This document provides an overview of the history and evolution of media in the United States. It discusses how media has evolved from traditional print newspapers to incorporate radio, television, and the internet as new forms of information dissemination. While the core goal of informing the public has remained the same, the ways information is delivered and consumed has significantly changed over time. The document also examines the relationship between the media, the government, and the public and how media influences perceptions through agenda-setting, priming, and framing of issues.

1. POL 140
Fall 2014

6.  Sources help to gather, package, and disseminate
information to the public
 Newspapers
 Radio
 Television
 Internet
 Main goal of media has stayed the same
 How information is delivered has changed

8.  Informing
 Press informs public of political events
 Investigating
 Researching and revealing information about events
 Interpreting
 Media interpret a given day’s news

11.  Labor-intensive
and expensive
 Newsprint comprised
of individual letters of
metal type

13. Common Sense was mass-produced.
The Federalist Papers were published in NewYork newspapers.

15.  Newspapers and partisan politics
 Influence of the “penny press”
 Beginnings of “Yellow Journalism”

16. JOSEPH PULITZER WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST

18. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
on Radio

20. THE “BIGTHREE” KENNEDYVS. NIXON, 1960

22.  Decline inTraditional Newspaper Readership
 Popularity ofTalk Radio
 Rise of Soft News or “Infotainment”
 Prevalence of Blogs
 Rise and Continuation of Social Networking
 Cell Phones andText Messaging

24.  Gatekeeper
 Decide what will be covered
 Managers of wire services, editors, reporters
 Disseminator
 “Just the Facts,” avoid unverifiable stories
 Does this help the public?
 Investigator
 Investigate problems, critically analyze and report them
 “Muckrakers,”Woodward and Bernstein (Watergate)
 Public Mobilizer
 Emphasis on civic journalism
 Grassroots movement due to Internet, etc.

26. Focuses on 1940 Election
Results: People already made up
minds prior to voting; campaign
did not add information
Study gave rise to minimal
effects thesis

27.  Selective Exposure
 Individuals exposed to information with beliefs
 Selective Perception
 Individuals interpret information with beliefs
 Selective Retention
 Individuals recall information with beliefs

28.  Agenda Setting
 Must choose which events to cover— signal to public
 Priming
 Media emphasizes characteristics of people, events,
or issues—and this influences public’s view
 Framing
 Media alters public view on issue by presentation

29. George W. Bush, New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina

30. IRAQ: SPIDER HOLE IRAQ: MILITARY CASKETS

32. James S. Brady
Press Briefing Room

33. Obama Press Conference,
East Room of White House
Depends on:
1) News model
employed by
journalists
2) News
management
technique
employed by
White House

34.  Mirror Model
 Professional Model
 Organizational or “Bargaining” Model
 Political Model
 Public Journalism / Civic Journalism Model

35.  Tight Control of Information
 Tight Control of Access to Politicians
 ElaborateCommunications Bureaucracy
 Concerted Effort to BypassWH Press Corps
 Prepackaging News in Sound Bytes