Media

UNIT 3

VOTING, CAMPAIGN PROCESSES & THE MEDIA1Political ParticipationChapter 8

2Reason for NonvotingOnly about 50% of Americans vote in modern era presidential elections.The common explanation is apathy, but the problem is more pervasive. It includes registration(no mandate/time consuming), party politics, and decreased political efficacy.The motor-voter law (1993) increased registration among eligible voters by allowing registration at government agencies, drivers licensing facilities and through standard mail-in form. 3Expanding SuffrageLifting of property restrictions (1830) universal manhood suffrage gave voting rights to all white males.Suffrage for African-Americans (1863-1964)1865 - 15th Amendment voting rights to all males1954 - Brown v. Board separate but equal is illegal, reduced the power of Jim Crow laws1964- 24th Amendment banned poll tax1965 Voting Rights Act of 1965 federal law prohibited literacy tests and created more fair elections via supervision of suspect areas.

State to Federal ControlStates initially decided nearly everything, leading to variation in federal elections.Congress has since reduced state choice over several matters.House members elected by district (1842)Representatives should be elected by districts composed of contiguous territory equal in number to the number of representatives to which said state may be entitled, no one district electing more than one representative."Direct popular election of U.S. Senators (1913)The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

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Suffrage to women (1920) The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.Suffrage to blacks (1870 1965)The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.Suffrage to 18-21 year olds (1971)The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Four different constitutional amendments extended voting rights to various groups: Fifteenth Amendment: Prohibited discrimination by race (applied primarily to African-American males), ratified in 1870. Nineteenth Amendment: Granted women's suffrage (right to vote), ratified in 1920. Twenty-third Amendment: Allowed citizens residing in the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections, ratified in 1961. Twenty-sixth Amendment: Reduced the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, allowing younger people the right to vote, ratified in 1971.6Voter TurnoutThere are two theories about the decline in voter percentages. Percentages are real~ The decline in popular interest in elections and competitiveness of the two parties has resulted in a decline in voting. Percentages are misleading~ They represent a decline caused by more honest ballot counts of today. (Australian ballot)Researchers see several reasons for some real decline. Registration is difficultDiscriminationAlternative forms of participation

7Voter Turnout

8Who Participates in Politics?Inactive- Rarely vote, do not get involved in organizations, and do not talk about politics- little education, low income, young

2. Voting specialists- People who vote but do little else - not much education/income, older

3. Campaigners- Vote and get involved in the campaignactivities. They are very passionate about politics more education, identify with a party, take strong positions Turnout by state.....

Iraq94. Communalists- Similar to campaigners but do not like conflict and reserve energy for nonpartisan activities, more involved with local issues. 5. Parochial participants- Do not vote and stay out of campaigns but contact local officials about personal problems 6. Complete activists- Tend to be highly educated and high income, and participate in all forms of politics- usually middle-aged

Who Participates in Politics?Causes of ParticipationEducatedChurch-goersMen and women vote same rate Black participation lower than whites overall unless socioeconomic status is equalSmall factors that decrease turnout Decreasing effectiveness of parties in mobilizing votersRemaining obstacles to register Ethnic minorities encounter language barriersSome feel that elections do not matter

11Voter Turnout in Presidential Election by Race

12Voter Turnout in Presidential Election by Gender and Age

13Campaigns and ElectionsChapter 10Function of the ElectionElection campaign- an organized effort to persuade voters to choice one candidate over others competing for the same office. (500,000 publically elected roles)Political parties are used to conduct all phases of the election campaign. Winner-take-all the person with the most votes OR electors wins (doesnt need over 50%)Necessary to campaign for the nomination as well as the election.Presidential Election ProcessEach state holds a primary or caucus between January and June to determine candidates for parties. Parties formally nominate candidates at national conventionsPrimary voters have more extreme views than general election voters which can change the candidates campaign strategy. Types of Primary Elections (open, closed)Front LoadingCandidates then enter into general elections (a national election held in November in even-numbered years) against the other political partiesMore people vote in general elections. In 2004, 50% of people voted in general elections versus 25% in the primaries.Frontloading is a decision to move a primary date to the beginning (front) of the presidential nomination season.1State party leaders have moved their primary dates to the front so that their partisans may have more influence in the selection process. Over time, more and more primaries have been moved to the front (loaded), creating nomination seasons with more and more delegates awarded in multi-state (Super Tuesday) primaries. A consequence of frontloading is a front-loaded nomination season.16Congressional Elections vs. Presidential ElectionsCongress elections are regional ~Senate by state; House by districtHouse elections are less competitive than Senate or President~Incumbents representatives up for reelection, typically win elections by 60%~Franking privilegeCongressional elections every two years (all House up for reelection and 1/3 of the Senate) Fewer people vote in off-year or midterm year (only 36%)The right of members to post mail to constituents without having to pay postage. A copy of the members signature replaces the stamp on the envelope. Authentic signatures of famous individuals are valuable collectors items.

