Chapter 7: The Mass Media and the Political Agenda pg.

212 -high-tech politics-a politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology -mass media-television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication -the media plays an important role in policy agenda The Mass Media Today: -key to political success is gaining control over the political agenda -media events-events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. In keeping w/ politics as theater, media events can be staged by individuals, groups, and govt officials, especially presidents. -60% of campaign spending is devoted to TV ads -image making is critical in day-to-day governing, especially for presidents -Ronald Reagan devoted a lotta energy into media appearance pg.213 -Reagan White House 7 principles: plan ahead, stay on the offensive, control the flow of information to talk about, speak in one voice, and repeat the same message many times pg.214 -in todays age, important for president to communicate effectively in order to lead the country The Development of Media Politics: -FDR invented media politics-used radio -press conference-meetings of public officials w/ reporters pg.215 -the press and politicians had a nice relationship until Vietnam and Watergate -the press presses on politicians to get out the truth (Clinton-Lewinsky) -investigative journalism-the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, which at times puts reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders -investigative journalism--->public cynicism and negativity about politics -trend toward more negative media coverage due to 1) emphasis of campaign reporting changing from what to why 2) the type of interpretative story that has become more prominent is hard-biting analysis of political maneuvering and the horse race pg. 216 -media coverage has shifted from policy statements (major issues) to campaign controversies-->unfavorable impressions of candidates -print media-newspapers and magazines -broadcast media-television and radio ~Print Media~ -1st amendment gave newspapers freedom to print whatever they wanted -Joseph and William Randolph Hearsts yellow journalism-reporting that focused on violence, corruption, wars, and gossip, with little regard for the truth pg. 217 -NY Times-most influential newspaper -Associated Press wire service-main source of national and world news -rise of TV news--->declining newspaper circulation rates, unfortunate b/c newspaper readers are better informed/more likely to vote since newspapers hold more info -magazines rates are also declining, serious magazines are read by the educated elite pg. 218 ~The Broadcast Media~

-1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon (radio people liked Nixon, but TV people thought Kennedy won) pg. 219 -during Vietnam , TV exposed what was happening in the war to the ppl at home, Johnson lost the support of the American ppl -people rely on TV for news the most ~Government Regulation of the Broadcast Media~ -in 1934, Congress created Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the use of airwaves-independent regulatory body-under a lot of political pressure -FCC has regulated airwaves in three ways: 1) instituted rules to limit the number of stations owned or controlled by one company to prevent monopolies 2) conducts periodic examinations of the goals and performances of stations as part of its licensing authority 3) issued a number of fair treatment rules concerning access to airwaves for political candidates and officeholders -fairness doctrine-required broadcasters to give time to opposing views if they broadcast a program slanted to one side of a controversial issue-later abolished due to development of numerous TV channels pg. 220 ~Narrowcasting: Cable TV and the Internet~ - explosion of TV channels in the near future--->information about politics will be presented in a way that appeals to a narrow and specific audience rather than to the public at large -development of cable TV--->market segmentation (politics people watch C-SPAN, sporties watch ESPN, musicies watch MTV) -narrowcasting-media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience. Examples include MTV, ESPN, and C-SPAN-also used by websites -many sources of information, but limited number of people who are interested in politics-->inequality of political information, w/ the politically interested becoming more knowledgeable while the rest of the public slips further into political apathy ~Private Control of the Media~ -in the U.S., media is mainly in private control -in other countries, major TV networks are owned by the government pg. 221 -private ownership of the media + First Amendment right to free speech=American journalists have the ability to criticize government leaders and policies -private ownership-dependent on advertising revenues to keep their businesses going-objective is to get the biggest audience pg. 222 -TV networks have been bought by giant corporations -chains-newspapers published by massive media conglomerates that account for over fourfifths of the nations daily newspaper circulation. Often these chains control broadcast media as well. -foreign bureaus got removed because of costs and lack of public interest--->Americans are unfamiliar with world affairs Reporting the News:

-TV networks define news as what is entertaining to the average viewer - As audiences declined, network executives decreed that news had to become more profitable. So news divisions sharply reduced their costs, and tried to raise the entertainment value of their broadcasts. -news reporting=a business in America -media is biased pg. 223 ~Finding the News~ -most news stories come from well-established sources -beats-specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. Most top reporters work a particular beat, thereby becoming specialists in what goes on at that location. -trial balloons-an intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction (Clinton-Lewinsky) pg. 224 -newsmakers rely on journalists to get their message out & reporters rely on public officials to keep them in the know -during 1991 Gulf War, reporters freedom of mvt/observation was restricted, and after the war, news organizations complained--->in Iraq War, reporters were embedded with coalition fighting forces -ever since Watergate, news organizations have regularly sent reporters on beats to expose the uglier side of govt -good investigative reporting can make a diff. in politics/govt pg. 225 ~Presenting the News~ -news coverage by the print/broadcast media=superficial -analysis of news events rarely last more than a minute -in campaigns, media focuses more on strategy and who is winning the political game than on specific policy issues involved -news coverage has become faster and less thorough -sound bites-short video clips of approx. 15 seconds; typically all that is shown from a politicians speech or activities on the nightly television news -amount of time a candidate has been given to talk uninterrupted on the TV news has declined to 7 seconds pg. 226 -sound bites-->candidates dont hafta say anything of significance and they can avoid issues -some believe that candidates should be given blocks of free air time for a series of nights to discuss their opposing views -hard for politicians to get their message covered on major networks pg. 227 ~Bias in the News~ -reporting isnt systematically biased toward particular ideology/party -most stories are presented w/ both points of view presented -most reporters believe in journalistic objectivity

-media outlets dont wanna lose their audience by appearing biased -in the news business, competition--->uniformity pg. 230 -Goldberg wrote, real media bias comes not so much from what party they attack. Liberal bias is the result of how they see the world -reporters are biased toward stories that will attract large audiences -T.V. is biased toward stories that generate good pictures -talking head-a shot of a persons face talking directly to the camera. Because this is visually unappealing, the major commercial networks rarely show a politician talking one-on-one for very long pg. 231 The News and Public Opinion: -its hard to separate the media from other influences - minimal effects hypothesis-media has no more than a marginal effect on public opinion pg. 232 -Iyengar and Kinder concluded that what television news does is alter the priorities Americans attach to a circumscribed set of problems, all of which are plausible contenders for public concern -agenda-setting effects are strong among knowledgeable citizens who trust the medai -increasing public attention to specific problems--->media influences the criteria by which the public evaluates political leaders -media can affect how the public evaluates specific events by emphasizing one particular news aspect over all others pg. 233 The Medias Agenda-Setting Function: -policy agenda-the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time -policy entrepreneurs-people who invest their political capital in an issue -poor people have access to media too -protest groups stage events to attract the medias attention -policy entrepreneurs hire public relations firms to improve their image Understanding the Mass Media: -media=key linkage institutions between the people and the policymakers ~The Media and the Scope of Government~ -medias watchdog function restricts politicians-reformist -reporters job-crusade against foul play and unfairness in govt and society -media reports problems in a manner that encourages govt to take on more and more tasks ~Individualism and the Media~ -television broadcasting--->reinforces individualism in the American political process -easier for candidates to run for office by appealing to ppl directly thru television pg. 235 -T.V. focuses on individuals more easily than on groups--->candidate personality has become important and parties have declined -President gets more exposure than Congress

~Democracy and the Media~ -information=fuel of democracy -rise of information society has not brought about the rise of informed society -people like news to be more entertaining than educational pg. 236 -people rule through the media