CIS Political Science
Chapter 6
The Media
Mr. Makela
St. Clair High School
University of Minnesota
People, Government and Communications
 Mass Media: the means employed in mass communication;
often divided into print media and broadcast media
 Print Media: communicate information through the publication
of words on paper; daily newspapers and popular magazines
 Broadcast Media: communicate information electronically,
through sounds and images; radio, television and the Internet
 Political content can also be transmitted through other mass
media, such as music and motion pictures
The Development of the
Mass Media in the United States

Newspapers

On the decline since the
1960s, pressured by
radio and television

Daily circulation has
declined almost 50%
since 1950

Daily newspaper with
largest circulation: USA
Today (2.3 million copies)

Newspapers were once
controlled by political
parties
The Development of the
Mass Media in the United States

Magazines

Differ from newspapers in both frequency and nature of their
coverage

Relatively small circulations and select readerships

Most likely to influence attentive policy elites:


Leaders who follow news in specific policy areas
Elites then share their information with their followers in the
two-step flow of communication

Process in which a few policy elites gather information and then inform their
more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government.

Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report have the
largest news magazine circulations in the U.S.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MASS
MEDIA IN THE UNITED STATES
Radio
Made broadcast journalists into household
names
Over 90% of Americans
still listen to a traditional
AM/FM radio station at
least once every week
“Talk radio” is now its most salient function
Most popular in 1920s
Big advantage: Live coverage
Video on Rush Limbaugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5N
qlJt6PIU
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MASS
MEDIA IN THE UNITED
STATES
Television
In 2010, 99% of U.S.
households had
television. Best news
source of all mass
media outlets in
America
Developed in 1920s but not successful until
after WW II
The three broadcast networks still have huge
audiences, but millions of viewers have
drifted to cable news and the Internet
Cult of personalities
Celebrities, Journalist, Politicians
The Development of the
Mass Media in the United States

The Internet


Formed in late 1950s; e-mail in 1969 among academic
scientists
January 1993  only 50 web sites; Brower introduced in
1995

Now  over 100 million sites and over a billion Web users

Today—influential because of:

Instant news (before mainstream media)

Worldwide person-to-person networking

YouTube

Blogs, Podcasts, Message Boards, Twitter

Smartphones, I-Pad
Private Ownership of the Media

Entertainment content of mass media in the U.S.
vastly overshadows the news content
◦ Newsworthiness: the degree to which a news story is
important enough to be covered in the mass media

Potential Impact (emotional)

Sensationalism (scandal, ect.)

Familiarity (can people relate?)

Close to home character

Timelines (Who has the scope)
◦ Market-driven journalism: both reporting and
running commercials geared to a target audience
defined by demographic characteristics

KEYC tv news stories on local stories as much as state/national
Private Ownership of the Media
• Local news epitomizes market-driven journalism
• National news broadcasts have suffered severe
loss of audience (with the internet and instant
alerts)
– Infotainment: a mix of information and diversion
oriented to personalities or celebrities, not linked to
the day’s events, and usually unrelated to public
affairs or policy; often called “soft news.”
Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
6 | 11
Government Regulation of the Media

Federal Communications Act of 1934: created the
Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission: an independent
federal agency that regulates interstate and international
communication by radio, television, telephone, telegraph,
cable and satellite

Businesses gave up freedom for order

Mandate: “serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity”
GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF THE
MEDIA
The Telecommunications Act of 1996
Relaxed or scrapped limitations on media ownership
Set no national limits for radio ownership and relaxed local limits
Lifted rate regulations for cable systems and allowed
cross-ownership of cable and telephone companies
Allowed local and long-distance telephone companies to compete
with one another and to sell television services
New law allowed a flurry of megamergers
(Check next slide for that)






