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1. The Mass Media and the
Political Agenda
Chapter 7

3. The Media
 The Fourth Estate, the Fourth
Branch of government
 Edmund Burke said “There
were Three Estates in
Parliament; but, in the
Reporters' Gallery yonder,
there sat a Fourth Estate more
important far than they all.”
 How much influence does the
media have in shaping policy?
 How much influence do you
think the media has in
changing public opinion?
"What good fortune for those in power that people do
not think." --Adolf Hitler
"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let
our enemies have guns; why should we let them have
ideas?" --Josef Stalin

5. Function:
 Provides information and
analysis about policy issues
 Polling provides indicators
for policy makers about
public opinion
 Reports and evaluates
decisions of government

6. How much has the media influenced your mind?

8. Roles
 Watch Dog- responsibility of media to make public
aware of corruption, incompetence, illegal, unethical
actions by politicians
 Agenda Setter (Gate-keeping) -focuses public
attention on issues- is the tail wagging the dog?
– The mass media may not be successful in telling people what
to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling their
audience what to think about.
– Average sound bite for Presidential candidate in 1968 was 42
seconds by 2000 less than 10 seconds

10. Terms
 Score keeper- media polls drive news, candidates
performance constantly criticized, measured
 Signaler- Alert the public about important
developments
 Horse-race journalism- term for reporting that focuses
on who is winning in the polls, like in primaries, who is
in lead, second etc. and not on issues
 Framing- how media presents the context
*KKK rally more accepted if defined as civil rights/ free
speech story, less if about public safety issue or racism

11.  Trial Balloons: An intentional
news leak for the purpose of
assessing the political reaction.
 Mass Media:
– Television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, the
Internet and other means of
popular communication.
(influencing not just elites,
but the “masses”)

12. The Development of Media
Politics
 The increasing rapid pace of electronic news
and television’s global coverage shortens the
time frame for policy responses.
 In 1961, when the Berlin Wall went up,
President Kennedy had 8 days to respond to the
provocative action.
 In 1989, when the wall came down, President
Bush was forced to respond overnight.

13. Party Press 1770-
1820
 Press was seen as an extension of party
 Newspapers were often a money losing
operation
 Until mid 1880s parties sold their papers
 Watch dog role –Jefferson’s religion and
relationship with slave, lots of unfounded
personal attacks

14. Penny Press and Yellow
Journalism
 Turn of the 20th Century
 Less partisan, but not objective
 Hearst and the Spanish American war-
“You furnish the pictures and I’ll get you
the war”.
 “Yellow journalism”- cheap yellow paper,
sensational late 1800s
 Muckraking- Upton Sinclair Progressive
Era- media became to be more independent

15. Radio, 1920’s-1950’s
 FDR in the 1930’s, Fireside
Chats
 Radio then television
transformed media
 Televised 1960 debate between
Nixon Kennedy-radio listeners
gave Nixon the edge, but
Kennedy did well on TV
changed nature of campaigns
Presidential Politics and Mass
Media―Telegenic

16.  Investigative Journalism: the use of in-depth
reporting to unearth scandals, scams & schemes
putting reporters & politicians opposite each other,
Woodward & Bernstein, Watergate.
 Starting in 1980’s with Gary Hart affair, the personal
lives of politicians became an area of focus
– Distracts people’s focus from issues
– Example: Warren Harding, FDR, & JFK personal
lives vs. Bill Clinton

20. How can the media influence
our lives?
 2003 Iraq war Coverage
 Media coverage and cultural perspectives in
different countries significantly altered public
opinion of the United States invasion of Iraq
–Spring of 2003—70%of Americans supported the
War in Iraq (NY Times, 4/03)
–In Canada, France, Spain, (and others) 80-90%did
not support the war. In the Arab world, the numbers
were even higher. (NY Times, 4/03)

21. Public Opinion on Iraq prior to
Invasion
•January, 2003—three months before the invasion of Iraq.
–New York Times Poll: 57% of Americans believed that
Saddam Hussein helped al Qaeda on 9/11.
–Washington Post: 70% believed Hussein was directly
involved in 9/11
–2006 Zogby Poll—46% believed that there was a link
between Hussein and 9/11
•Iraq and al Qaeda were never linked, nor was there any
evidence of interaction between the two. al Qaeda's
presence in Iraq occurred AFTER the United States‘
invasion in 2003.

