American media is dominated by large corporations that control around 90% of outlets. With deregulation and consolidation, a few powerful conglomerates own multiple types of media in the same markets. While newspapers and broadcast TV were once dominant, the internet has become a major source of news, fragmenting audiences and making messages harder for politicians to control. Politicians rely heavily on media to communicate but also criticize coverage. They work to manage their portrayal by emphasizing daily themes and working with journalists.

2. INTRODUCTION
 Media in the US: television, radio, cinema, newspapers,
magazines, and Internet-based Web sites.
 Many of the media are controlled by large for-profit corporations
who reap revenue from advertising, subscriptions, and sale of
copyrighted material.
 American media conglomerates tend to be leading global players,
generating large revenues.
 With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, further
deregulation and convergence are under way, leading to mega-
mergers, further concentration of media ownership, and the
emergence of multinational media conglomerates.
 These mergers enable tighter control of information. Currently, six
corporations control roughly 90% of the media.

3. The Early Days
Long before there was a United States, the
news media were active in colonial America.
Ben Franklin, in 1729, published one of the
earliest newspapers, the Pennsylvania
Gazette.
Newspapers had relatively low circulation,
due partly to cost and partly because they
were available only in major cities.

4. The Penny Press
Beginning in the 1830s, the New York Sun began
selling newspapers for a penny copy rather than
the standard price of six cents.
The price reduction was made possible by cheaper,
faster printing presses and it made the newspaper
available to the mass public.
The increase in circulation made it possible to hire
larger staffs of reporters.
The telegraph also aided newspapers by enabling
reporters throughout the country to quickly send
stories home for publication.

5. Yellow Journalism
The period after the Civil War saw the beginning of
yellow journalism.
This new type of newspaper reporting appealed to a
wider audience by using bold headlines,
illustrations, and sensational stories.

6. The FCC
The FCC was created in 1934 to regulate broadcast media.
At that time this meant radio stations and subsequently
included television stations, cable TV, and other
communication technologies.
In the late 1940s the FCC developed the “fairness doctrine”
which required TV and radio stations to offer a variety of
political views in their programming; “Sunday morning talk
shows and interviews”.
The FCC also created the “equal time” provision which states
that if a radio or television station gives air time to a
candidate outside its news coverage, then it has to give equal
time to other candidates running for the same office.

7. Deregulation
After the development of cable TV, satellite TV and
the Internet many sources of information became
available to citizens. Hence, there was pressure to
deregulate.
Since 1996, the FCC has abolished most ownership
restrictions.
The trend now is concentration of media sources
and cross ownership where one company owns
several different kinds of media outlets in a
community.

8. News Corp
Fox Television Stations Film Companies Books and Magazines
27 U.S. stations 20th Century Fox The Weekly Standard
Fox Searchlight Pictures Barrons
Fox Television Studios 3 Other Magazines
Blue Sky Studios 2 Book Publishers
11 Other Film Companies
Satellite and Cable Newspapers Other
DirecTV New York Post Colorado Rockies
Fox News Channel Wall Street Journal
46 Other Cable Channels 4 UK newspapers Hulu.com
20 Australian Newspapers 18 websites
24 local U.S. newspapers 15 other businesses

9. The Media and the Electoral Process
Running a campaign for office is unthinkable
today without strong presence on the Internet,
including heavy use of social networking
media.
At the same time, traditional media such as
daily newspapers and broadcast television
and radio remain vitally important to political
parties and their candidates for public office.

10. The Media
Sixty years ago, newspapers dominated the mass
media that affected American politics
-- people learned the new of the day through their
daily newspapers and in major cities multiple
newspapers competed with each other and morning
and afternoon newspapers were standard
Thirty years ago, three major networks dominated
television broadcasting
-- in 1980 42% of all television households in the
United States were tuned into the nightly news
broadcasts
-- in 2009 only 15% were tuned into the nightly news

11. The Media
While television remains the most important media
source in the political world, it is also true that the
Internet is assuming a greater role in American
politics
-- in 2010, 46% of Americans went online for news
three or more times a week
-- in 2010, 41% of Americans used the Internet as their
primary source for news
The web has passed newspapers as a main source
of news for Americans
-- this development is more pronounced among the
young and those with a college education

12. Percentage of Americans Who Regularly
Watch/Read/Listen
to News via Various Outlets
Local Television News 49
CNN 44
Daily Newspaper 40
Fox News 39
Network Evening News 37
MSNBC 27
Yahoo News 24
Google News 22
NPR 20
Pew Research Center, 2014

13. Media Sources for News
68
0
53
5857
22
41 42
57
39
34
29
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Television Internet Radio Newspapers
1991
2004
2012

14. The Impact of the Internet
It is more difficult for politicians to control their
message and content
Twenty years ago, politicians had a pretty good
idea of what sources their constituents would turn
to for news
-- national politicians were concerned about the major
networks
-- statewide politicians concentrated on local outlets,
television stations and major newspapers
-- local politicians hoped for television coverage but
tried to ensure that the local press covered them
adequately

15. The Impact of the Internet
Today’s politicians try to find an audience wherever it might
appear
Candidates appear on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
Candidates have elaborate websites and produce video and
other content specifically for websites like YouTube,
Facebook and Twitter
Candidates participate in conference calls with popular
bloggers
The media environment is so fragmented that media
consultants worry about where to communicate a message
just as much as they worry about what the message is to
communicate

16. Politicians View of the Media
“You can’t live with ‘em’ . . . .
Politicians complain frequently about:
-- how unfairly they are treated by the media
-- how difficult it is to talk about issues
-- how paid advertising presents distorted images
-- how they wish they could talk about issues at
length, not in sound bites
Their actions tell a different story:
-- every politician has a press secretary whose job is
to guarantee that the politician is seen frequently in
the media

17. Politicians View of the Media
Every campaign has a press secretary who is
charged with the care and feeding of journalists
covering the campaign.
-- candidates treat the press well so that journalists
are inclined to treat them favorably
-- press secretaries want to influence the substance of
the stories that are reported (the proper “spin”)
Every campaign hires political consultants to
design and place effective advertisements.
None of this sounds like politicians who cannot
stand the media.

18. Managing the News
Campaign organizations attempt to manage the
news to present their candidates in the most
positive light.
-- campaign managers choose a single theme to
emphasize each campaign day (taxes, the
environment, crime)
-- if the candidate and the members of the candidate’s
team address the same issue and only that issue, the
news media will likely focus on that issue
The campaign selects an eye-catching visual
backdrop to emphasize the theme of the day.