Media and Interest Groups Flashcards
Direct Mail
A mailing from an interest group focused at a specialized audience whose purpose is both to raise money and mobilize supporters
Cue (political)
A signal telling a congressional representative what values (e.g., liberal or conservative) are at stake in a vote - who is for, who against a proposal - and how that issue fits into his or her own set of political beliefs or party agenda
Ideological Interest Group
Political organizations that attract members by appealing to their political convictions with coherent sets of (usually) controversial principles.
Incentive
A valued benefit obtained by joining a political organization.
Institutional Interests
Individuals or organization that seeks to influence public policy
Interest Group
An organization of people sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence the making of public policy
Lobby
In interest group organized to influence government decisions, especially legislation.
Lobbyist
A person attempting to influence government decisions on behalf of the group.
Material Incentives
Benefits that have monetary value, including money, gifts, services, or discounts received as a result of one’s membership in an organization.
Membership Interest
A member’s collective rights in a limited liability company, including the member’s share of profits and losses of the limited liability company, the right to receive distributions of the limited liability company’s assets and any right to vote or participate in management.
Political Action Committee
A committee set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or special-interest group that raises and spends campaign contributions on behalf of one or more candidates or causes.
Public Interest Lobby
Political Organization the stated goal of which will principally benefit nonmembers.
Purposive Incentive
The benefit that comes from serving a cause or principle from which one does not personally benefit.
Ratings
An assessment of a representative’s voting record on issues important to an interest group.
Social Movement
A widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order.
Adversarial Press
A national press that is suspicious of officialdom and eager to break an embarrassing story about a public official.
Attack Journalism
The current era of media coverage that seizes upon any bit of information or rumor that might call into question the qualifications or character of a public official.
Background Story
Public official’s explanation of current policy provided to the press on the condition that the source remain anonymous.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality Reporters’ keeping sources of their stories secret. Most states and the federal government allow courts to decide whether the need of a journalist to protect sources outweighs the interests of the government in gathering evidence in a criminal investigation
Equal Time Rule
A rule of the Federal Communications Commission stating that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate for office, he or she must be willing to sell equal time to opposing candidates.
Fairness Doctrine
Former Rule of the Federal Communications Commission that required broadcasters to give time to opposing views if they broadcast a program giving one side of a controversial issue.
Feature Stories
Media reports about public events knowable to any reporter who carers to inquire, but involving acts and statements not routinely covered by a group of reporters.Thus a reporter must take the initiative and select a particular event as newsworthy, decide to write about it, and persuade an editor to run it.
Insider Stories
Information not usually made public that becomes public because someone with inside knowledge tells a reporter. The reporter may have worked hard to learn these facts, in which case it is called “investigative reporting,” or or some official may have wanted a story to get out, in which case it is called a “leak.”
Loaded Language
Words that reflect a value judgment, used to persuade the listener without making an argument. If a person likes a politician, he might call him “the esteemed Senator Smith”: if he doesn’t like him, he might refer to him as the “that right-wing or radical senator”
Market
An area easily reached by a television signal. There are about two hundred such markets in the country.
Mental Tune-out
The attitude of a person who ignores or is irritated by messages from radio or television which do not agree with his or her existing beliefs. This has been me…MZ Huby over the last couple months! I’m fed up with the lies and poop
Muckraker
A journalist who searches through the activities of public officials and organizations seeking to expose conduct contrary to the public interest. The term was first used by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 to warn that antibusiness journalism, while vaulable, could be excessively negative.
Party Press
In the early years of the Republic, politicians of various factions and parties created, sponsored, and controlled newspapers to further their interests.
Popular Press
Self Supporting daily newspapers aimed at a mass readership.
Prior Restraint
The traditional view of the press’s free speech rights as expressed by William Blackstone, the great English jurist. According to this view the press is guaranteed freedom from censorship-that is, rules telling it in advance what it can publish. After publication, however, the government can punish the press for material that is judged libelous or obscene.
Right of Reply Rule
A rule of the Federal Communications Commission that if a person is attacked on a broadcast (other than in a regular news program), that person has the right to reply over the same station.
Routine Stories
Media reports about public events that are regularly covered by reporters and that involve simple, easily described acts or statements.
Scorekeeper
The role played by the national media in keeping track of and helping make political reputations.
Selective Attention
Paying attention only to those parts of a newspaper or broadcast story with which one agrees. Studies suggest that this how people view political ads on television.
Sound Bite
A brief statement no longer than a few seconds used on a radio or television news broadcast.
Trial Ballon
Information provided to the media by an anonymous public official as a way of testing the public reaction to a possible policy or appointment.
Watchdog
The role played by the national media investigating political personalities and exposing scandals
Yellow Journalism
The use of sensationalism to attract a large readership for a newspaper.
Political Editorializing Rule
A rule of the Federal Communications Commission that if a broadcaster endorses a candidate, the opposing candidate has a right to reply.
Federal Communications Commission
An agency of the federal government with authority to develop regulations for the broadcast media.
