Ch.7: THE MEDIa Flashcards
what are the 3 key roles of media
Supply information to the citizenry
Nongovernment sources of information
Give the public opportunity to evaluate issues to form reasoned opinions and actions
Media formats include
Print: newspapers, magazines, books
Radio: broadcast and subscription service
Television: broadcast and subscription service
Online: professional journalism, blogs, social
Print media
oldest method for the dissemination of the news
no longer the primary news source for most Americans
Newspapers, however, remain important because they are influential among the political elite.
Broadcast Media
reach more Americans than any other single news source
serve the extremely important function of alerting viewers to issues and events
however, cover relatively few topics and provide little depth of coverage; time limits and ratings constrain content
Politicians and others often seek to manipulate the news by providing the media with sound bites
Politicians generally consider local broadcast news a friendlier venue than the national news.
National reporters are often inclined to criticize and question, whereas local reporters are more likely to accept the pronouncements of national leaders at face value.
Television news
Repeat headlines (their audience changes hourly)
radio news
Opinion about news topics
Dominated by conservative national and local shows
radio talk shows
News and talk show content
Strong journalistic work, gathers and reports news across the United States and the world.
national and public radio
with political content attract millions of television viewers.
Use humor, sarcasm, and social criticism to cover major political events.
Have become increasingly important sources of political news, especially for younger viewers.
Americans who get political news from these shows are well informed about politics.
comedy talk shows
ability to participate in society and politics online
digital citizenship
Types of online journalism
Niche journalism Citizen journalism and blogs Facts and temperament can be dicey Nonprofit Social media
Gathering and reporting to public
On location, source interviews, data collection
Write and publish original material
original reporting
Link, repost, or comment on the original work other reporters have written.
Perfectly legal and legitimate, but a significantly different type of work and business costs.
News aggregation
Benefits of online news
the convenience of getting the news online
(2) the up-to-the moment currency of the information available online
(3) the depth of the information available online
(4) the diversity of online viewpoints
Limitations to online news
Less investigation and watchdog work
High production costs in low-revenue business
Quality
Conflating popular and viral with factual information
Narrow lens
Many websites specialize in single point of view.
Public has less exposure to more than one perspective
Cues the public something is important
agenda setting
Three ways media influences public opinion
Agenda setting: direct attention to specific topics
Framing: influence how events are interpreted
Priming: shaping how the audience evaluates leaders, events, or issues
Helping people understand events using carefully chosen words and images.
Few people read legislation and rely on media frames to form opinions.
Example, what word follows: housing, financial, banking?
Crisis
framing
Shaping how the public evaluates leaders
Determines who will get media attention, who will be taken seriously, who will be viable candidates
Candidates try to manage this by appearing on a variety of venues to maximize positive perceptions.
Talk, comedy, sports, and morning shows highlight personality traits hard to convey on serious news shows.
priming
the disclosure of confidential information to the news media.
XXXX may emanate from a variety of sources, including whistleblowers, lower-level officials who hope to publicize what they view as their bosses’ or the government’s improper activities.
Most XXXXX, though, originate not with low-level whistleblowers but rather with senior government officials, prominent politicians, and political activists.
leak
Media are more adversarial than ever before
Partisan and ideological
Some candidates and elected officials give more interviews to outlets that share political perspective.
Focus on scandals, corruption, and conflict
Leads to cynicism about government and politics
Potentially negative consequences for voter participation
New media news sources
Many not partisan, ideological, or scandal-focused
Broadcast TV and radio stations need licenses to operate as such.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Federal government regulates broadcast media. but
Does not regulate most media such as
print, online, any paid cable or subscription television or radio
if a station sells air time to one candidate, it cannot refuse to sell to opponents
equal time rule
individuals have opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on radio or television broadcast.
right of rebuttal
used to require broadcasters to give equal time to opposing views of controversial topics
fairness doctrine
