists value autonomy, resist efforts at spin and manipulation Aftermath of 1988 campaign, recognition of need to resist candidates - from description to interpretation. The press was played by the Bush campaign, but making violent crime the #1 hot issue on every news organization Ad a result, a new genre of journalism was born, known as 'ad watches'. Today, this is known as fact checking. Shrinking sound bites - journalists no longer allow politicians unmediated media access. Instead, journalists voice replace those of the candidates
Economics of local news
Local news station focus WAY more on local news than national news. They usually have 30 minutes or less of national news. This is because people generally prefer soft news, like human interest stories or crime "If it bleeds, it leads". Constant focus on crime and overrepresentation of violent crime in the news
Crime news/ the crime script
Local pm News values reporting on crime (35% of their broadcast!!!!) way over things like foreign policy, which it barely ever mentions If it bleeds it leads
Russian social media campaign
Messages from Russian accounts reached 150 million Americans in the period leading up to the 2016 election; Russians also invested $150,000 on Facebook ads, many of them depicting Hillary Clinton in unflattering terms Russian operatives created a number of websites that disseminated election-related information -- DCLeaks.com, a site linked to the Russian intelligence agency GRU, posted embarrassing emails from senior members of the Clinton team that had been hacked from the Democratic National Committee server.
Free Agency
Minimal requirements to run for candidacy in America are really not very high. In Europe, you have to be on a 'party list'; a list of candidates controlled by the political party. In America, there is a rise of 'celebrity candidates' or free agents after the 1968 reform. You have a huge advantage if you have had previous exposure to the spotlight, because of name recognition. This is a huge advantage in politics (Trump, Carson, Fiorina) How
Effects of Vietnam on media
Most US news organizations maintained bureaus in Saigon, staffed by multiple correspondents; NYT with three correspondents Journalists given relatively free access to track down stories and cover battlefield events All correspondents had to be accredited by the Military Assistance Command (but not very hard to get). Between 1965 and 1973, 5100 reporters representing >1500 news organizations The pentagon concluded that the media had a lot to do with the public becoming more critical of vietnam
parties as coalitions
Multiplicity of group suggest that voters will have different priorities on issues Within every coalition, there are people who disagree with the candidate or the party position in some area but still support the candidate or party as a whole
The end of national audiences
National audience viewership has gone down in almost every category on TV, from Presidential debates to the World Series to the Oscars Percentage of households that watch one of the three major network news (ABC, CBS, NBC) has decreased from 40% in 1980 to around 15% in 2012.
User control and echo chamber
New media provide more user control; 3 TV networks (1970) versus 1000 online news sites People can pick and choose subject matter and content they wish to encounter 'Customized' news of the 'Daily me' -- echo chamber effect
User control
New media provides more user control: 3 TV networks in 1970 vs 1000 online news sites today People may pick and choose subject matter and content they wish to encounter Creates an echo chamber effect
Fake news
News articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, and could mislead readers
Reasons to support government interference in news media
News media in democratic societies are more likely to make good on their civic responsibilities when: 1) society adopts a stringent regulatory framework that requires minimal levels of public affairs programming 2) broadcasters are given some protection from the market 3) publicly funded television networks have the necessary cushion to deliver a steady flow of substantive 'hard news'
Independent voters
Only 10% of the public is truly independent Less than ⅓ of people who claim independence are actually independence Its virtuous to be independent... no one wants to be a robot
General party + election summary
Party control over campaigns have eroded Free agents candidate campaign via media strategies Parties making a slight comeback with super delegates and the importance of endorsement.
Pathways
Segregation of news audiences depends on 'pathways' to news sites - when people are directed to news reports by search engines and social media news feeds, both of which feature personalized algorithms, audience segregation increases (Flaxman, 2016)
party machines
Party organizations in cities often provided personal services and benefits to supporters. These bosses relied heavily on immigrant vote. 'Patronage' jobs; help immigrants get settled in exchange for party support As recently as 1968, party bosses played key role in political campaigns and national party leadership Party machines definitely declined though after the new deal, as it started providing people with welfare.
