The media

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Development of the Mass Media
Mass media
Means of communication that are technologically capable of reaching most people and economically affordable to most
Have existed for less than two centuries
Political power related to control of information

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Newspapers and Magazines
Early newspapers weeklies
As party politics developed, so did the parties’ relationships with newspapers.
Most were one-sided
Printed the party line
Technological improvements made it easier to publish newspapers.
Penny press
Sensationalism—sells papers.
Still partisan

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Newspapers and Magazines
After the Civil War, the independent press began to develop.
Publishers began to see that they need not alienate potential readers with highly partisan offerings.
Party machines no longer required services of partisan newspapers.
Newspapers became big business.
Chains emerged thanks to Hearst and Scripps.
No longer voice of one editor heard.
More professional.
Influence of the Progressive Muckrakers
Magazines emerged that focused on the new, educated middle class.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Newspapers and Magazines
Today, newspapers and magazines are an important part of mass media.
Over 10,000 newspapers and 12,000 periodicals are currently published.
NYT and LAT have circulations of more than 1 million a day.
WSJ reaches over 2 million.
Most important development: decline in diversity
Mergers
Media conglomerates
Are mass media losing their value as they need to generate corporate profit?

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Radio
1930s: Print monopoly of mass communication began to erode.
First radio stations appeared in the 1920s.
Radio news agencies emerged in 1930s.
Used as a political tool
President Coolidge used radio to communicate with voters.
Roosevelt used radio to calm the nation with his “fireside chats.”
Radio spread quickly. Today there are close to 16,000 radio stations that reach nearly 85 percent of the population.
similar problems: lack of diversity due to radio chains
Talk radio format most important political development

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Television
To most, mass media means TV.
More than 1500 television stations are in the U.S.
99 percent of all households have at least one TV set. The average is four.
1st station went on air in 1939.
By 1960, 90 percent of households had TVs.
Three large networks dominated the industry.
After cable deregulation, households with cable went from 20% in 1970 to 67% in 2000.
Networks lost audience share. May have responded with less news (to cut costs).
Still the largest single source of information available to the public.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
New Media
New media
Cable and satellite TV, fax, e-mail, and the Internet – the media that have grown out of the technological advances of the past few decades
Internet may not really be mass media yet.
Only about half the American population has access to the Internet.
But, its political importance is growing.
New media may alter the nature of political appeals from general to more tailored.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Government Regulation of the
Electronic Media
Federal Radio Commission (1927)
necessary to allocate a limited public resource: bandwidth
Federal Communications Commission (1934)
When television emerged, it fell under the FCC’s regulation responsibilities.
They issued licenses to operate and specified the conditions of operation.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Government Regulation of the
Electronic Media
Equal-time rule
Promulgated by the FCC, it required any station selling time to a candidate to sell time to other candidates at comparable rates.
From 1949 to 1987 FCC also enforced a fairness doctrine
required stations to devote a reasonable amount of time to matters of public importance and to air contrasting viewpoints on those matters
eventually required stations to give public figures who were criticized during program an opportunity to reply
1990s saw much deregulation
abolished local phone monopolies, deregulated cable rates

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
What Information Sources Do Americans Rely On?
TV is the public main source of information beginning in the 1960s.
Newspapers have slightly more influence over politics than society.
More influence in local elections than TV
And less but substantial influence on state elections
Well-educated and older people are likely to rely on newspapers.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Media Effects?
Selective perception
tendency to discount information that is inconsistent with one’s prior predisposition in favor of information consistent with what one already believes
General notion is that the mass media can have an impact on public opinion but it is subtler in nature than mass persuasion.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Agenda Setting
Agenda setting
Occurs when the media affect the issues and problems people think about, even if the media do not determine what positions people adopt
CNN effect
Purported ability of TV to raise a distant foreign affairs situation to national prominence by broadcasting vivid pictures

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Priming and Framing
Priming
Occurs when the media affect the standards people use to evaluate political figures or the severity of a problem
Framing
Occurs when the media induce people to think about an issue from one standpoint rather than from another

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Socialization
The media may play a role in socializing individuals.
Ex: sex and violence on television
Not clear how this influences American politics
could account for the widespread concern over crime
Concerns over portraying of government and minorities (particularly African Americans)
X-Files/24 examples. Leadership corrupt. Good guys always rogue agents.
Stereotyping minorities on TV

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
How Strong Are Media Effects?
Effects, like agenda setting, framing and priming, depend on both the characteristics of the audience and the nature of the information.
People who are uninterested in and uninformed about politics are most susceptible to agenda setting.
Partisans are inclined to think in terms of issues at the core of their party’s concerns.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Media Biases
Modern journalists present themselves as objective.
Supposed to report events and conflicts accurately so that voters can make informed judgments.
Yet many observers believe that the media do skew the news.
Most common charge is political bias.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Ideological Bias
Journalists more Democratic than population at large
Survey of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents reported that in 1992, 89 percent voted for Clinton (compared to 43 percent of the electorate).
Journalists also hold views that are more liberal than those of other college-educated professionals.
But does this affect the news?
When you evaluate the spin (positive or negative slant that reporters or anchors put on their reports) you find the lapses are not as common as critics imply.
Most coverage of politics is relatively spin-free.
Media tend to be hard on incumbents, losers, and those involved in scandals regardless of party.
Changes in media system have worked to reduce tendency toward liberal bias.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Selection Bias
Selection principle
Rule of thumb according to which stories with certain characteristics are chosen over stories without those characteristics
Choice of stories based on
Negativity (failure, loss, etc.) when government or officials do something wrong. Scandal and problems.
Look for heroes and villains. Sensational stories not abstract social developments.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Professional Bias
Third kind of media bias arises from the demands of the journalism profession today.
Some journalists are specialists – have a beat.
But most are generalists who lack specific substantive expertise.
They become dependent on outside experts to help them with their stories.
Quality of information may suffer.
Greater focus on entertainment
All lead to “pack journalism” – herd mentality

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Prospects for Change
News media are private, profit-making enterprises.
Respond to public demands
Like to change only if public demands such change

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
The Media and Electoral Politics
Transmit information about problems and issues
This information helps voters make their choices.
But does media bias cause media coverage to fall short of the ideal?

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
Campaign Coverage
This is an area where the media are criticized heavily.
Charge: The media provide little coverage of policy issues.
Charge: The media concentrate on issues such a character at the expense of genuine policy and expertise issues.
Evidence: The trend in horse-race coverage is increasing.
Even candidates are critical of the nature of coverage.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
The Conventions
Process for nominating presidential candidates stabilized in 1972 and took the surprise out of the process
Since then conventions are not as important.
Media coverage has dropped.
The more the party managers tried to package their message to please television, the less the major networks were interested.
Now the convention coverage venue is cable and the Internet.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005
The Presidential Debates
No other campaign events earn the ratings that the presidential debates earn.
First televised debates were in 1960.
Nixon and Kennedy
Radio listeners thought Nixon won; TV viewers thought Kennedy won
Studies show that performance in the debates can sway the undecided voter.