Mass Media and Public Policy

1. Mass Media and Public Policy

2. Popular Conceptions of the Media

3. Popular Conceptions of the Media

4. Popular Conceptions of the Media

5. Defining Mass Media • "Media" = Institutions that control communications technologies that comprise a crucial means of political communication. • "Mass" media = products (messages) are "mass-produced" • So, mass-mediated communication = messages made available to large groups of people through technology.

6. The Power of the Media is • to define and interpret events and issues; to provide "the pictures in our heads" • to provide the constant threat/promise of publicity • to enhance or inhibit communication among and between citizens and officials

7. Struggles over the power of the media involve • >>>Access to the media<<< • Control/influence over the media • Proper role of the media in democracy

8. What does the mass media consist of? • Daily newspapers • Internet • Over 450 weekly magazines • Weekly papers • Many more specialty magazines— • TV stations, TVs in 98 percent of all households • Cable systems hundreds of channels

9. Wow, this sounds like incredible diversity of channels • 1920: 700 cities with competing papers • 1990: only 12 cities had newspaper competition • 2000: less than 10 • Most papers are parts of chains of newspapers, such as Hearst, Gannett, Times-Mirror, or McClatchy. • Why does this matter?

10. Wow, this sounds like incredible diversity of channels • Seven thousand cities in the US have no local newspaper at all. • TV news organizations buy footage from centralized suppliers • More outlets do not equal more choices.

11. Defining News

12. What is news? • A representation • A product

13. What news is not: • a neutral "mirror" of the world. • reporter-generated (usually).

14. What sort of norms do journalists follow • Fairness • Balance • Accuracy • No obvious ideological bias • The problem with this: news coverage is often more “objectivistic” than objective.

15. Deciding What's News: The "Gatekeeping" Process • "relevance"/familiarity to audience/proximity(->personalization) • violence, conflict, disaster or scandal (-> dramatization) • timeliness and novelty (-> fragmentation) • subjects getting government attn (-> normalization)

16. Pressures On Reporters: • Pressures to cooperate w/official sources • Pressures to standardize the news to fit with organizational constraints: • "News hole" • Time • Beats • Camera crews/bureaus • Media attributes (e.g. visuals for TV) • Pressures to agree with "the pack"

17. Ideological bias: in the eye of the beholder? • This bias runs with the current ideological consensus of the times • AIM and FAIR are both reflections of how bias can be found no matter where or how you look. • We all “find” ideological bias in the things we read • Journalists are not in some ungodly conspiracy to brainwash us (they have to report to editors and owners)

18. Meaning of "bias" = both empirical and normative: • news is necessarily a systematically patterned/distorted representation of the world. Why? • There isn’t enough time to cover everything • There aren’t enough resources to cover everything. • a critique: news doesn't have to be patterned/distorted in these particular ways. If we are sensitive to these biases we can overcome them.

19. Lance Bennett: News contains "information biases." • Personalization: what does it mean to say the news is personalized? • Dramatization • Fragmentation • Normalization and consensus journalism • Consider the political costs of all this

20. Why is news patterned this way? • It’s cheaper—thereby guaranteeing profit margins • Audience Characteristics • How do journalists defend themselves? • We’re just a reflection of the world. • People choose what to consume—they’re not stupid • This is what people want, as measured by ratings • The result of all this: the most restricted range of choices of information in the democratic world • The news is biased because of the very safeguards to ensure “fairness” not objectivity

21. Media and public policy

22. Graber’s Muckraking cycle • Journalistic investigation • Publication • Public opinion • Policy Initiatives • Policy consequences

23. Things don’t always work the way the model would suggest • An investigation may not yield publication • Publication may not stir public opinion (Whitewater) • Even when public opinion is stirred, policy initiatives may not result • Even when policy initiatives result, those consequences may not result. • if something does happen, we may never know (fragmentation)

24. Other Benefits of Investigative Journalism • It might alter the behavior of viewers, as with stories on how to protect yourself against crime or fires • Or it might alter the behavior of bad guys (“leaping impact” muckraking)

25. Is public opinion actually mobilized? • We know from the media effects studies that this sort of influence of the media is sort of hard to measure and prove • Is there any necessary relationship between public opinion and actual policy change?

26. The role of the media in all stages of the policy process

27. Agenda setting and “agenda building” • Doris Graber: Agenda building is when the media “create a political climate that determines the likely thrust of public opinions.” • Examples Watergate, economic recovery policy

28. Alternative selection • The media can influence this by determining the acceptable range of opinions • This become obvious when they cover “both” sides of a story, as if there were only two.

29. Adoption and enactment are often treated as dramas • Conflicts between competing actors on highly personal grounds • These conflicts are often the result of a set of institutional and constitutional processes

30. Implementation and feedback • Covered when there is some sort of failure or conflict in the implementation of a program • Prime example: waste, fraud and abuse • Which gets us to the liberty/security tradeoff, and the efficiency criterion

31. Your goals, as an advocate • Get your ideas out there • May yourself and your group available to journalists • Influence the agenda • Don’t tell people what to think—tell them what to think about • This is where the op-ed assignment comes in.

32. Practical Considerations

33. Your goal: getting your ideas out there • Persuading people that there’s a problem (this week’s assignment) • Persuading people that there are good solutions.

34. How do you work with the media? • Cultivate relationships with editors and reporters • Send press releases • Text • Raw video • Raw audio

35. Who do I want to reach? • What types of people? • General public • Specialists and experts • Where are these people? • Nationwide • Regional • State • Local

36. What outlets can I use to reach people? • TV • Radio • Newspaper • Magazines • Internet • Web sites • Blogs • Other? (Youtube, Facebook, etc.)

37. What sort of things attract the media? • Topical news conferences • Protests and rallies • Sponsoring famous and controversial speakers • Developing a reputation for expertise

38. The Assignment: An Op-Ed Piece • What makes a good op-ed piece? • Timeliness • Good writing—no big words. No long sentences • Logical analysis • Brevity. No more than 750 words. • A compelling story and argument • Two examples: one published, one not. (these aren’t perfect!)