Selective exposure on facebook
People do not necessarily seek out bias confirming content, but they naturally get exposed to more bias content because of what their friends share on facebook The two most commonly shared websites are Huffington Post and Fox News. The prominence of fake news on facebook rose significantly in the months before the 2016 election.
Consequences of family homogeneity
People in same party marriages express more harsh evaluations of candidates from the opposing party On a 100 point scale (0 = cold, 100 = warm), individuals in a mixed party household rated Clinton at 47, Trump was 32 For dem-dem households, trump's rating was nine. In rep-rep families, clinton's rating was 7
Selective exposure and confirmation bias
People tend to seek out information that confirms rather than challenges existing beliefs. Dissonance avoidance as an inevitable human response to conflictand controversy As political discourse becomes more conflictual, the expectation is that people will increasingly seek out supportive information (motivated reasoning
confirmation bias
People tend to seek out information that confirms rather than challenging existing beliefs
retrospective voting
People vote based on what's happened in the past, not by what they expect for the future Evaluations of incumbent ruler is based on performance, especially performance bearing on the general welfare "Has this candidate improved my life within the last four years?" Retrospective voting: bush's popularity falls as the iraq war continues and casualties rise
isolation index
Personalized algorithms on search engines increase exposure to solely conservative or liberal sights Segregation increases also with social media Exposure to online news during the 2016 campaign shows significantly increased segregation (Peterson 2018). The 'isolation index' increased from .07 in Gentzkow study to .21 Tracked web browsing behavior during the course of the election
Blogosphere Politics
Political blogs tend to be highly polarized (9/10 top blogs are politically bias), and thus they add to the echo chamber effect. evidence of negativity bias' in blog content (At least in reference to political figures ) Audience for partisan blogs drawn exclusively from the ranks of people who have the same party preference Very little evidence of cross linking in the blog world.
Adversarial relationship between the press and politicians
Politicians have an inherent desire to control news coverage - as displayed earlier, they endorse or avoid certain news events to maintain their image and bolster popularity. Journalists, conversely, seek autonomy in their news coverage, rather than to simply regurgitate the words of their sources. This conflict of interest pits politicians and journalists at odds with one another, hence promoting the existing adversarial relationship between them.
Granada and media
Post Vietnam: New Rules Governing Media Coverage of Military Hostiles Grenada, 1983. Press prevented from accessing war zone, forced to depend on official briefings (communist threat on island of grenada) Reagan Administration claimed a communist threat (Cuban advisors in Greneda) and the possibility of American students being taken hostage as the rationale for the invasion Post invasion, several kay claims turn out to be false (airport expansion)
Organizational Process Model;
Professional norms, and standard operating procedures of journalism as key influences on judgements about newsworthiness
Candidate strategy to control press coverage
Promoting some events which are either staged or otherwise beneficial to the politician's image, while compelling enough for journalists to report as news- Avoiding some events, e.g. news conferences, in which the politician has little or no control or preparation regarding the event's reporting
Public broadcasters as market leaders
Ratings: in many european systems, prime time ratings won by public broadcasters. Their entertainment fare is highly popular Exclusive rights: Public broadcasters are given exclusive rights to cover major national sporting events Loyal audience: over time public broadcasters in Europe have developed loyal audiences. Overall, European governments continue to treat broadcasting "not simple as a private commercial enterprise but as a social institution for which the state has an important responsability"
ballot roll off
Reduce information costs of voters. Known as ballot roll off (at the bottom of the ballot, you get a lot of people not voting because you don't have R or D next to the name)
Press indexing/ indexing hypothesis
Reporters "index" the slant of their coverage to reflect the range of opinion that exists within the government. A standard finding in studies of the mass media is that reporters will regard as newsworthy that which their "legitimate" or "official" sources say is newsworthy the New York Times did, as hypothesized, appear to "index" its editorial coverage of this issue to the range of opinion within the government.