24. The Development of Media
Politics
 The Print Media
– Newspapers and magazines
– Newspaper and magazine
circulations have been
declining.
– A dying industry?

25. Figure 7.1
The Development of Media
Politics

26.  The Broadcast Media
– Television and radio
– Brought government
and politics into
people’s homes.
– Made the politicians
more aware of their
appearance and
mannerisms.
– Television is the
principle source of news
for most Americans,
and most believable.

27.  Government Regulation of the Broadcast Media
– The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
regulates the use of airwaves.
– FCC equity-have to sell air time equally to all
candidates if they choose to sell any
– Fairness doctrine- rule required broadcasters to cover
events with contrasting views- NO longer in effect,
although talk of bringing it back
 Narrowcasting: Cable TV and the Internet
– Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is
focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience

28. – Only a small number of TV
stations are publicly owned in
America.
– The media are totally dependent
on advertising revenues.
– Chains consist of massive media
conglomerates that control
almost three-quarters of the
nation’s daily newspaper
circulation as well as broadcast
media, monopolies.
Private Control
of the Media
Q. What is the major goal of
these 5 companies?
A. To make $$$$$$$$$$$$$

30. Conflict of
interest?
 General Electric (GE) 10thLargest Company in the world2005 revenues: $139.2 billion
 Media: NBC, Universal Pictures, CNBC, Bravo, MSNBC, USA, 15 other cable channels, Universal
Parks & Resorts: Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Orlando
 Military Production: Manufactures engines for the F-16 Fighter jet, Abrams tank, Apache
helicopter, U2 Bomber, Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), A-10 aircraft, and
numerous military equipment including planes, helicopters, tanks, and more.
 GE Consumer Finance (provider of credit services to consumers, retailers and auto dealers in over
35 countries)
 GE Consumer & Industrial(appliances, lighting, and Industrial Systems)
 GE Energy(technology for the oil and gas, power generation and energy management industries,
including nuclear)
 GE Healthcare(diagnostic and interventional medical imaging, information and services
technology)
 GE Insurance(insurance and investment products for businesses and individuals)
 GE Transportation(serving the aviation, rail, marine and off-highway industries with jet engines
for military and civil aircraft, freight and passenger locomotives, motorized systems
for mining trucks and drills, and gas turbines for marine and industrial applications)
 What kind of news do you think they will promote? ________________
___________________________________

31. Examples:

32. Figure 7.2
 Presenting the News
– Superficial describes most news coverage today
– Sound Bites: Short video clips of approximately 15
seconds.

33. Television News
 A full transcript of the typical nightly
network news broadcasts – foreign and
domestic – would not fill half of the front
page of an average daily newspaper.
 Yet ¾ of the American people routinely
depend on this source for most of their
foreign affairs information.

34.  Bias in the News
– Many people believe
the news favors one
point of view over
another.
– Generally are not
very biased along
liberal / conservative
lines.
– Generally are biased
towards what will
draw the largest
audience,
sensationalism, “If it
bleeds, it leads.”

36. The News and Public Opinion
 Television news can affect what people
think is important.
 The media influence the criteria by which
the public evaluates political leaders.
 Some policies can be made more important,
others will be less important, depending on
their coverage.

37. Howard Dean clips

38. The Media’s Agenda-Setting
Function
 Policy Agenda (Gate-keeping) :
– The issues that attract the serious attention of
public officials and other people actively
involved in politics at the time.

39.  How do
politicians
use/control/
work with the
media?
 Reagan’s seven rules:
 (The Great
Communicator)
○ Plan ahead
○ Stay on the
offensive
○ Control the flow of
information
○ Limit reporters’
access to the
President
○ Talk about the
issues you want to
talk about (On
message)
○ Speak in one voice
○ Repeat the same
message many
times

41. Bully Pulpit
 Idea that the President should use the media to advance
their agenda
 This is the President’s most important power, the power
to persuade
 Can command the world’s attention
 Can speak in one voice in contrast to Congress
 Teddy Roosevelt pioneered this idea in the early 1900s
at the start of the age of mass media
 Double-edged sword, can help a President, like Ronald
Reagan, or backfire like Richard Nixon

42. Understanding the Mass
Media
 The Media and the Scope of Government
– The media as watchdog restricts politicians.
– New proposals are met with skepticism - so that
restricts what the government can do.
– But, if the media identify a problem, they ask
what the government is going to do to fix it.