Franking privileges in Congress date from the First Continental Congress of 1775. Opportunity for abuse exists and has prompted calls for reform17Congressional Elections vs. Presidential ElectionsCoattail effect - Presidential popularity effecting congressional elections in midterm yearsCongress communicates with their constituents more directly, often personally, while President relies on mediaCongress reps can deny responsibility and blame problems on other reps or President.Straight ticket vs. Split Ticket18

19True or False?The candidate with the most votes is elected president.

Answer: Not necessarily. Ask Al Gore.

20The 2000 Election The Popular Vote (National)Al Gore50,996,039George W. Bush 50,456,141The Popular Vote (Florida-25) Al Gore 2,912,253George Bush2,912,790The Electoral VoteGeorge W. Bush271Al Gore267

Benjamin Harrison v. Grover Cleveland (1888)Rutherford B. Hayes v. Samuel Tilden (1876)..has happened 4 times!The electoral college can sometimes undermine a presidents legitimacy. The outcome of the presidential election was in doubt for over a month, with the Supreme Court eventually determining the outcome of the election by halting the vote count in Florida. 21The Electoral CollegeThe electoral college also reflects the federal nature of the Constitution because it ensures that the states have a role in selecting the president.Each state is entitled to as many electoral votes as the sum of its representation in the U.S. House and SenateTexas: 32 House members plus 2 senators = 34 electoral votesPennsylvania: 18 House members plus 2 senators = 20 electoral votesArkansas: 4 House members plus 2 senators = 6 electoral votesTotal: 435 House members plus 100 senators plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia = 538 electoral votes

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Magic #27022ElectorsIndividuals selected in each state to officially cast that states electoral votes.Pennsylvania selects 20 electors to cast the states 20 electoral votes.Framers anticipated that electors would be state leaders who would exercise good judgment.Today, party leaders select competing slates of electors who are typically long-time party activists.Electors almost always vote for their partys candidates.Each state determines the manner of selectionAll but two states use a winner-take-all statewide election system (Maine and Nebraska)

23What if no one receives a majority?To win, a candidate needs a majority, that is, 270 electoral votes.If no candidate has a majority, the House selects the president from among the three presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. This last happened in 1824 when Congress chose John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson and William Crawford.The Senate selects the vice president from the top two vice-presidential candidates.Criticisms of the Electoral CollegePopular VotePresident may not have a plurality of the peoples vote2000 Election!The Faithless ElectorsMembers of the Electoral College who, for whatever reason, do not vote for their party's designated candidate. There have been 156 faithless electors. Congressional Tie BreakerHouse selects the President with 1 vote delegations for each stateSenate selects the Vice President with the acting Vice President voting in the event of a tie

The Media

Functions of the MediaNews EntertainmentAgenda setting Ability of the media to draw public attention to certain issues and to ignore other issuesPolitical forum Place to make announcements or advertise government

27Structure of MediaPrint media newspaper, magazine, etc.Oldest, being steadily replacedElectronic Media radio, TVTV now is the primary source of newsInternet instant information, any timeReplacing print and electronic mediaBlogs 527s groups that independently raise money and campaign for and against people. Examplestry these....

Thousands of TV stations1500 daily newspapers (on the decline15,000 radio stations (on the rise)

A blog (a contraction of the words web log)[1] is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web originally a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject. More recently "multi-author blogs" (MABs) have developed, with posts written by large numbers of authors and professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, interest groups and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into societal newstreams. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.28Bias in the News

Many people believe the news favors one point of view over another.Fox = ?CNN = ?Generally are not very biased along liberal / conservative lines. But some stations do show political bias.

