Trends in the News Media

AP GoPo

Major Trends

• Corporate Ownership & Media Consolidation• Narrowcasting• Infotainment• Sensationalism

Corporate Ownership

• Very few cities have more than one local newspaper– Leads to a local news monopoly

• May give owners, editors, and journalists more political power in their local markets

Internet

• Cuts into profits for traditional media – Leads to staff cuts & possible closures

• Changes the way media firms, Congress, and executive agencies (FCC) deal with communication technology and the ways people become informed/engaged in politics

• Reduces newspapers revenue from advertising

Closures

• Rocky Mountain News (Denver)– Closed in ‘08

• Seattle Post-Intellegencer– Went to a solely online format in ’09

– Many more around the nation faced the same fate– Financial troubles force papers to go corporate

Corporate Ownership

• 2013: The Washington Post sold to Jeffrey Bezos (CEO of Amazon)

• Disney bought ABC• Time Warner bought CNN• Comcast bought NBC– What could corporate ownership do to a news

source?

1996 Telecommunications Act

• Paved the way for consolidation of the media industry

• Does enough competition exist among the media to produce a diverse set of views on political & corporate matters or has the US become a prisoner of media monopolies?

FCC Mandates

• 2003: FCC mandated that major networks could own television stations that collectively reached 45% of all viewers (a 10% increase)– Also allows a single company to own leading

newspapers & multiple TV stations & radio outlets in a single market

– Critics expressed concern that this would result in a narrow range of views & issues presented to the public• Silenced by opposition from House Republicans & the threat

of presidential veto

FCC Mandates

• Supreme Court put regulations on hold– Mandates were revisited in 2012• Situation may outlive actual printed newspapers

• These questions come up about the Internet

Google

• Google has the power to block & censor news• Google China: forced by the Chinese

government to censor websites– Google blocked non-Chinese media in China &

Chinese media websites from other users• Has the power to restrict access of US users to

China

Narrowcasting

• Crafted approaches to reach targeted demographic categories rather than broadcasting to reach the public

• Impact on objectivity?– Blurred lines between editorializing & reporting

Narrowcasting

• Seen with emergence of Fox News, MSNBC, Huffington Post– All present ideological & partisan versions of the

news• Battle among cable networks to divide

audience along partisan lines– How does this relate to what you read in The

Washington Post?

Infotainment

• Shift in news coverage from “hard news” to “soft news” (more of a focus on celebrities, health advice & entertainment)– Ex: Obama’s dog in ’09 was covered more than

what was happening in Iraq• Combination of information & entertainment– The Daily Show– Colbert Report– O’Reilly Factor

Sensationalism

• Began in the period after the Civil War• AKA yellow journalism– Use of sensationalized stories, bold headlines,

illustrations to increase readership• Where do we see examples of sensationalism

today?– Find an example of this (can be a news article or a

video)

Media’s involvement in government

• Roles the media plays:– Gatekeeper:• National media acts as a gatekeeper & can influence

what subjects garner national attention

– Scorekeeper:• National media keeps track of & helps to make political

reputations

– Watchdog:• News media’s close scrutiny of public figures & events

Key Terms

• Concentration:– The trend toward single-company ownership of several media

sources in one area• Example: Disney

• Media Conglomerates:– Companies that control a large number of media sources

across several types of media outlets• Example: Rupert Murdoch

• Cross-Ownership:– The trend toward single-company ownership of several kinds of

media outlets • Example