The Media

The Media

A Reliable Source?

Politicians & the Media

A Love-Hate Relationship

U.S. & the World

• 16/94 countries have a high degree of freedom of the press (U.S. is one)

• France media is controlled by the government• Most U.S. radio & television stations are private

– Must have government licenses (Radio – 7 year, TV – 5 year)– Does necessity to turn a profit influence publishers & stations to

distort news coverage?• Yes: To satisfy advertisers, stockholders, managerial ideologies• No: Growing power & autonomy of editors/reporters

• Most U.S. press is geared toward local news• Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden and

elsewhere have media that are produced for a national audience rather than local

History of the Media

Party Press

• Controlled by politicians/political parties

• Circulated to political elites who could afford subscription prices

• Very partisan

Gazette of the United States

•Federalist publication

•Alexander HamiltonNational Gazette

•Republican publication

•Thomas Jefferson

History of the Media (cont…)

Popular Press• Self-supporting, mass-readership• High-speed rotary press – increased supply, decreased

price• Telegraph (1840s) – provided “immediate” news• Associated Press (AP)

– Created in 1848– Provided news related information to member editors regularly– Objectivity important because of many political ideologies among

papers• Urbanization – led to the “Penny Press”• Sensationalism – to attract more readers

– “yellow journalism”: Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers

SensationalismJoseph Pulitzer

•New York World

•Entered a journalism war with Hearst’s Journal over the issue of

Spain/Cuba

•Original Artist: Richard Outcault

•Mickey Dugan (aka Yellow Kid)

•Hung around in an alley filled with equally odd characters

•Modeled the character on a photograph of a New York "tenement

child“

•Inspired the name of yellow journalism

William Randolph Hearst

•New York Journal

•Deliberate falsification of whole incidents, claiming a humanitarian crisis among

Cubans at the hands of Spanish troops

•Contributed to rallying public support for the cause for war

with Spain (Cuba)

“You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”

Pulitzer v Hearst

Yellow Journalism Activity

• Research the Dan Rather story on President Bush’s national guard service

• Visit www.wikipedia.org to learn about George Bush’s military service controversy and Dan Rather’s role (sometimes dubbed “Memogate”)

• Do you think this is an example of present-day “yellow journalism”? Why or why not?

• What role did “bloggers” play in the controversy?• Create a power point presentation or a poster

revealing your findings

History of the Media (cont…)Magazines

• Growth of the middle class, distaste of yellow journalism & progressivism led to rise of magazines

• 1850s/60s: the Nation, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Weekly

• Commanded a more educated group of readers

• McClure’s, Cosmopolitan• Popular press reporters

contributed to national magazine articles

Muckraking

•Describes a family of immigrants working in the meat packing industry in Chicago

•Described poverty, working conditions, unsanitary conditions

•“Haves v Have-Nots”

•Promoted socialism to solve the problem of the poor

"There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is

outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside."

Chapter 27

Upton Sinclair

History of the Media (cont…)

Muckrakers led to the rise of Investigative Reporting

Geraldo RiveraBob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

History of the Media (cont…)

Electronic Journalism• Radio – 1920s• Television – 1940s• Advantage: Candidates could directly reach people of

the nation without the involvement of reporters/editors• Disadvantages:

– Space (advertisements) in newspapers was cheap compared to radio/TV

– Newspapers can “cover” more candidates than can radio/TV– All candidates besides the president must vie for access to

radio/TV (controversial statements, gaining national reputation, purchasing expensive “air time”)

History of the Media (cont…)

Alan Colmes

Al Frankin

Rush Limbaugh

Sean Hannity

History of the Media (cont…)

• 1940s-1990s: The “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, NBC) controlled 80% of viewers

• 1980s-1990s: Emergence of cable television, entertainment programs, talk shows, “news magazines”– Candidates’ access has increased

• Sound bite: video clip of a politician– 1968: 42 seconds– 2000: 7.3 seconds

History of the Media (cont…)

Internet (www…)• Emerged in the 1990s• Provides ability to

research ANYTHING!– Truths, lies, facts, fiction,

gossip

• Absolutely uncontrolled – no one can keep facts or nonsense off of it!

