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The Media

The Media. Unit 3 AP Government. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter . Thomas Jefferson. Food for Thought…. 1 st Amendment.

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The Media

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  1. The Media Unit 3 AP Government

  2. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Thomas Jefferson Food for Thought…

  3. 1st Amendment • Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press... • Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, 1789.

  4. Confidentiality of Sources • Is it a 1st Amendment Right? • Traditionally reporters do not have to reveal sources • However, recently some have been jailed for refusing to do so • Judith Miller and the NY Times

  5. The BIG Questions • Why do modern day politicians worry about the media so much? • Can we trust the media to be fair? • Should people care about getting the correct information?

  6. Should the Media be a… • Scorekeeper? • Tracking and making political reputations • Watchdog? • Exposing scandal • Gatekeeper? • Passing judgments on topics that then become national issues

  7. Or perhaps all three?? • Scorekeeper • Tracking and making political reputations • Watchdog • Exposing scandal • Gatekeeper • Passing judgments on topics that then become national issues

  8. Evolution of Journalism and the Media • 1690 to 1830-40’s • The Partisan/Party press • Small circulation, expensive to buy • Elites only • The government subsidized the president’s party “press” • Starts in 1840’s • The Penny/Popular press Partisan views • High speed, less cost • Mass circulation- needs sensational stories to sell

  9. Late 1800’s/Early 1900’s • Sensationalism reaches its high (low) point • Yellow journalism is a uncomplimentary reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, jingoism or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists. • Centered on competition was between 2 media giants • Joseph Pulitzer • William Randolph Hearst • Today’s press still uses some of these techniques • “If it bleeds it leads”

  10. Yellow Journalism • Spanish American War was first tabloid topic- late 19th century • “Remember the Maine!”

  11. 1890’s-1920’s • Exposure of corruption by press • A muckraker is an reporter who investigates and exposes issues of such as political corruption, corporate crime, child labor, conditions in slums and prisons, unsanitary conditions in food processing plants (such as meat), fraudulent claims by manufacturers of patent medicines, labor racketeering, and similar topics. • The term muckraker is most usually associated in America novelists and critics from the Progressive Era in the 1890-1920s • Upton Sinclair • Most famous muckraker • Exposed the meat industry in his novel, The Jungle

  12. Technology Progresses- 1 • Radio news- 1920’s and 1930’s • FDR fireside speeches

  13. Technology Progresses- 2 • Television- 1950’s- today • Nixon/Kennedy debates • Live for voters • Vietnam on TV • First time • Immediate coverage • Election returns • Challenger explosion • 9-11

  14. Technology Progresses • Internet- 1990’s- today • Major news outlets and Blogs, unreliable sites??”

  15. Since 9-11 • People watch the national news more often • More viewers are more likely to have different viewpoints • Thus….bias claims have grown! • Has the news changed or just the viewers??

  16. Current Media Trends • Print Media • Newspapers • Journals, magazines • Wire services • AP, UPI, Reuters… • Broadcast Media • Traditional radio and TV stations • Networks and affiliates • Cable, satellite • CNN, Fox • “New” Media • Internet, Blogs…

  17. Government Regulations • The government regulates electronic media • Federal Communications Commission • 1996- Telecommunications Act • Deregulated whole segments of the electronic media • Tried to balance corporate profits with consumer needs • Result: Huge conglomerates like Viacom and Time Warner bought HUGE segments of the media • 2003- FCC added reforms that allowed media outlets to own more than one type in a market • (Clear Channel has 6 radio stations in Atlanta)

  18. The Communications Decency Act of 1996 • The Communications Act of 1996 tried to address indecency on the Internet. • It was introduced in response to fears that Internet pornography was on the rise. • In a landmark 1997 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Internet is a unique medium entitled to the highest protection under the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. • It was blocked by federal courts saying it was too broad • The CDA prohibited posting "indecent" or "patently offensive" materials in a public forum on the Internet -- including web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, or online discussion lists. • This would have included the texts of classic fiction such as the Catcher in the Rye and Ulysses • This gave the Internet same free speech protection as print media.

