Comm 160 Exam #2

Question 1

Natalie Stroud: The Politics of News Choice

Answer 1

Partisan selective exposure is real. We are more likely to watch our party’s news than the others’. (Promotes like-minded individuals). Same with all mediums. Online we do not avoid counter-views, but often don’t get them. Political leaning can predict media use.

(Magazine waiting room study) Wanted to see which ones people would grab and if it correlated with their political affiliation. Controlled with variables.

Question 2

Jennifer Jerit: Understanding the Knowledge Gap: The Role of Experts and Journalists

Answer 2

Knowledge gap bases on someone’s SES/Higher SES = easier time understanding political stories due to technical terms + jargon that escapes those with low SES. This causes gap to keep increasing. She argues there should be a greater contextual coverage in order to reduce gap and allow low SES to catch up. Education is best indicator for SES (plus race, age, and gender). Maybe writing can be simpler.

Two Hypotheses
#1 - More expert commentary will increase knowledge gap
#2 - More contextual coverage will decrease knowledge gap

Methods? Textual analysis and coded it. First one was across platforms and the other was print and television.(for the first 2) Before and after survey that was looking for causality. Gave groups information with both H and then tested them after.

Complication: Hard to do w/ pressure of breaking news.

Question 3

NPR: We Tracked Down a Fake News Creator in the Suburbs: Here’s What we Learned

Answer 3

He claimed FBI agent that was investigating Hilary Clinton died in an apparent murder-suicide. However, this was not true. He knew he was spreading lies, but he was getting a lot of clicks and making a lot of money.

Sidenote: Republicans were far more likely to fall for this than Liberals/Democrats were.

Question 4

Believability between the parties in their news

Answer 4

It is decreasing for both, but FOX is the sole provider of news to 40% of Republicans. Other parties do not have so much loyalty to a news source (or believability)

Question 5

Confirmation Bias in Fake News

Answer 5

People will believe stories that confirm their initial beliefs regardless of how absurd they are.

Question 6

What are some ways to refute rumors?

Answer 6

• Person who refutes it can be an unlikely source, such as someone from another party
• Do not repeat it often (since repetition can enforce it and give it credence)

Question 7

John McManus: What kind of commodity is news?

Answer 7

Questions: What is news? What determines what is reported? What factors affect quality of news? How do we measure quality? Is news public of private good? Is there a variability in all of these factors?

Argument: News is not like other goods. We do not give all of the money for the information. They get their money through advertisers, so who does that make them loyal to? Incentivized to get as many viewers as they can. (Double transaction)

Cooperative exchange: 4 things you need for it to be beneficial to both parties. Act Rationally, Knowledgeable, Competition, and no Harm. Who determines all of this?

Conclusion: We are moving from letting journalists decide, to deciding ourselves. Market forces might not increase the quality of news. Competition usually increases quality, but news is not the same.

Question 8

Kernell, Lamberson, and Zaller: The Market Demand for News

Answer 8

Journalists aren’t always happy with what they’re reporting. News is seasonal and can vary days of the week (less in the weekends).

3 Hypotheses 
#1  - Lower levels of civic affairs news will decrease viewership by driving away members of the core news audience
#2 - Professionally- minded journalists provide somewhat an increase in civic affairs than audience wants, but not so much as to sharply undermine the ratings 
#3 - Supply/Demand of news is working correctly 

Study: Checked every news story in NBC, ABC, and CBS over 2 years + OJ simpson coverage.

IV - OJ or soft sensational news VS soft news
DV - Viewership

Conclusion: People wanted MORE OJ news and LESS civic news. NBC and CBS reported less viewership than ABC until NBC caught up. Audience favored soft or OJ news as opposed to hard news.

Implications: Journalists are frustrated and editors see paper as a business aka what will make more money? Lead to an uninformed public unless the hard news is also sensational. Politicians need to go on cable or specialized news and find a way to frame hard news as soft news.