Matt Drudge

History of the Media (cont…)

Party Press – Few informed people

Popular Press – Mass politics, more people informed

Magazines – Interest groups developed

Radio/Television – Candidates gained better access to voters

Internet – Candidates/political activists have uncontrolled dialouge

Competition in the Media

• Newspapers– Significant decline in the number of cities with multiple papers

• 60% of cities had daily competing papers in 1972, only 4% by 1990

– Many newspapers overlap areas (Atlanta Journal & Constitution, The Times, Lakeside on Lanier, www.accessnorthga.com, www.topix.net) that decrease circulation

• Magazines– Exist for every conceivable interest

• Radio/Television– Intensely competitive with all the stations (network and cable)

What is the National Press?

• Wire Services (AP, Reuters & UPI) supply most of the national news published by local papers

• News Magazines (Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report) provide national readership

• Network News Evening Broadcasts (ABC, CBS, NBC) are carried by most stations with network affiliation

• Cable News Broadcasts (CNN, MSNBC, FOX) provide around-the-clock news as well as CSPAN

• Newspapers (Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today are the only true national papers)– New York Times & Washington Post have gained national

readership and influence other media publications/broadcasts

Why is the National Press Important?

• Government officials pay close attention to these media outlets and what they say about them and their programs

• Reporters/editors for the national press are different from the local press– Better paid– Better educated– More liberal ideologies– Write stories that are “background”, investigative, or

interpretive

Roles of the National Press• Gatekeeper: Influences what subjects become

national political issues and for how long• Scorekeeper: Tracks political reputations and

candidacies (“Horse race”)• Watchdog: Investigates personalities and

exposes scandals

Media RulesNewspapers: almost entirely free

from government regulation• Protected by the 1st Amendment• Prior restraint? (Pentagon Papers)• Libel: maliciously reporting a lie• Obscenity – difficult to define, no

clear definition• Incitement: causes someone to

commit a crime• Confidentiality of Sources

– Supreme Court has upheld the right of the government to compel reporters to divulge information as part of a properly conducted criminal investigation (as long as it “bears” on the commission of the crime

Pentagon Papers

•7,000 page top-secret document discussing U.S. involvement in Vietnam

•Leaked in 1971

•Revealed the government had planned to expand its role in Vietnam even when president Lyndon Johnson was promising not to, that the Gulf of Tonkin incident had been largely fabricated, and that there was no plan to end the war

•Increased the credibility gap, hurting the war effort

•Ended in the Supreme Court Case New York Times Co v U.S. (1971)

•6-3 decision: Injunctions were unconstitutional prior restraints and that the government had not met its burden of proof

“Off the record”?

• July 14, 2003 – Valerie Plame's identity was first revealed in print by commentator Robert Novak to notify the public of Plame’s suggestion to send her husband (Joe Wilson) on a trip to Niger to investigate claims of uranium sales to Iraq – Novak cited "two senior administration officials" as his source for the information

• August 29, 2003 – Joe Wilson (former U.S. ambassador) claimed Karl Rove leaked the identity of his CIA operative wife (Valerie Plame) – Such a leak would be against federal law (Intelligence Identities Protection Act of

1982) – Supposedly was leaked because of an editorial written by Wilson that was critical

of the Bush administration’s justification of the War with Iraq (WMDs)

• October, 2003 – Justice Department began an inquiry (grand jury) into the allegations– Rove has been called before Fitzgerald's grand jury four times

• July, 2005 – Rove admitted speaking to Time reporter Matt Cooper "three or four days" before Plame's identity was first revealed on unrelated issues

– Cooper's article in Time, citing unnamed and anonymous "government officials," confirmed Plame to be a "CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," and appeared three days after Novak's column was published

– Cooper recounted a two-minute conversation with Karl Rove in which Rove said that Wilson's wife was a CIA employee (although under the shroud of anonymity

• Judith Miller (New York Times writer) was held in contempt of court – disrupt the normal process of a court hearing – for refusing to appear before a grand jury investigating the leak

– Jailed for 2.5 months– Agreed to disclose to the grand jury the identity of her source, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice

President Dick Cheney's chief of staff • Libby supposedly learned of Plame from Vice President Dick Cheney but withheld it

from the investigators. He will be indicted for obstruction of justice Oct. 28, 2005.• And it continues day by day…

Regulations for Broadcasting

• All radio/television stations must have a license from the government (FCC) and must prove “community need”

• Deregulation: reducing license renewal regulations (renewal by postcard, no hearing unless opposed)

– Television: So many stations allow viewers much more choice– Radio: Before 1992, only one company could own 1 AM and 1

FM station• 1992: FCC doubled station load• Telecommunications Act of 1996: allowed up to 8 of each in local

markets and unlimited in national market• Two results:

1. A few large companies own most big market stations2. Increase in the amount of variety on the radio

• Equal Time Rule – Stations must allow (sell) opposing candidates time to “bloviate”

Regulations for Broadcasting (cont…)

• Right of Reply Rule – If a person is attacked on a broadcast (other than a regular newscast) they have the right to reply over the same station

• Political-editorializing Rule – Opposing candidate(s) may publicly reply to an endorsement

• Fairness Doctrine – required broadcasters to air opposing viewpoints– Abolished in 1987 by the FCC b/c of it inhibition to

encourage free debate of issues– Should “partisans” be allowed to be on the air?

