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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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