  19. The Communications Decency Act of 1996 • The Communications Act of 1996 tried to address indecency on the Internet. • It was introduced in response to fears that Internet pornography was on the rise. • In a landmark 1997 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Internet is a unique medium entitled to the highest protection under the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. • It was blocked by federal courts saying it was too broad • The CDA prohibited posting "indecent" or "patently offensive" materials in a public forum on the Internet -- including web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, or online discussion lists. • This would have included the texts of classic fiction such as the Catcher in the Rye and Ulysses • This gave the Internet same free speech protection as print media.

  20. Government Regulations • The government regulates electronic media (via Federal Communications Commission) • Broadcast Television and Radio • Licensed and regulated • FCC rules, 7 dirty words, Janet Jackson… • Fines are applied! • Cable • Little or no regulations

  21. “Rules” of the Game for Broadcast TV and Radio • Fairness doctrine- Abolished in 1987 • required radio and television broadcasters to air contrasting views on controversial public issues. ... but some still follow • Equal time rule- • requires equal air time for all major candidates competing for political office. • The air time is NOT free- candidates MUST pay for their equal time • Political editorializing rule-Abolished in 2000 • Stations that endorse a candidate for office were required to give the candidate’s opponents free rebuttal time. • Right of reply rule • Broadcasting stations are obliged to offer "reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views". • The wording is important: "reasonable" rather than equal. Coverage is not measured with a stopwatch. It is simply that all sides of the debate get heard.

  22. Print Media • Newspapers and Magazines • No “prior restraint” • In other words, more freedom and less rules than broadcast media • They can be sued for libel AFTER publication of controversial articles

  23. Can a Story go too Far?? • Libel (written slander)* • Is it true? • Is it false?* • Is it misreported on purpose?* • Is it misreported by mistake?

  24. Can a Story go too Far?? • Obscenity in the media • Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler… • Does it have social value? • Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell • Does it incite violence? • Schenck v US

  25. FCC v Fox TV Stations (2009) • In 2002-03, Fox Television Stations broadcast the Billboard Music Awards in 2004. • During the broadcasts, a musician (Cher) used an explicative in her acceptance speech, and a presenter (Nicole Ritchie) used two expletives. • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although it had previously taken the position that such fleeting and isolated expletives did not violate its indecency regime, issued notices of liability to Fox for broadcasting the profane language.

  26. Question of Law • Is the FCC's order imposing liability on for “fleeting expletives” used on Fox, "arbitrary and capricious" based on the FCC's previous acceptance of similar expletives • Bono in 2001 • Does the FCC need to prove that its change in policy is "better" than its prior rule?

  27. X X X Importance of Case • Importance of Ruling • No. The Supreme Court held that the FCC's order was neither "arbitrary" nor "capricious” • No. The FCC need merely prove that its new policy is "permissible" and that there are good reasons for it, as in this case.

  28. Media Coverage of Congress • Senate- broadcasts since 1950 • House- no cameras until 1978 • Today…it’s 24/7!!! • C-Span • C-Span 2 • Every word and every hour is on tape • No one is in the gallery but members keep on talking!!

  29. Media Coverage of President • FDR was master of media • Fireside chats • Protected him from prying cameras • State of Union was not a story until FDR • Large press corps today • Daily press updates by press secretary • On the campaign trail with candidates

  30. Bully Pulpit • This term stems from President Theodore Roosevelt's reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda. • Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful.

  31. Are Stories Slanted?? • Routine news stories • Least biased since all stations/papers will cover • Feature stories • More bias • Journalists pick and choose • Exciting to cover • Scandal sells • Spin it baby!!!!

  32. Looking for Bias in the Media • Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message. • Is there such a thing as an objective point of view?? • “No matter how much we may try to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially.” .

  33. Government Constraints? • Should the government place constraints on journalists? • Should reporters… • Strike a more of a balance? • Express more neutral views? • Become the mouthpiece for all sources? • Dig deeper? • Be arrested? • Look for other jobs? 

