The Media

Food for Thought…

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

Thomas Jefferson

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press...

Article One, Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, 1789.

The BIG Questions

Why do modern day politicians worry about the media so much?

Can we trust the media to be fair?

Should people care about getting the correct information?

Should the Media be a…

Scorekeeper? Tracking and making political reputations

Watchdog? Exposing scandal

Gatekeeper? Passing judgments on topics that then

become national issues

Or perhaps all three??

Scorekeeper Tracking and making political reputations

Watchdog Exposing scandal

Gatekeeper Passing judgments on topics that then

become national issues

Evolution of Journalism and the Media 1690 to 1830-40’s The Partisan/Party press

Small circulation, expensive to buy Elites only The government subsidized the president’s party

“press”

Starts in 1840’s The Penny/Popular press Partisan views

High speed, less cost Mass circulation- needs sensational stories to sell

Late 1800’s/Early 1900’s

Sensationalism reaches its high (low) point

Yellow journalism is a uncomplimentary reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, jingoism or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists.

Centered on competition was between 2 media giants Joseph Pulitzer William Randolph Hearst

Today’s press still uses some of these techniques “If it bleeds it leads”

Yellow Journalism

Spanish American War was first tabloid topic- late 19th century

“Remember the Maine!”

1890’s-1920’s

Exposure of corruption by press A muckraker is an reporter who investigates

and exposes issues of such as political corruption, corporate crime, child labor, conditions in slums and prisons, unsanitary conditions in food processing plants (such as meat), fraudulent claims by manufacturers of patent medicines, labor racketeering, and similar topics. The term muckraker is most usually associated

in America novelists and critics from the Progressive Era in the 1890-1920s

Upton Sinclair Most famous muckraker Exposed the meat industry in his novel,

The Jungle

Technology Progresses- 1 Radio news- 1920’s and 1930’s

FDR fireside speeches

Technology Progresses- 2 Television- 1950’s-

today Nixon/Kennedy debates

Live for voters Vietnam on TV

First time Immediate coverage

Election returns Challenger explosion 9-11

Technology Progresses

Internet- 1990’s- today Major news outlets and Blogs, unreliable

sites??”

Since 9-11

People watch the national news more often

More viewers are more likely to have different viewpoints

Thus….bias claims have grown! Has the news changed or just the

viewers??

How Much is too Much?

CNN, FOX, MSNBC… 24 hour news channels Is it worth it?

Current Media Trends Print Media

Newspapers Journals, magazines Wire services

AP, UPI, Reuters… Broadcast Media

Traditional radio and TV stations Networks and affiliates

Cable, satellite CNN, Fox

“New” Media Internet, Blogs…

Confidentiality of Sources

Traditionally reporters do not have to reveal sources

However, recently some have been jailed for refusing to do so Judith Miller and the NY Times

Plame Affair John Stewart

Government Regulations The government regulates electronic media

Federal Communications Commission

1996- Telecommunications Act Deregulated whole segments of the electronic media Tried to balance corporate profits with consumer needs Result: Huge conglomerates like Viacom and Time

Warner bought HUGE segments of the media

2003- FCC added reforms that allowed media outlets to own more than one type in a market (Clear Channel has 6 radio stations in Atlanta)

The Communications Decency Act of 1996

The Communications Act of 1996 tried to address indecency on the Internet. It was introduced in response to fears that Internet pornography

was on the rise. In a landmark 1997 decision, the Supreme Court ruled

that the Internet is a unique medium entitled to the highest protection under the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. It was blocked by federal courts saying it was too broad The CDA prohibited posting "indecent" or "patently offensive"

materials in a public forum on the Internet -- including web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, or online discussion lists. This would have included the texts of classic fiction such as

the Catcher in the Rye and Ulysses This gave the Internet same free speech protection as

print media.

The Communications Decency Act of 1996

The Communications Act of 1996 tried to address indecency on the Internet. It was introduced in response to fears that Internet pornography

was on the rise. In a landmark 1997 decision, the Supreme Court ruled

that the Internet is a unique medium entitled to the highest protection under the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. It was blocked by federal courts saying it was too broad The CDA prohibited posting "indecent" or "patently offensive"

materials in a public forum on the Internet -- including web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, or online discussion lists. This would have included the texts of classic fiction such as

the Catcher in the Rye and Ulysses This gave the Internet same free speech protection as

print media.

Government Regulations

The government regulates electronic media (via Federal Communications Commission)

Broadcast Television and Radio Licensed and regulated FCC rules, 7 dirty words, Janet Jackson… Fines are applied!

Cable Little or no regulations

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has officially voted in far of “net neutrality” setting new rules to keep broadband internet in the US “fast, fair, and open.”

Prevent service providers from blocking access to legal content, applications, services, and non-harmful devices.

Stops broadband service providers from throttling upload and download speeds with regard to content, apps, and services

Deemed it illegal for providers to prioritize traffic to companies they have deals with.

There is one question….is this a power available to the FCC?

“Rules” of the Game for Broadcast TV and Radio

Fairness doctrine- Abolished in 1987 required radio and television broadcasters to air contrasting views

on controversial public issues. ... but some still follow Equal time rule-

requires equal air time for all major candidates competing for political office.