Question 9

Journalistic theory of news: The probability of an event becoming news:

Answer 9

• Goes up with civic consequences of narrative

- Goes up with expected appeal

Question 10

Examples of ONLY ECONOMIC, ONLY JOURNALISTIC, BOTH, and NEITHER of news theory

Answer 10

Economic: Social Media Celebrity Fight
Journalistic: In-depth investigation of Marijuana
Both: Watergate Scandal
Neither: Cat video

Question 11

Gentzcow and Shapiro: Economics of News

Answer 11

Competition increases news. Diversity increases the truth, since a suppressor will be released by their competition. Competition increases investment in news gathering.

Conclusion: This can increase selected viewership and soft news.

Question 12

US Media tends to be:

Answer 12

More privately owned and less regulated. US has 0 stations fully funded by the government, unlike other countries. (PBS/NPR get 10-15% of government funding) Countries like Europe are now less regulated. US believes airwaves are owned by the public and are licensed by private parties.

Question 13

Melvin Urofsky: Rights of the People: Freedom of the Press

Answer 13

Individual and institutional necessary for democracy. Free speech not necessarily allowed in England even if it is true. Zenger case: Truth is a defense to libel. Sullivan case: Newspaper lied with malice in order to hurt. (Minor mistakes allowed.) Pentagon papers: No longer can the government claim it is a national security issue for everything. Led to the freedom of information act and things like Court TV.

Question 14

Shanto Iyengar: Media Politics (Patterns of Media Ownership and Regulations)

Answer 14

American media differs because it is autonomous from the government and privately owned. This makes it less likely to make good on its civil obligations.

3 Models of Ownership: Public, Mixed, and Commercial
- Public requires levels of public programming to receive funds

US: Only competes in soft news. PBS and public news suck. Differences in hard news both domestic and foreign. FCC strict rules have died off (percent of public news and how much can be owned) [Europe provides free airtime]

Fairness doctrine: Allows for partisan news

Antitrust legislation: Attempts to block mergers that would decrease competition, but eventually they just die out.

Question 15

On the Media: How Not to Leak

Answer 15

Included James Comey and his tapes, plus documents leaking information. Claims people are bad at doing this, they can be tracked down easily, both with technology and small clues. (Printing marks) Be careful who you contact, but especially from where.

Question 16

Thomas Jefferson on Function of the Press and who to believe

Answer 16

We shouldn’t trust government officials, but the press!

Question 17

Madison on Functions of the Press and who to believe

Answer 17

Claimed Republicans should trust institutions rather than the press!

Question 18

First Amendment

Answer 18

Does not protect all speech. Different interpretations.

Question 19

Modern Law

Answer 19

Near v. Minnesota

• No longer allowed to prohibit scandalous tabloid newspapers and require the government to restart production. Free will.
• This is not how TV started

Question 20

What was the Swift agreement?

Answer 20

Terrorist Tracking Finance Program. Both parties tried to convince NYT not to publish, but they did anyway and in the end, the editor regretted it.

Question 21

British System > Formal Defense Advisory System

Answer 21

Requests editor not to publish national security news. Not legally enforced, but generally complied with.

Question 22

Is leaking illegal in the US or covered by the 1st amendment?

Answer 22

Illegal. Subject to high prosecutions. Often journalists push back and say it goes against their beliefs.

Question 23

Regulatory rules governing US: Time Limits, Context, Licensing, and Spectrum Allegations

Answer 23

Time Limits: still restrictions with children’s tv, but not with others
Context: There are fines for some things, but a lot more relaxed now
Licensing: Renewal is easy and almost automatic
Spectrum Allegations: Now with wifi, cell, hdtv, there is a higher demand for regulation in broadcast

Question 24

Regulatory Rules different to US (some)

Answer 24

Europe: Politicians given rights of reply laws
Germany: Certain # of minutes allocated to politicians
Britain: Formal requirements to keep things non-partisan. Free airtime for campaigns. Newspapers subsidies to ensure diversity.

Question 25

Sinclair Merger

Answer 25

Should there be a cap to how many people you can reach? Merging with a company who shares their views can lead to an increase in bias corporations.

Question 26

The Mayflower Decision. Is FCC less powerful?

