Rza Mollaev

Mr. Triolo
01/01/2015
AP Government and Comparative Pol.
Chapter 12: The Media
I. Politicians depend of the media for the advancement of their careers and policies but fear
its power to criticize, expose, and destroy. As political parties have declinedespecially,
strong party organizationspoliticians have become increasingly dependent on the
media.
A. At the same time, the media have been changing, especially in regard to the kinds
of people who have been attracted to leading positions in journalism and the
attitudes they have brought with them.
II. Laws shape the relationships between government and the media in this country and
understandings that accord the media a degree of freedom greater than that found in
almost any other nation.
III. Almost all American radio and television stations are privately owned, though they
require government licenses.
A. While the federal government does impose rules on American broadcasters, it
does not have the power to censor or dictate the contents of particular stories.
B. In the US, law of libel is loose enough to permit intense and even inaccurate
criticism of anybody in the public eye.
C. The Freedom of Information Act virtually guarantees that very little can be kept
secret for very long.
IV. The freedom from government control that comes with the private ownership of the
media of mass communication has a price: newspapers, magazines, and broadcast
stations are businesses that must earn a profit. Some critics believe that the need for
profit leads publishers and station owners to distort the news coverage of politics to
satisfy the desires of advertisers.
Journalism in American Political History
I. Important changes in the nature of American politics have gone hand in hand with major
changes in the organization and technology of the press.
A. It is the nature of politics, being essentially a form of communication, to respond
to changes in how communications are carried on.
The Party Press
I. In the early years of the Republic, politicians of various factions created, sponsored, and
controlled newspapers to further their interests. This was possible because circulation
was of necessity small and newspapers were expensive.
A. These newspapers circulated chiefly among the political elites, who could afford
to pay high subscription prices.
B. Even with high prices, the newspapers often required subsidies. That money
frequently came from the government or from a political party.
C. These newspapers were partisan in their views.
The Popular Press

I. Changes in society and technology made possible the rise of a self-supporting, massreadership daily newspaper. These papers could not afford to be partisan because they
wanted to attract as many subscribers as possible.
A. Newspapers no longer needed political patronage to prosper, and soon such
subsidies began to dry up. In 1860 the Government Printing Office was
established, thereby putting an end to most of the printing contracts that
Washington newspapers had once enjoyed.
II. The mass-reading was still not nonpartisan, but the partisanship it displayed arose from
the convictions of its publishers and editors rather than from the influence of its party
sponsors. These convictions blended political beliefs with economic interest.
A. Strong-willed publishers could often become powerful political forces.
III. The mass-readership newspapers began to create a common national culture, to establish
the feasibility of a press free of government control or subsidy, and to demonstrate how
exciting and profitable could be the criticism of public policy and the revelation of public
scandal.
Magazines and Opinion
I. The growing middle class was often repelled by what it called yellow journalism and
was developing, around the turn of the century, a taste for political reform and a belief in
the doctrine of the progressive moment.
A. To satisfy this market, a variety of national magazines appeared that discussed
issues of public policy. They provided the means for developing a national
constituency for certain issues.
II. The national magazines of opinion provided an opportunity for individual writers to gain
a nation-wide following.
III. Changes in circulation need, in audience interests, in managerial style, and in the
emergence of nationally known writers, helped increase the power of editors and
reporters.
Electronic Journalism
I. Radio became popular in the 1920s, television in the late 1940s. they represented a major
change in the way news was gathered and disseminated.
A. The broadcast allows public officials to speak directly to audiences without their
remarks being filtered through editors and reporters. This was an advantage to
politicians, provided they were skilled enough to use it; they could in theory reach
the voters directly on a national scale without the services of political parties or
interest groups.
B. However, people can easily ignore a speech on broadcast radio or television. By
contrast, the views of at least some public figures would receive prominent
display in newspapers.
C. Less news can be carried by news or television because it is more expensive, and
each news segment must be quite brief to avoid boring the audience.
II. To obtain advantages of electronic media coverage, public officials must do something
sufficiently bold to gain access to radio or television news. Most officials struggle for
access to electronic media by making controversial statements, acquiring a national
reputation, or purchasing expensive time.
A. The rise of the talk show as a political forum has increased politicians access to
the electronic media.

