to Introduction American Government
Dr. Rebecca Britton
MEDIA President John F. Kennedy: The media's role is central to the principles upon which our democracy rests by facilitating the free flow of ideas open debate and criticism an informed citizenry While access to govt. has never been easier, the American electorate is still relatively poorly informed and inactive. Recap: sceptics say the people are to blame for the failings of our democracy; elitists say a significant portion of the electorate is unfit, but our democracy still works; defenders of the rational public say the public is fit for self-rule. Political parties and interest groups have also been discussed as a linking mechanism for representation. Where does the Media fit in the equation? Media = newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, film, books, music, internet A. Ideally, the function of Media is to transmit information to the public for two purposes: 1) watchdog - exposing corruption, deceit, and unkept promises of government officials if media performs this function, the public is better equipped to vote retrospectively, holding government officials accountable for their conduct 2) election mediator/coalition builder - acting as a channel for communication by which candidates can reach voters, communicating their policy platforms can provide information necessary for voters to reach decisions about which candidates and party platforms they support this contributes to a public consensus and the achievement of a mandate.
Introduction to American Government
Dr. Rebecca Britton
B.
Media influence
There is little consensus among scholars about the relationships that exist between 1) the actions of the press, 2) public opinion, 3) and policy Most observers agree, however, that political situations are "mass-mediated", meaning the people's perspective of political reality is a media-presented reality. Whatever view the public has of government, that perception has been shaped by the kinds of information presented by the media. It's important to recognize that providing voters with the whole story is not the practical goal of media. Thus, to understand the role the media actually plays in American politics, we need to consider first, what factors influence to content of news presented to the people and second, the effects news coverage has on public opinion. 1. Factors that shape the production of news a) journalistic factors i) media is a business i.e. a profit-making enterprise. Thus, decisions about which stories to cover and how to cover them is influenced by the media's need to make money. present the kind of news people are likely to watch/read/listen to. Newspapers, magazines, and TV networks do not want to alienate their corporate advertisers by presenting stories that are critical of advertisers' economic interests fear of losing advertising revenue thus mainstream media is biased in favor of a pro-corporate position on many issues Media have learned that "sensationalism and negativity sells", so the competition for readers/viewers leads media to emphasize stories that are dramatic in their disastrous and/or spectacular content. In politics, this leads to news coverage that focuses on accusations of scandal, creating a bias toward overzealous watchdogging and insufficient attention to the more mundane and positive events and processes of governance.
Introduction to American Government
Dr. Rebecca Britton
To create drama and attract viewers/readers, horse race journalism focuses on public opinion polls during election campaigns, reporting more on which candidates are ahead in the polls and by how many percentage points, rather than explaining the different policy positions of the candidates. Thus, the media does not adequately cover for the public the issue debates relevant to choosing a candidate and focuses on the front runners in the polls and those who exceed expectations these candidates attract more campaign contributions Most Americans get their political information from television, so it's important to note that presents the news with its own particular biases. o'clock 6 news programs provide very limited coverage of the major news stories, providing only brief sound bytes that are inadequate to informing the public. iii) Various media sources exhibit ideological bias News reporters tend to be white, male, liberal Democrats from the Northeast, from the Vietnam/Watergate generation. Thus, their reporting supports a liberal ideological interpretation of the news and overzealous watchdogging However, news publishers and editors tend to be more conservative probably offsetting the liberal bias of their reporters Talk radio has a conservative bias in the viewpoints presented Internet sources are so vast that it is possible to read viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum b. The nature of the relationship between members of the media and government officials reflects interdependent mutual exploitation among media and policy makers: members of the media need access to government sources in order to "scoop" their competitors and get the story while government officials need to influence members of the media to report stories to the American people in way that paints the picture of political reality favored by the government official.
ii)
Introduction to American Government
Dr. Rebecca Britton
govt. officials, lobbyists, and media all promote their own version of reality in order to serve their respective interests, bargaining and manipulating the process for their own advantage spin control attempted to influence how events/processes are portrayed in the media 2. Ways in which news content affects public opinion a) agenda setting = media tends to influence the public's view of what are the most important issues confronting the nation. Ppeople tend to cite issues "in the news" when asked to identify significant problems facing the nation, depending on information and analysis provided by media to come to decisions. This affects the issues the public expects their candidates and representatives to address. For example, all the coverage of hurricane Katrina on the news and affected the public's perception of the importance of disaster preparedness. However, while media coverage may be able to affect "what the people think about; the media does not determine "what the people think". In other words, the media does not determine which policy proposals the public favors to deal with the issue. b) priming: news programs are able to affect the criteria by which individuals judge their political leaders. The more a story is covered, the more germane it becomes to evaluate the performance of leaders. For example, during Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidency, media focused closely and marital fidelity and "character" in its stories evaluating presidential candidates. However, there are obviously limits to media's ability to determine the public's evaluation as evidenced in the fact Clinton was elected despite his history of adultery and even maintained strong public approval ratings after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. c) Media's emphasis on overzealous watchdogging has contributed to increases in cynicism about government among public. Media is blamed for the public's perception that government is untrustworthy and prone to
Introduction to American Government
Dr. Rebecca Britton
corruption. Politicians do tend to make good on many campaign promises, but are not given sufficient credit in the media. d) Some members of the media are truly expert when it comes to analyzing policies and the policy process. Thus, they are able to provide elite cues. Also, as new issues are presented in the media, the public can also look to the media to present national leaders trusted by the public based on party and ideological identification. C. Does Media fulfill its roles?
Watchdog and consensus builder may be incompatible roles. Perhaps it is inappropriate to expect the media to both expose government officials for corruption and unkept promises while also providing those officials with an opportunity to present their views with an eye to creating a policy consensus among the public.