43.  Individualism and the Media
– Candidates can now run on their own.
– Easier to focus on one person like the President, than Congress
or the courts.
– The largest amount of political coverage in newspapers during
presidential campaigns is devoted to day-to-day campaign
activities, not on issues
 Democracy and the Media
– “Information is the fuel of democracy.”
– But, is the news more entertainment than information? Is this
what the people want?

44. Government Regulation of the
Electronic Media
 1st Amendment – freedom of press
 Government can’t place “prior restraint” on news (can’t
censor news before it is released)
 The press is not entirely free
 Print media are exempt from most governmental regulation.
 Electronic media
– Airwaves are considered public property and are leased to
networks and private broadcasters by the government.
 Telecomm. Act 1996
– -deregulated much of electronic media so companies
merged=“infotainment”

45. The FCC
 Federal Communications Commission 1934
 Controls the airwaves for licenses and content, no one may
operate radio or TV stations without their license
 Who are they? – 5 members (no more than 3 from the
same political party) nominated by US President for 5
years.
 2003 changed rules about cross-ownership so companies can
now own different types of media outlets
 Can reach 45% of national audience at any one time. So Time
Warner can have movie, cable news and an entertainment show
all on at same time-shill for one another

46. FCC “Friends”
 I've created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Marshall no more
They want Shady, I'm chopped liver
Well if you want Shady, then this is what I'll give ya
A little bit of weed mixed with some hard liquor
Some vodka that will jump start my heart quicker
Then a shot when I get shocked at the hospital
By the doctor when I'm not cooperating
When I'm rocking the table while he's operating "Hey"
You waited this long to stop debating
'Cause I'm back, I'm on the rag and ovulating
I know you got a job Ms. Cheney
But your husband's heart problem is complicated
So the F-C-C won't let me be or let me be me so let me see
They tried to shut me down on M-T-V
But it feels so empty without me
So come on and dip, bum on your lips
F-- that, ---on your lips and some on your --------
And get ready 'cause this sh-- is about to get heavy
I just settled all my lawsuits, "F--- you, Debbie!"
 Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause it feels so empty without me
I said, this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause it feels so empty without me
Howard Stern
Eminem
“Nipplegate”

47. Supreme Court Cases
 New York Times v United States 1971
Secret “Pentagon Papers” published
Ruled that publication could NOT be blocked
Can not use “prior restraint” unless “overwhelming” justification
such as military movements before or during war
 New York Times v Sullivan 1964
Libel requires proof of actual malice- a knowing or
reckless disregard for the truth. NY Times found NOT
guilty because malice not proved. So information
could be wrong, but has to printed or released with
malicious intention-difficult to prove.

50. •“A Democratic civilization will save itself only if it makes the
language of the image into a stimulus for critical reflection, NOT
an invitation to hypnosis” –Umberto Eco

51. How can we be better
citizens:?
 Literacy for the 21stCentury
•Media literacy is the process of
analyzing and evaluating messages of the
mass media in order to detect
propaganda, censorship, and bias.

53. •Questions to consider:
 –Is the media biased? Does it matter?
 –Does propaganda and bias infiltrate politics and advertisements?
 –Is there a blurring of the lines between journalism (reporting facts) and
commentary (editorial)? Fox News and CNN? Do consumers of media
know where editorial begins and news end?
 –Is there enough news for 24-hour news networks? Do they run stories
that are not ―news‖? Do they run sensationalized stories for ratings?
 –Does media ownership and the profit motive create inherent biases?
– How can the media be critical of the government if it relies on it for
the information it reports?
– How can the media conglomerates (often made up of other industries)
be critical of the government, if it needs the government to deregulate
industries related?
– How can the media be critical or corporations/businesses if they rely
on those same businesses for revenue?

54.  http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/izsb20/internet-killed-the-
newspaper-star
 Internet Killed the Newspaper Star
 http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/nmmrhx/fox-news-channel---
fair---balanced
 Fox News Fair and Balanced
 http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/aza6bv/on-topic---division-
of-power---the-press
 Division of Power The Press
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBzpIk-SBHY
 Stewart Interview