MEDIA AND PRESIDENCY

1. MEDIA AND PRESIDENCY Chapters 12, 14, 15

2. Overriding Questions • How does the American news media shape political culture and could the media be seen as another branch of government? • What regulations are the media subject to following? • Overtime, how has Presidential Power increased or decreased in America? • How is the President’s power checked by other branches of government? • What are the pathologies associated with a bureaucratic style of government? • What efforts have been made in history to improve the Federal Bureaucracy? • How has the Bureaucracy changed over time?

4. People are spending more time with news than ever before, according to Pew Research Center survey data, but when it comes to the platform of choice, the web is gaining ground rapidly while other sectors are losing. In 2010, digital was the only media sector seeing audience growth.

5. The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get news on a typical day, including national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, radio, and national newspapers. Some 46% of Americans say they get news from four to six media platforms on a typical day. Just 7% get their news from a single media platform on a typical day. 

6. http://www.stateofthemedia.org/files/2011/02/audience-final.pnghttp://www.stateofthemedia.org/files/2011/02/audience-final.png • http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/understanding_participatory_news_consumer

7. Government and the News • Each agency/official attempts to use the media to shape public opinion • President: • Press Secretary & White House Press Corps • Easy access and a close proximity to the President • Congress: • Less coverage • Some resentment to Presidential Coverage • House: • Previously restrictive of coverage • C-SPAN: 1979 • Senate: • More open to committee coverage • C-SPAN: 1986

8. Government Constraints on Journalists • Balancing Act: • Expressing own views without losing a source • & • Keeping a source without becoming its mouthpiece • Increase in Congressional staffers has eased this balance • Press Officers: • Employed by White House and Congress • Press Release (‘canned news’) • Leaks and background stories • Bypass national press • Presidents reward and punish reporters and editors based on their stories • Long Run: Press wins a battle with the President

9. Broadcast Regulation • FCC License Renewal: • Radio: 7 years • Television: 5 years • Serve ‘community needs’ • Deregulation Movement: • Citizens choose what they see and hear • Ownership of multiple stations in same market • Content Regulation: • Equal Time Rule: allow both sides to buy air time • Right-of-Reply Rule: reply to journalist on commentary (non news segment) • Political Editorializing Rule: endorsed candidate’s opponents can reply • Fairness Doctrine • Abolished in 1987-allowed both sides of an issue

10. Role of National Press • Gatekeeper: • Influence what subjects become national issues and for how long. (healthcare, national security) • Scorekeeper: • Track political reputations and candidacies. • ‘Presidential Horse Race’ • Watchdog: • Investigates personalities and exposes scandals. • Ex: Woodward and Bernstein

11. Degree of Competition • Newspapers: • Decline in number of daily newspapers • Decline in cities with multiple papers • Most people get their news from the television • Radio and Television: • Competitive (TV pulling away) • U.S. press vs. Foreign Press • Locally oriented vs Nationally oriented • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) • Decentralized the broadcast industry

12. Electronic Journalism • Technology allowed public officials to speak directly to the people • Radio: 1920’s • Television: 1940’s • Disadvantages: • Easy for public to ignore • Less public officials covered • Evening newscasts shortened sound bites • Politicians sought other outlets • Cable • Early-Morning News • Prime-Time ‘Magazines’ • Entertainment Programs • Possible results: • Media Campaigns • Narrowcasting

13. The Presidency

14. What Qualities do you expect Presidents to have? What are the 5 most desirable traits or qualities that you expect the President of the United States to possess? Then place them in rank order and provide a rationale for your selections. Finally list any additional expectations that you have and 5 undesirable traits.

15. In your own words, what are the challenges of the Presidency? • What are the most important and least important roles of the President? • How did past or present Presidential Administrations apply to the roles/challenges? • Rank the eight challenges and provide a rationale for your ranking.

16. Ways to Organize Staff • Pyramid Structure-most assistants report through a hierarchy to a chief of staff who then deals with the President (Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton) • Circular Structure-Cabinet secretaries and assistant report directly to the president (Carter) • Ad Hoc Structure-Task forces committees and informal groups of friends and advisors deal directly with the President (Clinton at first)

17. The Constitution and Succession • Presidential succession is the plan by which a presidential vacancy is filled. • The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, made it clear that the Vice President will become President if the President is removed from office. • The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 set the order of succession following the Vice President.