Generally are biased towards what will draw the largest audience.

Reporting the News

The News and Public OpinionTelevision news can affect what people think is important.The media influence the criteria by which the public evaluates political leaders.Some policies can be made more important, others will be less important, depending on their coverage.A students view on media influence....

How is it done????

Presenting the News Superficial describes most news coverage todaySound bites second long segments used to present the news of the day.Stories/political messages are shortened, and made to seem less complex than reality day.

Media and Political CampaignsAdvertising very expensive on TV, way to reach many voters, raising campaign costsNews coverage free coverage, politicians will attempt to create events where media will attend for free publicitySpin doctor one who tries to influence journalists with interpretations of events that are favorable to the candidate. Presidential Debates: 4 were held in 2012 election cycle33Media and Govt OfficialsYellow Journalism Muckrakers Teddy and Franklin RooseveltWhite House Press Corp journalists whose sole job is to follow the PresidentWhite House Press Secretary responsible for addressing the press daily and answer questions for the presidentTony Snow and Dana Perino (Bush administration)Robert Gibbs and Jay Carney (Obama Administration)

Yellow Journalism: presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers the term yellow journalism is used today to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion

The term muckraker refers to reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines, continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting, and emerged in the United States when through a combination of advertising boycotts, dirty tricks and patriotism, the movement, associated with the Progressive Era

Although William McKinley was the first U.S. president to appear in a motion picture, Theodore Roosevelt was the first to have his career and life chronicled on a large scale by motion picture companies. Roosevelt courted the press and the media like no other president had before. He made such an impression on camera that the journal ..A PICTURE MAN.

Franklin radio direct access to peoplecreated trust and support.

White House Press Corp = seat 49 reporters, one per news organizationother stand.. president gets to know each as they assigned for the term.

34Media Conglomerates

WHO OWNS THE NEWS??? WHO OWNS INFORMATION?CBS NewsMTVVH1BETBlockbusterParamount PicturesNickelodeonDreamWorksShowtime

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

all of these comanies as well!

35Media Conglomerate ~Viacom

CBS NewsMTVVH1BETBlockbusterParamount PicturesNickelodeonDreamWorksShowtime36Finding the NewsBeats: Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House.Trial Balloons: An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction.Reporters and their sources depend on each other one for stories, the other to get them outFor example....

A trial balloon is information sent out to the media in order to observe the reaction of an audience. It can be used by companies sending out press releases to judge reaction by customers, or it can be used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration.37

Government Regulation1st Amendment Freedom of pressNew York Times Co. v. United StatesGovernment cant place prior restraint on news (cant censor news before it is released)Can sue for libel and obscenity.The press enjoys a large amount of freedom from government intervention. Equal-time rulesequal access, but not for debates.

New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the First Amendment. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment

is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation. 38Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Controls the media, no one may operate radio or TV stations without their license7 years for radio5 years for televisionStations must serve community needsWho are they? 5 members (no more than 3 from the same political party) nominated by US President for 5 years.

39Movements to DeregulateFairness doctrine abolished; has permitted the rise of controversial talk show programs

Telecommunications Act of 1996Relaxed limitations on media ownershipOwn up to 35% of television marketOwn unlimited % of radio

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. The FCC decided to eliminate the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the DoctrineCRITICISM:...thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996...Mergers, takeovers and acquisitions are becoming the norm in the televisionindustry. The new law has stripped down the television ownership rules so much, that:big media players will can be more aggressive in buying out smaller stations...highlights include: Deregulation of most cable TV rates by 1999...End [of] the FCC partial ban on broadcast networks owning cable systems...Extends TV and radio station license terms to eight years...Eases one-to-a-market rule to allow ownership of TV and radio combos...in the top 50 markets40

POLITICAL FUND RAISINGWHERE DOES THAT MONEY COME FROM????

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SOURCESPrivate & PublicPublic Funds: Government subsidySmall contributors ($5)Fat Cats spend much moreCandidates & Their Families (Perot $65 mil. In 92)PACs: Political Action CommitteesGay & Lesbian Victory Fund, NRA, Sierra Club

42HOW MUCH CAN THEY TAKEThe FEC (Federal Election Commission)1974Limit fundraising

Why?....In 1972 Nixon received $2 mil. From one Insurance Executive..TOO MUCH INFLUENCE.

