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CHAPTER 10
The Media
Important Terms
|*adversarial press |The suspicious attitude of the national press toward public officials. |
|attack journalism |The current era of media coverage that seizes upon any bit of |
| |information or rumor that might call into question the qualifications |
| |or character of a public official. |
|*background story (news) |A tactic by government officials to win journalistic friends. The |
| |official discusses current policy on condition that the source of the |
| |information not be identified by name. |
|confidentiality |Reporters’ keeping sources of their stories secret. Most states and the|
| |federal government allow courts to decide whether the need of a |
| |journalist to protect sources outweighs the interests of the government|
| |in gathering evidence in a criminal investigation. |
|*equal time rule |An FCC regulation requiring that if a station sells time to one |
| |candidate seeking an office, it must sell time to the opposing |
| |candidate as well. |
|*fairness doctrine |An FCC rule, abolished in 1987, that required broadcasters to give time|
| |to opposing views if they broadcast one side of a controversial issue. |
|*feature stories |A type of news story that involves a public event not routinely covered|
| |by reporters and that requires a reporter to take initiative to select |
| |the story and persuade an editor to run it. |
|Federal Communications Commission |An agency of the federal government with authority to develop |
| |regulations for the broadcast media. |
|gatekeeper |The role played by the media in influencing what subjects become |
| |national political issues and for how long. |
|*insider stories |A type of news story that involves information not usually made public |
| |which requires investigative work on the part of a reporter or a leak |
| |by some public official. |
|*loaded language |The use of words to persuade people of something without actually |
| |making a clear argument for it. |
|*market (television) |The area reached by a station’s television signal. |
|mental tune-out |The attitude of a person who ignores messages from radio or television |
| |which do not agree with his or her existing beliefs. |
|*muckracker |A journalist who investigates the activities of public officials and |
| |organizations, especially business firms, seeking to expose and |
| |publicize misconduct or corruption. Also referred to as an |
| |investigative reporter. |
|party press |Newspapers created, sponsored, and controlled by political parties to |
| |further their interests. This form of press existed in the early years |
| |of the American republic. Circulation was chiefly among political and |
| |commercial elites. |
|*political editorializing rule |A regulation of the FCC providing a candidate with the right to respond|
| |if a broadcaster endorses the opposing candidate. |
|popular press |Self-supporting daily newspapers aimed at a mass readership. |
|prior restraint |Government censorship by forbidding publication of the information. |
|*right-of-reply rule |A regulation by the FCC permitting a person the right to respond if |
| |attacked on a broadcast other than a regular news program. |
|*routine stories |A type of news story that involves a public event regularly covered by |
| |reporters. These stories are related in almost exactly the same way by |
| |all the media. The political opinions of journalists have the least |
| |effect on these stories. |
|scorekeeper |The role played by the national media in keeping track of and helping |
| |make political reputations. |
|*selective attention |Perceiving only what one wants to perceive from television or radio |
| |reporting. |
|*sound bite |A video clip used on nightly newscasts. The average length of such |
| |clips has decreased, making it harder for candidates to get their |
| |message across. |
|*trial balloon |A tactic by an anonymous source to float a policy to ascertain public |
| |reaction before the policy is actually proposed. |
|watchdog |The role played by the national media in investigating political |
| |personalities and exposing scandals. |
|yellow journalism |The use of sensationalism to attract a large readership for a |
| |newspaper. |
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