The air time is NOT free- candidates MUST pay for their equal time

Political editorializing rule-Abolished in 2000 Stations that endorse a candidate for office were required to give

the candidate’s opponents free rebuttal time. Right of reply rule

Broadcasting stations are obliged to offer "reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views".

The wording is important: "reasonable" rather than equal. Coverage is not measured with a stopwatch. It is simply that all sides of the debate get heard.

Print Media Newspapers and

Magazines No “prior restraint”

In other words, more freedom and less rules than broadcast media

They can be sued for libel AFTER publication of controversial articles

Can a Story go too Far??

Libel (written slander) Is it true? Is it false? Is it misreported on

purpose? Is it misreported by

mistake? Seen mostly in

celebrity news magazines

Can a Story go too Far??

Obscenity in the media Playboy, Penthouse,

Hustler… Does it have social

value? The People v Larry Flynt

Does it incite violence? Schenck v US

Media Coverage of Congress Senate- broadcasts since 1950

Has its own cameras

House- no cameras until 1978 Today…it’s 24/7!!!

C-Span C-Span 2

Every word and every hour is on tape No one is in the gallery but members keep on

talking!!

Media Coverage of President FDR was master of media

Fireside chats Protected him from prying cameras State of Union was not a story until

FDR

Large press corps today Daily press updates by press

secretary On the campaign trail with

candidates Currently 49 seats in briefing room

for TV, Print, and Internet

Bully Pulpit This term stems from

President Theodore Roosevelt's reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda.

Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful.

Are Stories Slanted?? Routine news stories

Least biased since all stations/papers will cover

Feature stories More bias Journalists pick and choose Exciting to cover Scandal sells Spin it baby!!!!

Looking for Bias in the Media

Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message.

Is there such a thing as an objective point of view?? “No matter how much we may try to

ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially.”

.

Government Constraints?

Should the government place constraints (oversight) on journalists?

Should reporters… Strike a more of a balance? Express more neutral views? Become the mouthpiece for all sources? Dig deeper? Be arrested? Look for other jobs?

Important Freedom of the Press Cases

John Peter Zenger case (1733) New York Times v Sullivan (1964) New York Times v US (1973)

The Zenger Case- 1733

Facts In the latter part of 1733 John

Peter Zenger began publishing a newspaper in New York to voice opposition to the onerous policies of newly appointed colonial governor William Cosby.

On Sunday, November 17, 1734 Zenger was arrested and charged with seditious libel.

Rebuffed repeatedly by Chief Justice Delancey during the trial, Zenger’s lawyer decided to plead his client's case directly to the jury.

The burning of Zenger's New York Weekly Journal

(Bettman Archive)

Importance of Case The verdict was not guilty

on the charge of publishing "seditious libels." 

The idea that the truth is an absolute defense against libel was established in this case

The Zenger trial was the root of today’s free press in America, and shows the stubborn independence of American jurors.

Zenger's lawyer stands up for freedom of the presscourtesy, Chronicle of

America

New York Times v Sullivan- 1964

Facts This case concerned a full-page ad in the New York Times

which alleged that the arrest of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. for perjury in Alabama was part of a campaign to destroy King's efforts to integrate public facilities and encourage blacks to vote

L. B. Sullivan, the Montgomery city commissioner, filed a libel action against the newspaper and four black ministers who were listed as endorsers of the ad, claiming that the allegations against the Montgomery police defamed him personally.

Question of law Did Alabama's libel law, by not requiring Sullivan to prove

that an advertisement personally harmed him and dismissing the same as untruthful due to factual errors, unconstitutionally infringe on the First Amendment's freedom of speech and freedom of press protections?

Importance

The Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity). Under this new standard, Sullivan's case collapsed.

Just publishing a “defamatory falsehood” is not enough to win a libel case

Writer/publisher must have “actual malice”

New York Times v US (1973) In what became known as the "Pentagon Papers Case," the

Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam.

Daniel Ellsburg, a federal employee was caught coping the documents concerning the war. When the FBI finally caught up with him in June 1971, he was charged with 12 felonies and faced 115 years in jail.

The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect national security.

Pentagon Papers case Question-

Did the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent the publication of what it termed "classified information" violate the First Amendment?

Importance The Court ruled against the United States In its per curiam opinion the Court held that the

government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press in this case.

Justices Black and Douglas argued that the vague word "security" should not be used "to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment."

Justice Brennan reasoned that since publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, prior restraint was unjustified.

Bias in the news media

Is the news media biased toward liberals?

Is the news media biased toward conservatives?

Bias in the news media

Is the news media biased toward liberals? Yes.

Is the news media biased toward conservatives? Yes.

" Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" —The Wizard

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.“

—A.J. Liebling

". . . to take apart the system of illusions and deception which functions to prevent understanding of contemporary reality [is] not a task that requires extraordinary skill or understanding. It requires the kind of normal skepticism and willingness to apply one's analytical skills that almost all people have and that they can exercise."

—Noam Chomsky