The Press, The Public & PoliticsThe Press, The Public & Politics

Overview

• The Role of the Media

• The Power of the Media?

Republican Convention 2008

• Fred Thompson’s Speech2 September 2008

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Republican Convention 2008

• Mitt Romney’s Speech3 September 2008

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2008 Republican Convention

• Mike Huckabee Speech3 September 2008

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The Role of the Media

• What role should media play in politics?

• What should be the relationship between the government and media, and the media and the people?

Media People

Government

Media

Government

What does the media need from government?

What does the government need from the media?

Media People

GovernmentWhat does the

government needfrom the people?

What do the people need from the government?

Media People

Government

What does the media need from

the people?

What do the people need from

the media?

Media People

GovernmentWe have a system of mutually

dependent relations

among these institutions

And these relations are both supportive and

adversarial, dependingon need and context

Roles of the MediaSurveillanceFor the most part, the

media bring issues,

institutions, events,

individuals, and

organizations to publicattention

Roles of the MediaSurveillance determines the extent to which political issues will receive attention and the kind of attention they will receive; which political demands make it to the surface and which remain hidden or obscured

e.g., Abu Ghraib, no WMDs, teen

pregnancies, etc.

e.g, social security, illegal drugs,

the environment,healthcare

Roles of the Media

• The media, through its surveillance function and via its coverage and content, effectively define what is important or not, what is relevant or not, and why

• This of course does not mean that all coverage is beneficial

• Sensationalized or erroneous stories can undermine public confidence

• For instance, local news tends to focus on crime stories, which have the effect of undermining security and sense of safety, thereby creating conditions for greater crime

Roles of the Media

Roles of the Media• At the same time, stories which do not readily

lend themselves to media practices or structures may be doomed for inattention

• “Big” stories involving institutions/processes rather than individual actors tend not to receive close media attention

• For instance: global warming, poverty, racism, sexism are not well served in most media forms, particularly the one with the greatest audience (network news)

Roles of the Media

• Another major function of the media is interpretation

• That is, when the media cover a story, they not only report, they also contextualize (frame) and interpret the story: what it means, why it’s important, what are the causes and effects

• What are the political implications of this media role?

Roles of the Media

• For example, in the debate raising the national debt ceiling, Democrats and Republicans have been trying to frame the debate in their own terms.

Roles of the Media

• Another major function of the media is socialization, or the process by which the values, norms, beliefs, and mores, of the culture are transmitted from one generation to the next.

• Most of the information that young people get about the political world is derived from the media (rather than say parents, schools, churches, or the government itself).

Socialization

Roles of the Media

• For most people, the media provide the basic information that allows for the transformation of political and social beliefs over time.

• Through the stories covered, and the framing of those stories, the media (reporters, producers, editors, publishers) are in a position to shape public opinion

Manipulation

Roles of the Media

Roles of the Media

• For example, polls conducted shortly before and right after the start of the Iraq war in 2003 showed that while a significant number of Americans believed there was a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, the highest rate of believers were those who reported they relied on Fox News for their information