18. Over the last 50 years has presidential power increased or decreased? Give two reasons for your answer.

19. Why Presidential Power Has Grown • Over the course of American history, the champions of a stronger presidency have almost always prevailed. • The nation’s increasingly complex social and economic life has also influenced the growth of presidential power. • By passing laws and expanding the role of the Federal Government, Congress has increased presidential power as well. • The ability to use the mass media,as every President since Franklin D. Roosevelt has, aids in gathering and holding public attention.

20. The Power to Persuade • Presidents try to transform popularity into congressional support for their programs • Presidential coattails have had a declining effect for years • Popularity is affected by factors beyond anyone’s control – consider Bush’s approval ratings following the September 11th attacks

21. How is the President Held Accountable? • Reelection • Legacy (viewed positively by the media and by the public) • Congress • Supreme Court • Watchdog Media • Public Opinion

22. Rule of propinquity: power is wielded by people who are in the room when a decision is made

23. Just how regulated are we? • Senator Schmidt lives in Schaumburg with her husband and two twin daughters. Both at home and at work she is affected by the federal bureaucracy. She is awakened at 5:00 am her clock radio set to 93.1, WXRT, which is licensed to operate by the Federal Communications Commission. For breakfast she has her cereal, which had to pass inspection by the Food and Drug Administration. Quickly she packs a lunch including a processed turkey sandwich that has been approved by the US Department of Agriculture.

24. Then Senator Schmidt heads to work on the highway that is maintained by the US Department of Transportation in her car that has recently passed an emission test through the EPA. Additionally, fastens her seatbelt complying with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration federal mandate for seatbelt use. On her way to work Senator Schmidt sips on her coffee that the FDA has warned could cause birth defects in laboratory animals. After a full day of work in a building that is subject to OSHA regulations, Senator Schmidt heads to the bank and the toy store.

25. At the bank, which is monitored by Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee and her account is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) she deposits her tax return money. Then Senator Schmidt heads to Toys R Us to pick out toys for her teething daughters, and she feels confident that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has made sure that her children will not get lead poisoning from the new toy.

26. At last Senator Schmidt arrives home and turns on the lights whose electricity rates are regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and then decides tonight will be a frozen pizza and salad night, which of course is full of freshness ensured by The FDA and USDA and the Food and Safety and Inspection Services (which also has been regulated by the trucking industry). Both staples in the house that Mr. Schmidt usually likes.

27. After dinner, the Schmidts sit down to enjoy “The Voice,” which is shown through regulated airways with a delay for any live footage put in place through the FCC. The day comes to a screeching halt when Senator Schmidt falls asleep on the couch for the 3rd time this week. Sadly, her exhaustion doesn’t allow for much television viewing. So sad. • THE END. 

28. Bureaucracy • Large, complex organization composed of appointed officials. • Political authority is shared by the president and Congress. • Complaints: • Size • Complexity • Political Context • Classic Conception (Max Weber) • Hierarchical authority structure • Uses task specialization • Operate on the merit principle • Behave with impersonality • Well-organized machine • Lots of working parts

29. American Bureaucracy • Unique Aspects: • Dispersed political authority • Shared functions • Adversarial culture • Scope of Bureaucracy: • Regulation vs Ownership

30. Bureaucratic Growth • 1st Congress – 1789 • Appointed government officials were removable only by the president. • Congress appropriates money, investigates administration and shapes legislation. • Appointment: • Factors: • Interpretation of Laws • Administrative Tone • Effectiveness • Political Party • Congressional factors controlled early appointments • Patronage (‘Spoils System’) • Expanding bureaucracy, industrialization and rising interstate commerce demonstrated administrative weaknesses and need for civil service reform. • ‘Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act’ (1883)

31. Bureaucratic Roles • Service Role: • New and expanded agencies focusing on specific sectors of society and the economy. • Pension Office, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor • Factors: • Constitutional Values • Laissez-faire • Exceptions: • Wartime • Active Role: • Factors: • 16th Amendment • Public Sentiment

32. Modern Federal Bureaucracy • Increase in indirect employees • Private Contractors • State & Local Governments • Discretionary Authority: • Increased bureaucratic power • Delegated authority: • Subsidies to groups and organizations • Grant-in-Aid programs • Devise and enforce regulations • Factors Explaining the behavior of officials: • Recruitment and reward system • Personal and political attributes • Nature of work • Constraints imposed on their agency