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TYPES OF MONEYHard Money: right to candidate*Must be declared with the name of the donor.Soft Money: indirectgoes to the PARTY & PAC to help the candidates.*HARD TO TRACK.but here are some figures1980 - $19 mil. 2000 - $500 mil.

44Because soft money (not regulated by election laws), companies, unions and individuals may give donations in any amount to a political party for the purpose of "party building."

Party building may include ads that educate voters about issues, as long as the ads don't take the crucial step of telling voters which candidates to vote for. For example:

Candidate X (ad) "I am a good person. Candidate Y is a bad person. Vote for me on election day." Because of the "Vote for me..." portion, this is a political ad, which must be paid for with "hard money."

Candidate Y (ad) "Candidate X has a record that includes awful things. If these awful things continue, people will come to your house, steal your money and shoot your dog. Be sure to vote on election day." Because the ad "educates" people on an issue and doesn't tell them to vote for a particular candidate, it's party building, and can be paid for by soft money.

How much do the politicians spend??

1960 $175 million ($2.54 per voter)2004 - $6 billion ( (apx. $50 per voter)46

CANDIDATERaisedSpentVotesAverage Spent Per VoterBarack Obama (Democrat)$532,946,511$513,557,21869,498,215$7.39John McCain (Republican)$379,006,485$346,666,42259,948,240$5.78Ralph Nader (Independant)$4,496,180$4,187,628738,720$5.67Bob Barr (Libertarian)$1,383,681$1,345,202523,713$2.57Chuck Baldwin (Constitution)$261,673$234,309199,437$1.17Cynthia McKinney (Green)$240,130$238,968161,680$1.48.Source: Federal Election Commission47

Campaign (Primary) spending in Millions

48Politics.a money pit???

To each candidateTo national party committeeTo state, district & local party committeeTo any other political committeeSpecial LimitsIndividual may give$2,600$30,800$10,000$5,000No limitNational Party Committee may give$5,000No limitNo limit$5,000$43,100 to Senate candidate per campaignState, District and Local Party Committee may give$5,000]No limitNo limit$5,000No limitPAC (multicandidate)may give$5,000$15,000$5,000[$5,000No limitPAC (not multicandidate) may give$2,500$30,800[$10,000$5,000No limitAuthorized Campaign Committee may give$2,000No limitNo limit$5,000No limit

PAC LIMITSThere are over 4,000 PACs in the US.PACs can give up to $5,000 per candidate to as many candidates they wish to support.

A Super PAC is a new type of political action committee (PAC) created by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) through the advisory opinion process and in response to landmark court cases like Citizens United, which opened the door for corporations to make independent expenditures in connection with federal elections. A Super PAC may accept unlimited individual and corporate contributions for the sole purpose of making independent expenditures supporting or opposing federal candidates. Unlike traditional PACs, a Super PAC may not make direct contributions to candidates or other political committees. A Super PAC is subject to the same registration and reporting requirements as a traditional PAC, including the identification of all individuals and corporations that have made contributions to the Super PAC in excess of $200 in the aggregate per calendar year.Super PACs have become an increasingly popular political vehicle for outside groups, effectively replacing so-called 527 organizations, because Super PACs allow for the acceptance of unlimited individual and corporate contributions while permitting express advocacy in communications. Although 527 organizations could also raise unlimited individual and corporate contributions, they could not engage in express advocacy for fear of triggering FEC registration and the requisite contribution limits and prohibitions. The advent of the Super PAC, therefore, fundamentally changed the political landscape and such entities will likely continue to play a prominent role for many years to come.As of August 31, 2011, 128 Super PACs have already registered with the FEC.

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THE LIMITSCandidates accepting Federal funds:Presidential Spending Limits for 2012As one of the conditions for receiving public funding, Presidential candidates must agree to abide by certain spending limitations. The limits applicable to publicly funded candidates running in 2012 are listed below. General Election Limit: $91.2 millionOverall Primary Limit: $45.6 million

***BCRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) banned soft money to partieshowever this money is given to organizations or PACSlike move-on.org to help the parties achieve goals.52