Mass Media in the U.S. Flashcards
Mass Media (U.S.)
Mass media consists of any means of communication intended to reach a general, public audience. Note that mass media is widely used to reference the entire public communications industry, including: Newspapers, Magazines, Flyers, Billboards, Automated telemarketing, Radio broadcasts, Television broadcasts, Internet articles, Social media posts.
State Media
In countries such as China and Russia, the national government controls the mass media. This is known as state media. In contrast, in the United States, corporations control most mass media.
Print Media (U.S.)
Print media includes books, newspapers, newsletters, and magazines and was the dominant form of media throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. It can be traced back to the revolutionary period with the publication of The Federalist Papers.
Yellow Journalism (U.S.)
Yellow journalism is journalism that exploits, distorts or exaggerates in order to attract readers. It particularly existed in the late 1800s. Widespread support for the Spanish-American War can be attributed to yellow journalism. President McKinley wanted to avoid a war, but sensationalized articles portrayed him as weak and encouraged the war in order to give Cubans independence.
Muckrakers (U.S.)
Our nation’s first investigative journalism, Muckrakers were a group of journalists who exposed injustices and political corruption in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, the muckraking tactics of two young Washington Post reporters exposed the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, and muckraking is common today.
Broadcast Media
Broadcast media includes radio, television, and Internet. It’s any audio and/or video communication intended for the general public.
Internet Media
Information gained from an Internet website is known as Internet media.
Social Media
Social media describes social interaction between users in which they share and exchange information. It’s hosted through the Internet. Social media includes popular websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Propaganda
Information that is biased or misleading in order to promote or publicize a particular political point of view.
Political Attitude
Political attitude describes the way you think or feel about our government and related social and economic issues.
Political Decision
A political decision is any choice dealing with government affairs, structure, or politics. We make our political decisions based on our political attitudes.
New Media
New media includes Internet and digital-based forms of mass communication, including social media. New media is wide-ranging and offers: Immediate connection, news you can choose, sharing, liking, and donating.
New Media - Immediate Connection
This allows protests or political gatherings to be scheduled last minute and widely publicized through tweets or Facebook posts.
New Media - News You Can Choose
Meaning the Internet allows voters to look at the sources and stories that appeal specifically to them, while ignoring other points of view.
New Media - Sharing
This allows voters to distribute news themselves, as through ‘retweeting’ or reposting. When news comes from a friend or trusted colleague, voters are more likely to support the same point of view.
New Media - Liking
This allows voters to simply click a ‘thumbs up’ in order to publicize their support of a candidate or issue.
New Media - Donating
This allows multiple donors to give smaller individual amounts to raise large overall totals.
Media Criticism
Media criticism is the act of closely examining and judging the media.
Media Bias
Media bias is the perception that the media is reporting the news in a partial or prejudiced manner. The most common include: Bias by omission, Bias by selection of sources, Bias by story selection, Bias by placement, Bias by labeling, and Bias by spin.
Media Bias - Bias by Omission
- Leaving one side out of an article, or series of articles, over a period of time.
- This can happen with one story, or a series of stories as a news outlet reports one set of events, not another.
- Be aware of major perspectives on current events to find this type of bias.
- ‘Bias by Story Selection’ seems to be different than ‘Bias by Omission’ in that the latter is omitting without highlighting.
Media Bias - Bias by Selection of Sources
- Includes more sources that support one view over another.
- This can be found when reporters use such phrases as “experts believe” or “observers say” or “most people believe”.
- Look for equal representation of both sides to find this type of bias.
Media Bias - Bias by Story Selection
- A pattern of highlighting news stories that agree with the agenda of one side and ignoring the other side.
- To identify this bias, one needs to be aware of all perspectives involved.
- ‘Bias by Story Selection’ seems to be different than ‘Bias by Omission’ in that the latter is omitting without highlighting.
Media Bias - Bias by Placement
- Story placement is a measure of how important the editor considers a story.
- Many people only read the headlines, and therefore only see the larger stories.
- To identify this type of bias, look for where a newspaper places political stories.
Media Bias - Bias by Labeling
- There are two types of labeling - one in which one side of the political spectrum is given an extreme label, while the other side is not addressed with a label or given a more mild label.
- The other type is when one side is given a label, and the other is identified as an “expert” or “independent group.”
- When looking for this type of bias, remember labeling in and of itself is not bias. It is when one side is labeled and the other is not.
Media Bias - Bias by Spin
- Spin occurs when a story only has one interpretation of an event or policy.
- The reporter gives subjective comments about objective facts.
- Making one ideological side look better than another.
- To identify this type of bias, look for which perspective a news story matches.
Roles of the Media
Informing the public, serving as watchdog, providing a platform, allowing a public voice, and functioning as a public educator.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. The FOIA is a federal law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. The media makes many FOIA requests to gather information for news reports and articles. (1967)
Defamation
Defamation occurs when someone prints or broadcasts information that is untrue and harmful to someone else. It includes both libel and slander.
Defamation - Libel
Libel is defamation of character in print, audio, or video publications.
Defamation - Slander
Slander is defamation of character through unrecorded gestures or oral remarks.
Federal Radio Act of 1927
When radio stations were first used, the stations operated on the same frequencies. This meant they often blocked each other’s signals. The Federal Radio Act of 1927 set up licensing procedures to allocate different frequencies to different radio stations because the airwaves were deemed public property.
Federal Communications Act
In 1934, Congress enacted the Federal Communications Act. This Act established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which continues to manage broadcast media and our airwaves to this day.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, is a federal government agency responsible for regulating the public airwaves.
FCC and Public Decency Standards
It’s a violation of federal law: To broadcast obscene programming at any time, To broadcast indecent programming during certain hours (usually 6 a.m. and 10 p.m), and To broadcast profane language during certain hours (usually 6 a.m. and 10 p.m).
FCC and Public Decency Standards - Obscene
Obscene content does not have protection by the First Amendment. For content to be ruled obscene, it must meet a three-pronged test established by the Supreme Court: An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest (as in a morbid interest in sex); the material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
FCC and Public Decency Standards - Indecent
Language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities. Also, it does not rise to the level of obscenity, and courts have determined it is protected by the First Amendment and can’t be banned.
FCC and Public Decency Standards - Profane
Profane content includes “grossly offensive” language that is considered a public nuisance. Not to be confused with ‘profane’ in religious studies, which is an an ordinary element of everyday life - compared with ‘sacred’.
FCC and Equal Time Rule
The FCC uses its Equal Time Rule to ensure that broadcasters provide an opportunity for equal broadcast time to all official candidates running for a particular office.
FCC and Right of Rebuttal
The FCC uses the Right of Rebuttal to ensure that broadcasters provide candidates with an opportunity to respond to criticisms made against them.
FCC and Fairness Doctrine
Though rarely used, and appealed in 1987, the FCC also had the Fairness Doctrine. This rule stated that a broadcaster who aired a controversial program had to provide time to also air opposing views.
FCC and Open Internet
The FCC regulates broadband services, but only maintains rules to promote and protect Open Internet. Open Internet is based on free, publicly available principles that anyone can access and build on. This principle is also known as Net Neutrality because people are free to choose what applications and services they’d like to use, and what lawful content they’d like to access, create, or share.