33. The Cabinet • Not explicitly mentioned in Constitution • Presidents have many more appointments to make than do prime ministers, due to competition created by the separation of power • Presidential control over departments remains uncertain—secretaries become advocates for their departments

34. Hiring Bureaucrats • Office of Personnel Management (OPM): • ‘Competitive Service’ • ‘Merit System’ • Decentralized ‘Competitive Service’: • OPM is cumbersome and not geared toward department needs • Agencies need for professionals • Diversity pressure on agencies • Excepted Service: • Presidential Appointment • ‘Schedule C’ • Non-career Executive Assignments • Buddy System: • Name-request job: • Job description is tailored toward the individual • Circumvents the usual search process • Encourages issue networking • Plum Book: • Lists top available jobs for Presidential appointment • Published by Congress

35. Firing Bureaucrats • Most bureaucrats are out of the executive’s reach • Informal Methods: • Frontal Assault • Transfer Technique • Special-Assignment Technique • Layering Technique • Civil Service Reform Act of 1978: • Meant to provide the president and cabinet more control in personnel decisions • Creates: Senior Executive Service (SES) • Fired employees may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) • Agency ‘point of view’ • Dominated by ‘lifers’ • Pro: • Assures continuity and expertise • Con: • Provides a subordinate power over new political superior

36. Bureaucratic Work Nature • Loose vs. high structured jobs: • Highly structured jobs make personal attitudes irrelevant • Loosely structured jobs allow for influence of personal attitudes • Whistleblower Protection Act (1989): • Protection of bureaucrats who report waste, fraud and abuses to Congress • Culture: • Each agency has its own culture • Laws, rules, routines, informal understandings • Strong cultures make agencies resistant to change

37. Bureaucratic Constraints • Government agency vs. private organization • Statute (Congress) vs. market • General Constraints: • Administrative Procedure Act (1946) • Freedom of Information Act (1966) • National Environmental Policy Act (1969) • Privacy Act (1974) • Open Meetings Law (1976) • Various agencies assigned the same job • Effects: • Slow & inconsistent action • Agencies cancel each other out • Reluctant action by lower-ranking employees • ‘Red Tape’ • Reasons for Constraints: • Constraints are a response to citizen demands

38. Bureaucratic Relationships • ‘Iron Triangle’ • Relationship between an agency, a committee and an interest group • Example: • Committee on Armed Forces • Department of Defense • Defense Contractors • Less common today • Complicated nature of politics • More competing forces • ‘Issue Network’ • Groups that regularly debate government policy on a certain subjects • Networks are split politically, ideologically and economically

39. Examples of independent executive agencies include NASA, the General Services Administration, and the EPA. Some independent executive agencies are far from well-known, such as the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee. The independent executive agencies include most of the independent agencies. The most important difference between the independent executive agencies and the 14 executive departments is that they simply do not have Cabinet status. The Independent Executive Agencies

40. Independent Regulatory Commissions • The independent regulatory commissions stand out among the independent agencies because they are largely beyond the reach of presidential direction and control. • Term length of members and staggering of member appointments keep these commissions from falling under control of one party. • The regulatory commissions are quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial,meaning that Congress has given them certain legislative-like and judicial-like powers.

41. The Government Corporations • Government corporations are also within the executive branch and subject to the President’s direction and control. • Government corporations were established by Congress to carry out certain business-like activities. • There are now over 50 government corporations, including the U.S. Postal Service, Amtrak, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

42. Bureaucratic ‘Pathologies’ • Five major complaints: • ‘Red Tape’ http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/infographics/government.html • Conflict • Duplication • Imperialism • Waste • Complaints have logical origins in constitutional order and policy • Exaggerations and unusual circumstances generate difficulties

43. Bureaucratic Reform • National Performance Review (NPR): • Designed to reinvent government in 1993 • More customer satisfaction • Less centralized management • More employee initiatives • Fewer detailed rules • Enforced by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) • Difficulties of bureaucratic reform: • Reasons of red tape and rules • Legislative-Executive struggles • Agencies efforts to avoid alienating influential voters • Divided government • Presidents of one party seek to increase political control • Executive micromanagement • Congress of another party responds by increasing investigations and rules • Legislative micromanagement

44. (http://civitas88.blogspot.com/2011/04/learn-about-federal-bureaucracy.html)