Govt 2305 Chapter 8 - Media-Abernathy Textbook 2nd Edition, Media,Professor Seymour

2. Chapter 8
The Media:
Truth, Power, and American
Democracy

3. Enemy of the People?
https://youtu.be/CyIZz4KE8dg

4. How Powerful Are the Media?
• “Weaponized information”
– Media influencing or undermining a political
candidate
– Hillary Clinton and e-mails controversy
• Russian influence campaign
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5. How Powerful Are the Media?
• Intelligence community assessment
• Trump’s denial of Russian intervention
• Warning from Trump’s Director of National Intelligence
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6. Evolution of American Media (1 of 2)
• Influence of early newspapers and pamphlets on
American attitudes
– Primary source for political information and debate
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7. “Warning Lights are Blinking Red”
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https://vimeo.com/364361411

8. Dan Coats – Message to Media
8
https://vimeo.com/364361395

9. Evolution of American Media (2 of 2)
• Freedom of the press in the Bill of Rights
• “Mass media” in the 18th and 19th centuries
– Partisan press and yellow journalism
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10. Journalists as
Investigators and Activists
• Development of the telegraph
• Pony express route
– Associated Press
o Wire service
• Organization that gathers and reports on news
and then sells the stories to other outlets
• Investigative journalism and muckrakers
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11. Radio and TV News (1 of 2)
• Broadcast media
– Outlets for news and other content that rely on mass
communications technology to bring stories directly
into people’s homes
• FDR and “fireside chats”
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12. Radio and TV News (2 of 2)
• Kennedy and TV
• Walter Cronkite and the Vietnam War
• 24/7 TV coverage and cable television news
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13. New Media
• The Internet and broadband and wireless technology
• Merging of entertainment and social media
• Citizen journalists
– Nonprofessionals who cover or document news and
events or offer their own analyses of them
• Niche journalism
– Media that caters to fragmented and specialized
audiences
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14. Bias and Media’s Objectivity
• Trump’s accusations of “fake news”
– CNN and the New York Times
– Fake news
o A term that may refer to the intentional
presentation of news in favor of a political party of
the intentional presentation of unverified or
inaccurate news
• Project Veritas and CNN
• Goal of attracting an audience
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15. How “Real” is “Fake News?”
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16. News as Entertainment
• Effects of commercial demands and competition upon
mainstream news providers
• Infotainment
– A merging of information and entertainment in a way
designed to attract viewers and gain market share
• Soft news
– Stories that focus on celebrity and personality rather
than political or economic issues
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17. Bias (1 of 2)
• General critique of partisan bias
• Journalists and liberalism
• Lack of trust in news sources
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18. Bias (2 of 2)
• Beat system
– Practice of assigning reporters to specific types of
news, policies, and events
• Commercial bias
– Shaping of the content and focus of news based
upon the desire to capture news customers
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19. Media Coverage of
Campaigns and Elections
• Horse race phenomenon
– Coverage of political campaigns that focuses more
on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues
• Media focus on scandals
• Media strategy and control
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20. Regulation of Media Ownership and
Content (1 of 2)
• Radio Act of 1927
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Telecommunications Act of 1996
– Deregulation and massive consolidation of media
ownership
– Advertising revenue and attracting audiences
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21. Regulation of Media Ownership and
Content (2 of 2)
• Aggregating
– A process through which Internet and other news
providers relay the news as reported by journalists
and other sources
• Net neutrality
– The idea that Internet service providers should not
be allowed to discriminate based upon content or
bandwidth demands
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22. Content Regulation
• Equal time rule
– Regulation requiring American radio and television
broadcast networks to provide equal time for political
candidates to present their views on issues
• Fairness doctrine
– Federal rule that expanded regulations for American
political news coverage to the content of the
coverage
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23. The Power of the Media
• Orson Welles and “The War of the Worlds”
– Aftermath of frightened Americans
• Media effects
– Power of the news media in shaping individuals’
political knowledge, preferences, and political
behavior
• Usage of framing, priming, and agenda setting
• Media functions
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24. Digital Divide
• Digital divide
– Divisions in society that are driven by access to and
knowledge about technologies
– These gaps often fall along the lines of partisanship,
class, race, and ethnicity
• May be making Americans more partisan
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25. Bridging the Digital Divide
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https://youtu.be/fzokRz1pgb0