punditry
Reporters are no longer willing to grant candidates unmediated access to the audience... they're just going to be allowed to speak Now you have commentary, sound bites, analysts explaining the behavior of the politicians
Iraq War and media
Reporters restricted to non-combat zones Get this notion of 'official briefing' which becomes focus on military campaigns Pool reports subject to censorship (body bags, coffins) Daily briefings as main source of news Incorporation of a/v into official briefings (e.g. accuracy of smart bombs) Confirmation of predefined 'story lines' Hussein as modern day Hitler and 'atrocities' of Iraq troops Embedding correspondents with coalition forces
Changes in party support
Short term changes -Associated with popularity of leaders. These cause changes in the house and senate Long Term Changes -Associated with issues 'realignments' that alter the composition of the party coalitions -There have only been four such realignments in US history, with the most recent one being FDR and the new deal in 1932. FDR lead the working class to be democratic, while wealthy people became republican.
Revival of parties in elections today
Soft money (money raised by political parties) contributions in 2000 and 2004 -It is a way to control candidates, if you are giving lots of money to them -Get out to vote: encourage their base to go vote on election day. Superdelegates -Big shots within the party, or insiders, who are voting within the convention. They backed Clinton in both 2008 and 2016. Party allocations with delegates to the national convention It is by reliably republican or democratic a state is. Kansas gets more delegates than CO even tho they have a smaller population
McGovern-Fraser Commission
The McGovern-Fraser Commission established open procedures and affirmative action guidelines for selecting delegates. In addition the commission made it so that all delegate selection procedures were required to be open; party leaders could no longer handpick the convention delegates in secret. The commission recommended that delegates be represented by the proportion of their population in each state.
Effects of 1968 Election
The adoption of primaries + universal access to television = new system of campaigns; free agent candidates rely on media strategies to appeal to voters. Corresponding decline in importance of party elites in the nomination process Weakened position of party elites Increased candidate autonomy, reduced entry cost (public financing). They don't have to rely on the backing of elites and bosses as much.
The Knowledge Gap: Europe vs America
The less educated in Europe are more informed than their American counterparts. The most educated is about the same.
invisible primary
The period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills. Party elites still play key role in nomination process by endorsing candidates (but 2016 weakens their argument) Endorsements based on 'electability' Endorsements as a form of 'peer review,' Lack of establishment support for Sanders and Trump weakens this argument though. Sanders beat Hillary when she had 400 endorsements and he has a few.
selective exposure
The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases. People today are much more likely to go to news sights that confirm their previous biases. Liberals go to huffington post, conservatives go to Fox and drudge report. Also called 'echo chambers'
Socialization
The process in which people acquire their leanings and attitudes 1. Persistence of early learning 2. Generational change 3. Life cycle effects: As people get over you get more conservative 4. Life long openness:
Weaponization of social media
The widespread use of social media has made online networks an especially promising platform for propaganda campaigns Because the interests and tastes of individual users (their social media history) is known, campaigns can target their messages appropriately to match the political profile of their audience It is relatively costless to establish "fake" accounts on Facebook and Twitter and to deliver messages that are misleading or false. There are also economic incentives to do this.
Downsian Model
Theory of partisanship. Party identification is a result of our judgement of each political issue and preferences over alternate state of the political world. A rational self-identification based on preferences. Parties attempt to gain elective positions through an appeal to the voters that is based on a platform composed of issue positions + a political ideology
Generational change
There are specific realigning events that can shape an entire generation The most important phase, adolescence and early adulthood, is an especially formative time Most people that arrived in Bennington college were from republican families. However, once they graduated, they were almost all liberal democrats. People that grew up with the new deal were overwhelmingly democrats, people that grew up during the 1960's became disillusioned with politics
Selective Reasoning/ Motivated reasoning
Today we have your political party affiliation determines your view of the facts... motivated reasoning Motivated leads partisan to accept misleading or false statements from their party leaders For example, Republicans don't believe that Russia interfered with Trump. (with Watergate, everyone believed it, there were no alternative facts) Another example: the photos of the inaugurations. Trump people believe the photo of Obama's inauguration was their own.
