Media

“The 4th Branch of Government”

Functions of the Media

• Entertainment

• News

• Agenda setting – ability of the media to draw public attention to certain issues and to ignore other issues

• Political forum – place to make announcements or advertise government

• Reporting on governmental policy

Brief History of the Media

• Party Press 1770-1820

• Press was seen as an extension of party

• Until mid 1880s parties sold their proceedings

• Watch dog role –Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemmings

Brief History of the Media—the

Penny Press and Yellow Journalism

• Less partisan, but not objective• Hearst and the Spanish American war-

“You furnish the pictures and I’ll get you the war”.

• “Yellow journalism”- cheap yellow paper, sensational late 1800s

• Muckraking- Upton Sinclair Progressive Era- media became to be more independent

The “New” Media

• The increasing rapid pace of electronic news and television’s global coverage shortens the time frame for policy responses.

• In 1961, when the Berlin Wall went up, President

Kennedy had 8 days to respond to the

provocative action.• In 1989, when the wall came down, President

Bush, Sr was forced to respond overnight.

Structure of Media

• Print media – newspaper, magazine, etc.– Oldest, being steadily replaced

• Electronic Media – radio, TV– TV now is the primary source of news

• Internet – instant information, any time– Replacing print and electronic media– Blogs – 527’s – groups that independently raise

money and campaign for and against people

Media Conglomerates

• WHO OWNS THE NEWS???

•WHO OWNS INFORMATION?

Media Conglomerates

• Gannet Co. owns USA Today and controls the biggest circulation in the nation + owns 100 additional papers

• Rupert Murdoch owns 124 radio stations, New York Post, Weekly Standard, and FOX News

The Transformation of Media

• Radio then television transformed media• Televised debate between Nixon Kennedy-radio

listeners gave Nixon the edge, but Kennedy did well on tv. changed nature of campaigns

• Youtube has brought changes-”His [Obama’s]

speeches play well on YouTube, which allows for more than the five-second sound bites that have characterized the television era”- Marc Ambinder Atlantic Monthly June 2008

Television News?

• A full transcript of the typical nightly

network news broadcasts – foreign and

domestic – would not fill half of the front

page of an average daily newspaper.

• Yet ¾ of the American people routinely

depend on this source for most of their

foreign affairs information.

Government Regulation

• 1st Amendment – freedom of press

• Gov’t can’t place “prior restraint” on news (can’t censor news before it is released)

• The press is not entirely free

Media Regulations

• FCC equity-have to sell air time equally to all candidates if they choose to sell any– BUT…if one side buys more than another,

then the media agency is in compliance—the opportunity is there

• Fairness doctrine- rule required broadcasters to cover events with contrasting views- NO longer ineffect, although talk of bringing it back

FCC

• Federal Communications Commission (1934)

• Controls the media, no one may operate radio or TV stations without their license

• Who are they? – 5 members (no more than 3 from the same political party) nominated by US President for 5 years.

FCC

• Control airwaves for licenses and content• 2003 changed rules about cross-

ownership so companies can now own different types of media outlets

• Can reach 45% of national audience at any one time. So Time Warner can have movie, cable news and an entertainment show all on at same time-shill for one another

Telecommunications Act of 1996

• Relaxed limitations on media ownership– Own up to 35% of television market– Own unlimited % of radio

• Remember Vanderbilt and Horizontal Integration???

Roles of the Media

• Watch dog-responsibility of media to make publicaware of corruption, incompetence, illegal, unethicalactions by politicians

• Agenda setter-focuses public attention on issues- isthe tail wagging the dog?

• The mass media may not be successful in telling peoplewhat to think, but they are stunningly successful in tellingtheir audience what to think about.

• Average sound bite for Presidential candidate in1968 was 42 seconds by 2000 less than 10seconds

Watergate and InvestigativeJournalism

• Watch dog role becomes paramount-

• Power of journalism

• Media begins to focus on personal lives of politicians,had been out of bounds, Roosevelt,JFK, etc.

• More sensational “If it bleeds it leads”

Roles of the Media

• Score keeper- media polls drive news, candidates

performance constantly criticized, measured• Signaler- Alert the public about important

developments• Horse-race journalism- term for primaries

particularly-who is in lead, second etc.• Framing- how media presents context-KKK rally

more accepted if defined as civil rights story, less if public safety issue

Roles of the Media

• Press release- on paper document with official position given to reporters

• Press briefing- limited topic-announcements then brief questions State Department or DOD

• Press Conference- statement then questions on wide range of topics

Presidential Press Conferences

• Modern presidents hold fewer press conferences than historic presidents– Examples: – FDR held 998 press conferences – Eisenhower held 193 press conferences– Kennedy held 65 press conferences– Clinton held 50 press conferences– George W. Bush held 20 press conferences

What’s the media lingo?

• On background- give info about rival, but won’t be the source

• Deep background unsourced "Deep background" This term is used in the U.S., though not consistently. Most journalists would understand "deep background" to mean that the information may not be included in the article but is used by the journalist to enhance his or her view of the subject matter, or to act as a guide to other leads or sources. Most deep background information is confirmed elsewhere before being reported

• Off the record- whatever official says can be printed- but will get info somewhere else

• On the record-Journalists protect sources- Judith Miller went to jail for refusing to name her source re Scooter Libby Valerie Plame info.

Impact of Media on Politics

• “sound bites” – second long segments

• Stories/political messages are shortened, and made to seem less complex than reality

Media and Political Campaigns

• Advertising – very expensive on TV, way to reach many voters, raising campaign costs

• News coverage – “free” coverage, politicians will attempt to create events where media will attend for free publicity– Spin doctor – one who tries to influence

journalists with interpretations of events that are favorable to the candidate

• Presidential Debates

Media and Gov’t Officials

• White House Press Corp – journalists whose sole job is to follow the President

• White House Press Secretary – responsible for addressing the press daily and answer questions for the president– Tony Snow, former FOX broadcaster– Dana Perino took over 9-14-07

Supreme Court Cases and the Media

• New York Times v United States 1971 Secret “Pentagon Papers” published

• Ruled that publication could NOT be blocked• Can not use “prior restraint” unless “overwhelming”

justification such as military movements before orduring war

• New York Times v Sullivan 1964• Libel requires proof of actual malice- a knowing or

reckless disregard for the truth. NY Times found NOTguilty because malice not proved. So informationcould be wrong, but has to printed or released withmalicious intention-difficult to prove.