The Mass Media and the Political Agenda

Introduction
Mass Media:
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and other means of popular communication.
High-tech politics:
A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology.

The Mass Media Today
Media Events:
Events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. Media events can be staged by almost anybody.
Other items to consider:
60% presidential campaign spending is TV ads
Image making / news management is important, especially for presidents

The Development of Media Politics
Introduction
The news media wasn’t always so important.
Press Conferences: meetings of public officials with reporters - Roosevelt used many of these.
Investigative Journalism: the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams & schemes putting reporters & politicians opposite each other.

The Development of Media Politics
The Print Media
Newspapers and magazines
“Yellow journalism” characterized newspapers at the turn of the century.
Among the press there is a pecking order.
Newspaper circulation has been declining.
Magazines are also struggling.

Figure 7.1
The Development of Media Politics

The Development of Media Politics
The Broadcast Media
Television and radio
Brought government and politics into people’s homes.
Made the politicians more aware of their appearance and mannerisms.
Television is the principal source of news for most Americans, and most believable.

The Development of Media Politics
Government Regulation of the Broadcast Media
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the use of airwaves.
Narrowcasting: Cable TV and the Internet
Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience

The Development of Media Politics
Private Control of the Media
Only a small number of TV stations are publicly owned in America.
The media are totally dependent on advertising revenues.
Chains consist of massive media conglomerates that control almost three-quarters of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation as well as broadcast media.

Reporting the News
Finding the News
Beats: 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 out

Reporting the News

Figure 7.2
Reporting the News
Presenting the News
Superficial describes most news coverage today
Sound Bites: Short video clips of approximately 15 seconds.

Reporting the News
Bias in the News
Many people believe the news favors one point of view over another.
Generally are not very biased along liberal / conservative lines.
Generally are biased towards what will draw the largest audience.

The News and Public Opinion
Television 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.

The Media’s 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.
All depend on good images and good will.

Understanding the Mass Media
The Media and the Scope of Government
The media as watchdog restricts politicians.
New proposals are met with skepticism - so that restricts what the government can do.
But, if the media identify a problem, they ask what the government is going to do to fix it.