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Media and Politics. Too Much Influence??. Media and Politics. First Amendment Protection Types of Media Ownership Habits of “Consumers” Influence How Much? Negative or Positive?. First Amendment Protection. Freedom of the Press Informed citizenry Public deliberation Basic rules
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Media and Politics Too Much Influence??
Media and Politics • First Amendment Protection • Types of Media • Ownership • Habits of “Consumers” • Influence • How Much? • Negative or Positive?
First Amendment Protection • Freedom of the Press • Informed citizenry • Public deliberation • Basic rules • Strict scrutiny • No prior restraint • Protection of sources • “Responsible” press
Major Media Outlets • Newspapers – “freest” of free press • Radio • Television • Broadcast • Cable • Satellite • Internet – difficulties of regulating
Habits of Consumers • Increasing importance of Internet as “source” of news • Sources changing and habits changing • Grazing vs. focused engagement with news
TV = dominant source of news • Changes in media ownership and government regulation • Have combined to produce a media system in which • Power is concentrated in just a handful of enormous corporations.
Media Ownership • ABC – Disney • CBS – Westinghouse, merged with Viacom – owner of MTV & Paramount • NBC – GE • Fox – Murdoch • CNN – Time Warner • http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/
FCC Media Ownership Rules • Further relaxation proposed – June 3, 2002 • http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/Welcome.html • Sept. 3, 2003 – Federal Appeals Court issued a “stay” preventing the FCC from implementing the new rules • http://www.mediaaccess.org/mediaownershipcase.html
Media Bias • Exists – unavoidable? • Journalists & Reporters – more liberal • Editors – mixed • Owners – more conservative • Varies by media and ownership • Print – range • TV – tends more liberal • Radio – tends more conservative
Politicians and Media • Held accountable • Openness • Responsiveness • Manipulate • Timing of announcements • Background • News as Entertainment • Politics as spectator sport
Influence of Media • Agenda Setting • Declare issue an issue • Force politicians to respond • Tell us what to think about • Framing • Influence our interpretation • Compete with politicians • Priming • Prepare public to view issue, event or person a certain way • Declaration of “momentum”
Too Much Influence?? • Need to be “critical” consumers and “skeptical” citizens