False assumptions about voters
Voters know enough about cause and effect: This is not always true. People tend to blame whoever is in office for the state of the economy, good or bad. People don't have enough economic knowledge Voters can distinguish between outcomes caused by government and natural outcomes in the country, not caused by politicians: For example: there is correlation between people's football teams performing poorly and people voting against incumbents
regulatory double standard
We don't really regulate print media that much. Do regulate on broadcasting because it is a 'public good' (the airwaves). The press and print media have always been more independent than broadcasting Miami Herald v Tornillo: cant regulate print media Red Lion v FCC: u need greater regulation with broadcasting because its operating on a platform owned by all of us
Information and the 'revival' of the public sphere
When the internet was in its beginning stages, people thought it would positively impact the public sphere. "The Linking of the world's people to a vast exchange of information and ideas is a dream... it will bring a greater sense of shared stewardship of our small planet" - al gore In reality, it may be decreasing the social capital of our society. People are falling into echo chambers, 'surfing alone, and pursuing mostly nonpolitical interests on the internet.
There is declining confidence in the Press from 1973-the present
While confidence in other institutions has also declined, confidence in the press has DRASTICALLY declined This is because people believe certain news organizations have political biases and therefore don't trust them.
Golden Triangle
White house, pentagon, and state department. Big news always breaks here, so big news medias usually have a correspondent for each one.
adversarial journalism
a form of reporting in which the media adopt a skeptical or even hostile posture toward the government and public officials. The media played this role in foreign affairs up until after the Vietnam, when they became much more complacent and challenged what the government said less and less. "Editors as several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper" I.e., the press followed too much of what Bush was saying during Iraq The press cannot play the watchdog role in the area of foreign affairs because they don't have access
Handlers
a name for campaign managers. Developed after the 1968 election, when Nixon's campaign manager put on a series of television shows for him
social milieu
a person's social environment and the distribution of political views in a given area. IE, you can't find a republican wife in palo alto so you naturally marry somone of the same political leanings as you.
Beats
a specialization of a certain area of news. Usually journalists build up a career by focusing on one particular beat. Beats can also be geography... like a china correspondent Golden triangle: White house, pentagon, and state department. Big news always breaks here, so big news medias usually have a correspondent for each one. There are other standard operating procedures, like deadlines.
Misinformation online
an individual user with no track record or reputation can in some cases reach as many readers as Fox, CNN, or NYW' Investigations by buzzfeed and the guardian show that more than 100 sites posting fake news were run by teenagers in Macedonia Social media is a major source of access to phony news reports (45% of traffic to sites providing misinformation vs 10% for major news sites) Increased exposure to suspect information + diminished credibility of mainstream media and fact checkers Strengthened polarization leads to motivated reasoning and willingness to believe in 'alternative facts'
Googlearchy/ power law
concentration of web users at most heavily linked sites Distribution of web users highly unequal: tiny fraction of sites absorb all the traffic
Interpretive coverage
gives you an explanation for WHY something happened, not just if something happened. Now, the voice of the journalist is very important. This type of journalism increased significantly after the 1988 election with Bush and his ads. created 'ad watching' programs.
Political Bots
highly automated accounts that can perform legitimate tasks such as...delivering news and spreading spam, harassment, and hate speech. Automated tweets accounted for 23-27% of all tweets sampled during first debate, and dropped to 18% by election day Tweets became more politicized from the first debate to the election day. On first debate, neutral tweets accounted for 47.3% of tweets. By election day, that dropped to only 25.8%. Bots essentially shut down after election day. They rarely tweeted after Trump was elected.
Heuristics
inexpensive substitutes for information, psychological "shortcuts".
Soft News
sensational stories that do not serve the democratic function of journalism. These include sports, celebrities, crime, and human interest stories. Americans are the least informed electorate among the ranks of industrialized democracies on hard news. Americans know nothing of foreign policy. Soft news sells more than hard news. So news organizations, especially local news stations, have started producing more soft news than hard news.
Sound bites
short clips of a political speech lasting fifteen seconds or less. journalists no longer allow politicians unmediated media access. Instead, journalists voice replace those of the candidates.
pool correspondant
someone who has been granted access to the battlefield, but he is not representing a particular news organization. He is representing all news organizations, so all of them can use his footage
de facto selectivity
the idea that people encountered congenial information not because they actively sought it out, but because the people they conversed with most often shared their political views.
