Week One: Structure of Media

1. WEEK ONE: STRUCTURE OF
MEDIA
POL 367 – Mass Media and Politics

2. Functions of Media
 Surveillance
 Public – reporting of the new for the public
 Private – motivations of individuals to consume
 Interpretation
 Placing news into context
 Socialization
 Transmission of values that prepare people to fit into cultural
setting
 Manipulation
 Creation of news in form of investigation, muckracking

3. Effects of Mass Media
 Early research often found little impact of media on political
attitudes and behavior for three reasons:
 Narrow Scope of Effects
 Vote Choice (Hard to Move) over Trust, Affection, Knowledge (Easier)
 Focus on individuals over group movement
 Theoretical limitations
 Focus on persuasion, which was harder
 Cognitive-consistency theories
 Measurement issues
 Self-Assessments
 Moderators
 Difficult to measure usage
 Difficult to survey elites

4. Control of News Media
 Authoritarian Control Systems
 Media advances the interest of the government
 Ideological: media advances ideological goals
 Non-Ideological: media used to prevent interference
 Democratic Control Systems
 Expectation of journalists as watchdogs
 Criticisms of “perversions” of accepted values
 Libertarian versus Social Responsibility
 Ex: Coverage of Venezuela Protests

5. Models of News Making
 Mirror Model
 News reflection of reality
 Professional Model
 News result of professionals striving for balance and interesting
news
 Organizational Model
 Organizational pressures influence news outcomes
 Political Model
 News reflects ideological biases of news people
 Civic Journalism
 Press can assist public dialogue, explain & advocate for policy

6. Ownership of Media: Public Ownership
 Outright ownership is relatively
limited in the United States
 Local governments own cable
systems or run channels on
private systems
 Federal Government
 American Forces Radio and
Television
 Voice of America

7. Ownership of Media: Semi-Public
Ownership
 Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
 Mixture of public and private funding,
programming, and operation of radio
and television for educational and
public service programming
 Corporation for Public Broadcasting
 Political appointees
 Handles general administration
 Influences programming through
funding decisions

8. Ownership of Media: Private Ownership
 Independents
 Run a single media venture
 Wire services
 Media Chains
 Individual or corporate ownerships of several media outlets
 “Cross-Media” – own several types of media outlets
 Conglomerates
 Own both media and non-media businesses

9. Costs & Benefits of Consolidation
 Benefits:
 Large, well-financed companies
can provide more lavish & costly
to make programming
 Costs:
 Concerns about lack of diversity,
mitigated by cable, satellite, &
Internet.
 Focus on “Infotainment”, merger
of entertainment and news
 Possibility that political and
financial concerns of companies
influence news reporting. Source https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/07/fascinating-graphic-
shows-who-owns-all-the-major-brands-in-the-world/

10. “Outrage Industry” (Berry & Sobieraj)
 Hyper-partisan media outlets
that specialize in generating
outrage
 Particularly profitable for
several reasons:
 Cheap to produce, dramatically
appealing
 Highly loyal fanbase due to
personal style & community
 Appealing to advertisers,
particularly of niche products

11. Example of outrage industry:
Trevor Noah interview of
Tomi Lahren of “The Blaze”.
Watch from 0:25 – 1:10

12. Sources of Media Influence
 Prestige
 Prestigious news outlets influence journalism norms
 Pack Journalism
 Market size
 Media in bigger, denser markets have more influence
 Competition
 Mainstream television main source of news
 Most cities still have one or two major papers
 Competition in general has started to increase

13. Sources of Media Control
 Federal Communications
Commission
 Bipartisan commission that regulates
broadcasting
 Anti-trust and monopoly
 Licensing
 Public service and local interest programs
 Protection from unfair media coverage
 In practice has had limited effect
 Technology changes
 Weakened independence
 Minimal content control or enforcement

14. Sources of Media Control
 Media Associations
 Lobbyist and media organizations
 National Association of Broadcasters
 Lobby on behalf of media outlets
 Encourage self-regulation
 Ex: ESRB and Movie Ratings
 Advertisers
 Threat of withdrawing advertising
revenue
 Citizen Lobby Groups
 Legal Action
 Monitoring and publicizing content
 Pressuring advertisers

15. First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government
for a redress of grievances

16. Access: Controlled vs Uncontrolled
Media
 Uncontrolled Media
 Print Media nearly absolute freedom
 Cable & Internet minimally regulated
 Miami Herald Publishing Company v Tornillo
 Press has right to print whatever they want
 Controlled Media
 Broadcasting more regulated due to semi-monopoly status
 Certain regulations:
 Right to Equal Time
 Right to Fair Treatment (no longer in effect)
 Right of Rebuttal

17. Access: Alternatives
 Public Access:
 Letters to the Editor and
Editorials
 Paid Advertisements
 Sensational Events
 Lobbying
 All the above, however, are
subjective to the decisions
of editors and how the
story are framed.

18. Information Sources: Government Records
 Access:
 Freedom of Information Act
 Public Records
 Limitations:
 Private records
 National security
 Executive Privilege
 In general it is difficult to get access to
government records. Leads to reliance on
leaks instead.

19. Information Sources: Private Industry
 No right to private documents: voluntary access or leaks
 FOIA only covers government-business relations, but often restricted
in access so competitors can’t use information.
 Industry often uses threat of lawsuit to pressure media

20. Individual Rights
 Privacy Protections
 Media has right to publish publicly available
records
 “Involuntary public figure”
 Minimal protections in public settings
 Most protections are norms or indirect
(harassment, trespassing)
 Gag rules
 Courts have traditionally defended privacy
in courtroom, but tradition is weakening.
 Judges have right to “gag rule” to limit
media from covering parts of a trial, but
Supreme Court has moved towards
opening media access to trials

21. Individual Rights
 Shield Laws
 Journalists routinely decline to reveal their sources to protect them
 Supreme Court has ruled no right to protect sources in face of subpoena.
 Some states have laws to prevent journalists from forced testimony similar to doctors,
lawyers, and clergy.
 Libel Laws
 Provide redress when published information unjustly tarnishes reputation
 Must prove:
 Negligence or recklessness
 Exposed plaintiff to hatred, ridicule, or contempt
 If public figure, bar raised to “knowledge it was false or reckless disregard of whether it was false
or not” (NYT v Sullivan)
 Public figure does not include an individual who did not seek out publicity except in most
extraordinary of circumstances

22. Other Restrictions
 National security
 Indecent and offensive content (broadcast)
 Sex, violence, swearing
 Pornography
 Cigarettes
 Hate speech is protected
 Most restrictions on the content of media come from
professional and organizational norms, not legal protections.