Politics and the Media - AP US Government and Politics
Politics and the Media
History of Journalistic Media in the US
New Media: television, Internet, social media
Old Media: newspapers, magazines
New Media presents a challenge to Old Media and politicians must adapt and use new media sources deftly in order to gain support of younger voters
- 80% of people under 35 get information from Internet
- 50% of people under 35 use Internet for political/election news
- 33% read newspapers on a regular basis
Europe
The government regulations are strict regarding journalistic media; stricter libel laws, possible jail time for leaking information, higher levels of censorship
US
There is a long tradition of private media ownership (this can cause problems due to media sources being profit-driven, bias)
Effect of the Internet
2008: - 33% of all Americans watched on-line campaign videos
- 33% of all Americans question the trustworthiness of Internet sources- they
believe that it is full of misinformation and dominated by political extremists
- 10% donated money to campaigns via the Internet
- It was used to organize meetings, sample public opinion, air criticism of
opponents, target supporters likely to work on campaigns
The relationship between politicians and the media is an adversarial one (there is definite mutual distrust) and both parties attempt to manipulate the process for their own ends
● politicians want the media to support their positions
● the media (motivated by controversy) seek to discover problems with the
positions of politicians
● politicians attempt to use the internet to appeal directly to the public- this
works very well, though opponents use the internet for the same reasons
● the government has very little control over the media (newspapers are almost
entirely free from government regulation, FCC regulates radio/TV)
Party Press
- parties used to create, subsidize, control various newspapers
- this was possible because circulation was small, subscriptions were expensive and newspapers circulated primarily among the political/commercial elite
- government often subsidized the president’s party press
There isn’t a large party press anymore because changes in society made it possible for self-supporting, mass-readership, daily newspapers to circulate.
1848: Associated Press (AP) established- goal was to provide objective reporting and
systematic distribution of information. This is where most newspapers get their
national and world news
Partisanship in major newspapers reflected the views of publishers/editors
- used sensationalism and exposes to attract large readership
- publishers’ influence in steering public opinion became a powerful political force
This established a press that was independent of the government and showed that you could make money off criticizing government policies.
In the past there were many magazines that catered to specific political opinions (Nation, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s started in the 1850s-1860s) and writers gained national followings based on their investigative reporting.
- this caused the number of competing newspapers to decline, reducing the need for sensationalism to sell papers
- as literacy rate increased in US, readership expanded and news became less biased
- today only a small percentage of magazines focus exclusively on politics
National Media
- wire services (AP)
- national magazines
- TV evening news broadcasts (NBC, CBS, ABC)
- Cable news (CNN, FOX, MSNBC)
- Newspapers with national readership (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post)
National media is significant because
1. these sources reach a large audience
2. is followed closely by political elites
3. serves as the gatekeeper for info (how long to keep a story alive, what becomes a national political issue)
4. tracks reputations of candidates and offers extensive election coverage
5. exposes scandals (muckraking)
Are national media sources biased?
- media sources tend to be overwhelmingly liberal and more secular than the average US citizen, though conservative sources have become more visible (FOX, conservative talk radio)
- journalism is supposed to be fair and unbiased, but it is hard to measure (routine stories less bias, feature/insider stories more bias)
Why are there so many news leaks?
- Constitutional separation of powers means the branches of government have to compete for power- press is used as a weapon in this competition
- Not illegal to print most government secrets
- Attack journalism has become more common since Vietnam War (this media cynicism about government mirrors public’s increasing cynicism about media)
- reporters have to balance two competing forces:
1. expressing criticism, which may alienate sources
2. retaining sources and becoming their voice to the public
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