Chapter 15 – The News Media

1. “Journalists • inform the public. • influence public opinion, and • affect the direction of public policy in our democratic society.” • Throughout most of the 19th century, newspapers were partisan in nature, being produced at the expense of political parties. Advertising revenues and subscription services that allow for an independent press came later. Chapter 15 – The News Media

2. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer – highly sensationalized stories to increase circulation, known as yellow journalism. Often credited (?) with influencing American intervention into Cuba in the Spanish-American War. The combination of yellow journalism and the Progressive Era gave rise to muckraking, a new form of journalism “devoted to exposing misconduct by government, business, and individual politicians.” Many were former yellow journalists who now worked for magazines writing in depth exposes. Journalists became more professionalized and ethical standards of objectivity and balance became valued. 1890-1920

3. Resurrected as a news medium through ideologically conservative broadcasts that would not have found a voice in the mainstream media. Liberals turn to NPR, but studies have “failed to find any overt liberal bias”. Radio

4. Earlier years of “broadcast” stations, there were requirements of public service programming in order to retain the broadcast license. The justification of regulation came from the concept that there were limited airwaves that were considered a public good. These airwaves were limited and only so many licenses could be granted for broadcasting. In the 1950s and 1960s we saw three broadcasting companies, all of whom ran the news at 6:00 PM. If you did not want to watch news, you turned the TV off. Many more options today for viewing entertainment, much less news. C-SPAN may give you the most accurate picture of what is going on, but it is BOOORRRRING. The Daily Show is vastly more entertaining and those who watch it are better informed than those who watch nothing at all. television

5. Pros: • with media outlets providing fewer in depth reports, bloggers can pick up the slack. • The Internet also will frequently catch news items the media misses or gets the reporting wrong on. IE Dan Rather reporting on George Bush’s service record – bloggers identified where the document was clearly a forgery. • Web can help overthrow undemocratic regimes as in Egypt, Tunisia, and maybe Libya and Syria. • Opens up debate to voices not previously heard Web media

6. Cons: Often the opposite of the pros • Competes with newspapers, free, little cost to produce. It becomes difficult to finance the reporter on the beat or in depth reporting. • More immediate news production encourages media outlets to report before necessarily confirming stories to the degree we had seen previously. The rush to print makes errors more likely. • Web can lead to conspiracy theories, a polarization of the population, mistrust of government, and undermine democracy. • Opens up debate to those who may be unknowledgeable or even insane. Web media

7. Media Consolidation: “Should the news media become dominated by a few mega-corporations, the fear is that these groups could limit the flow of information and ideas that form the very essence of a free society and that make democracy possible.” “While government officials grapple with the consequences of a market driven media industry, media outlets continue to exert considerable pressure on policy makers, demanding more, not less, media consolidation.” Imagine a world in which Rupert Murdoch was the filter of what is fit to print? Current news media trends

8. Narrowcasting: “Targeting media programming at specific populations within society.” With acknowledged biases of news media the limiting of perspectives to only those facts that feed a specific narrative has served to further polarize the electorate. The effect of narrowcasting has gone far beyond a difference of opinions, priorities, or values, to individuals arguing issues based on a different set of facts. Current trends

9. Use of experts: With beat journalists in decline, news organizations need expert opinion regarding the government framing of issues and policies. When we look for an expert in a policy issue, however, it is highly likely that those same experts are within the iron triangle and may be defending the status quo. Formerly, news organizations did not pay people for interviews; now it is standard procedure. Current trends

10. Citizen journalists: Do they live up to journalistic standards and ethics? Current trends

11. Fairness doctrine: A policy developed by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949 that required broadcast licensees to both discuss controversial policy issues and to provide contrasting views to these issues. The justification for this policy came from the concept that airwaves were limited and were a public good. The FCC had the right, but not the obligation to enforce this rule. With television moving from public airwaves to private cable, the Doctrine became more difficult to justify. In 1987, this Doctrine was eliminated through an executive order signed by Ronald Reagan, although the Democratic Congress attempted to make it law (it was vetoed by Reagan and later, George HW Bush). This opened the door to “narrowcasting” and the growth of Conservative AM radio chat. The language was removed from the Federal Register in August 2011 in response to an executive order calling for a review and removal of all unnecessary regulations. Government regulations

12. Equal time rule: “The rule that requires broadcast stations to sell air time equally to all candidates in a political campaign if they choose to sell it to any.” Does not apply to interviews or media events. A news station can not give free air time to one candidate without giving it to all other candidates. It can sell airtime, but all other candidates should be able to purchase at the same price. In reality, the news channels get around this rule by having an interviewer ask an opening question then shuts up and allows the candidate to deliver a stump speech. Government regulations

13. “A document offering an official comment or position.” Most of you will be involved in the writing or distribution of a press release at some time in your professional life. Businesses use these to announce mergers, events, expansions, or a change of location. Professionals use these to announce awards and new professional designations. It is a one-sided communication. Press release

14. “A relatively restricted session between a press secretary or aide and the press.” The candidate is not available for comment, but the press secretary can answer a number of questions. Press briefing

15. An unrestricted session between an elected official and the press. JFK held 64 press conferences in his 34 months in office. They were held in a large auditorium and bear a striking resemblance to question hour (although the press is much more deadpan than the opposition) Press Conference

16. President: This is the bully pulpit – some have used it well, some not so well. Party leaders in Congress with preference given to the opposition. It is assumed that the president and Congressional leaders are on the same page. There is also the concern of providing balance. Heads of committees: Chairmen and ranking members Local angle: Again, the opposition (and senators) are favored. High turnovers in the House of Representatives by the president’s party can partly be explained by a lack of political coverage for these Congressmen. These individuals rely heavily on free press to promote name recognition. They are rarely covered in the national press and the local press focuses on the opposition Congressmen. Who the press talks to

17. Complex legal issues don’t sell well. Stories about the Court are accompanied by sketch drawings. Probably the most significant coverage in my lifetime…Anna Nicole Smith. “The justices, citing the need to protect the public’s perception of the Supreme Court as a nonpolitical and autonomous entity, have given little evidence to suggest that they are eager to become more media friendly.” However, certain justices have no qualms about becoming more business friendly. The Supreme court

18. Everyone is biased. We develop opinions and ideas based on our existing worldview. Bits of information are considered and processed according to experiences and information that we already possess. No two people can claim the exact same information and experiences. Bias is present in all decisions made by a news organization, starting with the simple decision of what to cover and what not to cover. A priority is established that may not be shared. The news executive may select based on ratings while the journalist may select based on relevance. It is important to distinguish between a difference of priorities, values and opinion, and a difference in facts. If “well over 90%” of Planned Parenthood activities involved providing abortions, we could then have a debate regarding federal funding of abortions through this organization. If, in reality, it is only 3% of what they do, we are looking at a difference of facts from which we are arguing and not a difference of opinion. If you believe that that 3% is enough to strip them of all federal funding, then this is a different debate. News media bias

19. Public confidence in the press

20. In survey after survey, Americans are shown to be politically uninformed. Some hypothesize that we spend less time consuming news and more time consuming entertainment. Could there be another answer? http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-uninformed-npr-listeners-not-poll-suggests/ Information? 18% less likely to know that Egypt overthrown. Compare to 11% of MSNBC viewers who thought Occupy Wall Street group is Republican