  34. Important Freedom of the Press Cases • John Peter Zenger case (1733) • New York Times v Sullivan (1964) • New York Times v US (1973)

  35. Facts In the latter part of 1733 John Peter Zenger began publishing a newspaper in New York to voice opposition to the onerous policies of newly appointed colonial governor William Cosby. On Sunday, November 17, 1734 Zenger was arrested and charged with seditious libel. Rebuffed repeatedly by Chief Justice Delancey during the trial, Zenger’s lawyer decided to plead his client's case directly to the jury. The Zenger Case- 1733 The burning of Zenger's New York Weekly Journal (Bettman Archive)

  36. Importance of Case • The verdict was not guilty on the charge of publishing "seditious libels."  • The idea that the truth is an absolute defense against libel was established in this case • The Zenger trial was the root of today’s free press in America, and shows the stubborn independence of American jurors. Zenger's lawyer stands up for freedom of the presscourtesy, Chronicle of America

  37. New York Times v Sullivan- 1964 • Facts • This case concerned a full-page ad in the New York Times which alleged that the arrest of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. for perjury in Alabama was part of a campaign to destroy King's efforts to integrate public facilities and encourage blacks to vote • L. B. Sullivan, the Montgomery city commissioner, filed a libel action against the newspaper and four black ministers who were listed as endorsers of the ad, claiming that the allegations against the Montgomery police defamed him personally. • Question of law • Did Alabama's libel law, by not requiring Sullivan to prove that an advertisement personally harmed him and dismissing the same as untruthful due to factual errors, unconstitutionally infringe on the First Amendment's freedom of speech and freedom of press protections?

  38. Importance • The Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity). Under this new standard, Sullivan's case collapsed. • Just publishing a “defamatory falsehood” is not enough to win a libel case • Writer/publisher must have “actual malice”

  39. New York Times v US (1973) • In what became known as the "Pentagon Papers Case," the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam. • Daniel Ellsburg, a federal employee was caught coping the documents concerning the war. When the FBI finally caught up with him in June 1971, he was charged with 12 felonies and faced 115 years in jail. • The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect national security. • Pentagon Papers case • Question- • Did the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent the publication of what it termed "classified information" violate the First Amendment?

  40. Importance • The Court ruled against the United States • In its per curiam opinion the Court held that the government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press in this case. • Justices Black and Douglas argued that the vague word "security" should not be used "to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment." • Justice Brennan reasoned that since publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, prior restraint was unjustified.

  41. FCC v Fox TV Stations (2009) • Facts of the Case • In 2002-03, Fox Television Stations broadcast the Billboard Music Awards. • During the broadcasts, a musician (Cher) used an expletive in her acceptance speech, and a presenter (Nicole Ritchie) used two expletives. • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although it had previously taken the position that such fleeting and isolated expletives did not violate its indecency regime, issued notices of liability to Fox for broadcasting the profane language.

  42. Question of Law • Is the FCC's order imposing liability on for “fleeting expletives” used on Fox, "arbitrary and capricious" based on the FCC's previous acceptance of similar expletives • Bono in 2001 • Does the FCC need to prove that its change in policy is "better" than its prior rule?

  43. Importance of Case • Importance of Ruling • No. The Supreme Court held that the FCC's order was neither "arbitrary" nor "capricious” • No. The FCC need merely prove that its new policy is "permissible" and that there are good reasons for it, as in this case.

  44. FCC v Fox TV Stations (2012) • Facts of the Case • Fox Television once again brought up the case arguing that they had not been given clear instructions or rules prior to the Billboard case. • They then challenged their fine AND restrictions on what they claimed was free speech.

  45. FCC v Fox TV Stations (2012) • Importance • The Court ruled 8-0 for Fox because clear FCC rules had not been provided. • Justice Kennedy: • When speech is involved, rigorous adherence to those requirements is necessary to ensure that ambiguity does not chill protected speech. These concerns are implicated here because, at the outset, the broadcasters claim they did not have, and do not have, sufficient notice of what is proscribed. • However, Pacifica was not overturned.

  46. Bias in the news media • Is the news media biased toward liberals? • Is the news media biased toward conservatives?

  47. Bias in the news media • Is the news media biased toward liberals? • Yes. • Is the news media biased toward conservatives? • Yes.

  48. Read your chapters…Chapter 11 and 15!

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