Answer 26

Ordered that a radio station could not take a stand in a controversial matter. They would refuse to give them a license renewal after being reviewed. It is overturned NOW. Fewer license request denied.

Does not mean FCC is less powerful. No, they are a powerful threat. Stations self-sensor. They set their own rules and papers have a code of ethics.

Question 27

Evolution of Fairness

Answer 27

Mayflower decision to FCC allowing balancing coverage to Select Opposition Rule (seeking opposing views) to stations providing reasonable opportunity for both sides.

Now, FCC has repealed this completely.

Question 28

RALLY talk most important points

Answer 28

They are an issue driven communications firm that takes on a sticky political and social problem and finds a way to push them forward.

Successful campaigns have provocative positions, specific audience, aligned message and goals, bold, understandable issue, and EMOTION.

They reframed the 2008 gay marriage debate by: reframing the message into people believing it is now a fundamental right. It does not hurt marriage as a union and it’s value/stability. Use someone on both sides. Have correct facts (do not lie). Digital should be huge, as well as targeted marketing.

Plays played a huge part. Company support. Brand support. Had shareable things.

Finally, it was made legal. Now in popular culture.

For discussion:
- what are we challenging? How? Who are the stakeholders and audience? What needs to change? How do we promote ourselves in a way that fits us?

Question 29

Heilemann and Halperin: Saint Elizabeth and the Ego Monster

Answer 29

Candidate John Edwards wanted to launch a presidential campaign, but he got caught cheating on his wife and his mistress had a camera. His extracurriculars hurt his campaign. He denied it and denied her son, but later it came out that the affair was true and the son was his.

Question 30

Mohammed: All Attacks are Equal

Answer 30

He said that we care more about our own attacks than others’. We care if it was one of our own. It talked specifically about a bombing and an attack in Baghdad and in Afghanistan.

Question 31

Thomas: New Hampshire Democrats

Answer 31

Jennifer Flowers allegations and Clinton’s draft letter. The way media covers a President is different- difference between public and private information. Shift in what is newsworthy. Now, journalists are getting really close to candidates. Journalists are more conscious about their influence in government. Media deciding what is news. “Invisible Primary” w/ journalists as politicians.

Question 32

Informal Rules for Journalists (3 Pressures)

Answer 32

1. Peer Pressure (want to be professional, good journalist)
2. Cognitive Pressure (attitude bias, we all have)
3. Organizational Pressure (news business must follow certain routines to work effectively on a day to day basis)

Question 33

Arguments for having Professions

Answer 33

Recognition, Salary, Knowledge, Better Society, Easier as a Consumer, Similar Standards, Codify Proper Conduct

Question 34

Arguments against having Professions

Answer 34

Timely, Exclusive, creates in/out group, shields work from criticism, less competition, scarcity, the have and the have nots

Question 35

Is journalism a profession?

Answer 35

They have a society, but anyone can be a journalist. They cant control membership or exclude people. They do not get fired for violations because they avoid them. They have their own norms for organizations.

Question 36

Sony “Finding Your Roots”

Answer 36

Ben Affleck wanted to remove the fact that his ancestors were slave owners and when the Sony emails came out, that was discovered that they did.

Question 37

FDR and norms

Answer 37

He has polio and could not walk. When he came out, it was hidden and he was always sitting.

Question 38

What are norms?

Answer 38

Unwritten rules

Question 39

Haiti Photos/Iraq War and normss

Answer 39

We do not show fallen soldiers, dead people, but they showed Haiti photos. Maybe in an attempt to get more help, no guilt associated, and maybe because it will help people who only care about their own (or white people) to elicit donations

Question 40

Dilbert Cartoons and norms

Answer 40

They do not show a gun being fired in a cartoon about a police negotiator. Then, they removed the gun being fired and just showed a bam, but still no. Then, they changed the overall gun to a donut and it was okay.

Question 41

According to McManus, what are 4 things we need for a cooperative exchange in order for it to benefit both parties?

Answer 41

Act Rationally, Knowledgeable, Competition, and no Harm. Who determines all of this?