157 Billion (NBC, Universal Pictures)
36 Billion (ABC, ESPN, Touchtone, Pixar)
30 Billion (FOX, 20th Century Fox, NY Post)
25.8 Billion (CNN, Time Warner, HBO)
13.6 Billion (MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures)
13 Billion (CBS, Showtime)
GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF THE MEDIA
Recent Deregulations
 Why did Congress allow The Telecommunications Act of 1996?
 Attitudes started changing
 Competition was thought to be good
 Pressure to have better “marketplace ideas”
 Regulations violated the 1st Amendment
 U.S. Supreme Court struck down content rules in 2000
 Political editorial rule—give candidate equal time on tv and radio
 Person Attack rule—if candidate attacks an opponent on
character, they have to be notified and are to be given free time
to respond

Regulation of Content
◦ 1st Amendment prohibits
Congress from abridging
the freedom of the press
 “Press” has come to
mean all media
 Exception to press
freedom: publication of
strategic information
during wartime

Broadcast media have been
subject to additional
regulation because they use
public airwaves

Fairness Doctrine:


obligated broadcaster to
provide fair coverage of all
views
Equal
Opportunities Rule:

required broadcasters to make
time available under the same
conditions to all candidates for
public office
Functions of the Mass
Media for the Political System

Journalists consider “news” as an important event
that has happened within the past twenty-four hours.

Washington D.C. has the largest press corps in the world


around 7000 reporters
Correspondents rely heavily on information received from the
president’s staff and from congressional offices

White House releases information

C-SPAN televises House and Senate proceedings

Selected reporters occasionally benefit from information “leaks”


When the White house wants a story out there but want anonymity
“A White House source says that ……….”
“Pack journalism:” the tendency of journalists to adopt similar
viewpoints toward the news
Functions of the Mass Media for the Political System
 Interpreting and Presenting the News
 Gatekeepers: media executives, news editors, and prominent reporters
who direct the flow of news.

Time limitations place especially severe constraints on television news
broadcasting

Horse race journalism: election coverage by the mass media that focuses on
which candidate is ahead rather than on issues

Media event: a situation that is so “newsworthy” that the mass media are
compelled to cover it; candidates in elections often create such situations


On average, Americans spend a little over an hour a day getting news from
multiple sources

Still, people seem to know more about entertainment news than about political
facts
Television hypothesis: the belief that television is to blame for the low level of
citizens’ knowledge about public affairs
Functions of the Mass Media for the Political System
 Influencing Public Opinion
 The media may create public
opinion simply by reporting events
 Sometimes coverage may have a
profound effect

Coverage of the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
conflicted with government reports
that the situation was under control

Coverage of presidential election
returns in 2000 may have profoundly
affected public opinion toward both
candidates
 Political Agenda:
 a list of issues that need government attention
 Can attract attention for buried issues
 AIDS, global warming
 unpleasant issues (wrongful use of the death penalty)
 Can keep issues high on the agenda even when not
necessary
 crime
 Media’s ability to define “the news” makes
politicians eager to influence coverage
Functions of the Mass
Media for the Political System
 Socializing the Citizenry
 Young people acquire political
values through entertainment
functions

The Daily Show
 Message is more mixed than it
once was
 Watch The Dailey Show clip

http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=P4nDQwO_wLg
Evaluating the Media in Government
 Is Reporting Biased?
 Reporters are charged with tilting stories in a liberal
direction; media owners are suspected of preserving
inequalities and reinforcing the existing social order

Reporters tend to be more liberal than conservative, and the “tone” of
network newscasts has tended to favor Democratic candidates for
president

Talk radio is overwhelmingly conservative

Editors tend to be more conservative and function as gatekeepers,
toning down reporters’ liberal leanings
 Incumbents always receive much more news coverage than
challengers (fair??)
Evaluating the Media in Government
 Contributions to Democracy
 Watchdog journalism:

scrutinizes public and business
institutions and publicizes
perceived misconduct
 Media serve both majoritarian
and pluralist models of
democracy by improving the
quality of available
information
 Media also reports public
opinion
End of Chapter 6 PP Notes

Remember to do your reading with pages 159-190 for this
chapter
Sources
Janda Textbook: 10th edition
Dale Anderson: Shakopee HS
Photos: Google Images