Campaigning Rules

• Equal-time rule applies – Equal access for all candidates – Rates no higher than cheapest commercial rate– Debates formerly had to include all candidates

• Reagan-Carter debate sponsored by LWV as news event • Now stations and networks can sponsor debates limited to

major candidates

• Efficiency in reaching voters varies– Works well only when market and district overlap – More Senate than House candidates buy television

time

Does the Media Affect Politics?

• Generally inconclusive, because of citizens' … – Selective attention

According to Doris Graber, newspaper readers are highly selective. The average person reads only about 20 percent of newspaper stories in full.

– Mental tune-out• Products can be sold more easily than candidates• Newspaper endorsements of presidential

candidates– Local newspapers often for Republicans – This endorsement cut successful Democrats' winning

margins by five percentage points

Does the Media Affect Politics?• Doesn’t really affect the VOTE but does affect…• How political campaigns are conducted

– Conventions scheduled to accommodate television – Candidates win party nomination via media exposure

• How candidates are perceived– Unknowns– News personalities affect viewer preferences

• How policies are formed– Issues established by media attention (Environment, Consumer issues)

• Issues that are important to citizens similar to those in media– TV influences political agenda – But people less likely to take media cues on matters that affect them

personally• Newspaper readers see bigger contrasts between candidate than

do TV viewers• TV news affects popularity of presidents; commentaries have short-

run impact

The Government and the News

The president • Be nice = Nice story, Be ugly = Bad story

– Theodore Roosevelt: systematic cultivation of the press

– Franklin Roosevelt: press secretary cultivated, managed, informed the press

• Role of the Press Secretary • White House Press Corps• Actions personalize the office (riding a horse,

gets sick, takes a trip)

The Government and the News

Coverage of Congress• Never equal to that of president

– Numerous members – hard to get attention • House quite restrictive

– No cameras on floor until 1978 – Gavel-to-gavel coverage of proceedings since 1979

(C-SPAN)• Senate more open

– No TV/radio until 1978– C-SPAN -- 1986– “Incubator” for presidential contenders through

committee hearings

Interpreting Political News

• Since 1985, public view of the media being reliable has decreased

• Most media will cover major, unusual events but choose their own themes to emphasize and questions to raise

• Types of Stories:– Routine – AP/Reuters,

Headlines/placement by local subscribers can affect how it’s perceived

– Feature – More like magazines; on the rise– Insider – Investigative, leaks (Watergate,

Vietnam weakened credibility)

Most likely to be influenced by

ideology of reporter/editor

Journalist Opinion v Public OpinionJournalists The Public

Self-Described Ideology

•Liberal

•Conservative

55%

17%

23%

29%

Favor government regulation of business 49 22

Allow women to have abortions 82 49

Allow prayer in school 25 74

Favor “affirmative action” 81 56

Favor death penalty 47 75

Stricter controls on handguns 78 50

Favor hiring homosexuals 89 55

Source : Los Angeles Times poll of about 3,000 citizens and 2,700 journalists nationwide, as reported in William Schneider and I.A. Lewis, "Views on the News," Public Opinion (August-September 1985), page 7.

Why are there leaks?

• What information should be secret? Public?

• Provides checks and balances between the branches of government

• Distrust of Government (Watergate, Vietnam, Iran-Contra Affair)

• Adversarial Press – suspicious of officialdom and eager to break an embarrassing story

Sensationalism Today

• Economics of Journalism – Public confidence in big business down, and

now media are big business– Drive for market share forces media to use

theme of corruption or scandal

Government Constraints on Journalists

• Reporters must strike a balance between expression of views and retaining sources

• An abundance of congressional staffers makes it easier for Congress to gain information.

• Governmental tools to fight back – Numerous press officers in legislative and executive

branches – Press releases--canned news – Leaks and background stories to favorites – Bypass national press to local – Presidential rewards and punishments for reporters

based on their stories