B. In the last few decades, the networks evening newscasts have changed in ways
that have made it harder for candidates to use them to get their messages across.
For instance, the average sound bitea video clip of a presidential contender
speakinghas dropped from 40 to 7 seconds.
III. Today politicians have sources other than the network news for sustained and
personalized television exposure. Candidates favor participating in lighter, more
entertaining shows and making more casual appearances.
The Internet
I. The internet is the ultimate free market in political news.
II. The rise of the internet has completed a remarkable transformation in American
journalism.
The Structure of the Media
I. The relationship between journalism and politics is a two-way street: though politicians
take advantage as best they can of the communications media available to them, these
media in turn attempt to use politics and politicians as a way of both entertaining and
informing their audiences.
A. There is inevitably a process of selection, editing, and of emphasis, and this
process reflects, to some degree, the way in which the media are organized.
Degree of Competition
I. Newspaper circulation has fallen since 1967. Radio and television, by comparison, are
intensely competitive and becoming more so.
II. The American press is made up of mostly locally owned and operated enterprises.
A. The American newspaper is primarily orientated to its local market and local
audience, and there is typically more local than national news
B. This is part due to the regulations created by the FCC. Until the mid 1990s, no
one could own and operate more than one newspaper, one AM radio station, one
FM radio station, or one television station in a given market. The networks still
today may not compel a local affiliate to accept any particular broadcast.
The National Media
I. The local orientation of much of the American communications media is partially offset,
however, by the emergence of certain publications and broadcast services that constitute
a kind of national press.
A. The wire services supply most of the national news that local papers publish.
II. The existence of a national press is important for two reasons: first, government officials
in Washington pay great attention to what these media say about them and their
programs. Second, reporters and editors for the national press tend to differ from those
who work for the local press. The national press plays the role of gatekeeper,
scorekeeper, and watchdog for the federal government.
A. As gatekeeper it can influence what subjects become national political issues and
for how long.
B. As scorekeepers the national media keep track of and help make political
reputations, and help decide who is winning and losing in Washington politics.
C. Once the scorekeepers decide that you are the person to watch, they adopt their
watchdog role. This close scrutiny is natural. The media have an instinctive desire
to investigate and expose scandals.
Rules Governing the Media

I. The least competitive media outlets are almost entirely free from government regulation,
while the most competitive ones must have government licenses to operate and must
adhere to a variety of government regulations.
A. Newspapers and magazines need no license to publish, their freedom to publish
may not be restrained in advance, and they are liable for punishment for what
they do publish only under certain highly restricted circumstances.
B. Once something is published, a newspaper or magazine may be sued or
prosecuted if the material is libelous or obscene or if it incites someone to commit
an illegal act. These are usually not very serious restrictions because libelous and
obscene are defined very narrowly.
C. There are also laws intended to protect the privacy of citizens, but they do not
really inhibit newspapers.
Confidentiality of Sources
I. Reporters believe that they should have the right to keep confidential the sources of their
stories. Most states and the federal government do not agree, so the courts must decide in
each case whether the need of a journalist to protect confidential sources does or does not
outweigh the interest of the government in a criminal investigation.
A. In general the Supreme Court has upheld the right of the governments to compel
reporters to divulge information as a part of a criminal investigation, if it bears on
the commission of the crime.
B. This conflict arises not only between reporters and the law enforcement agencies
but also between reporters and persons accused of committing a crime.
Regulating Broadcasting
I. Broadcasting is regulated by the government. Of late a movement has arisen to
deregulate broadcasting, on the grounds that so many stations are now on the air that
competition should be allowed to determine how each station defines and serves
community needs.
II. Radio broadcasting has been deregulated the most.
A. In 1996 the Telecommunications Act allowed one company to own as many as
eight stations in large markets (five in smaller ones) and as many as it wished
nationally.
B. This trend has had two results. First, a few large companies now own most of the
big-market radio stations. Second, the looser editorial restrictions that
accompanied the deregulation mean that a greater variety of opinions and shows
can be found on the radio.
III. The content of radio and television is still regulated in ways that newspapers and
magazines are not. These include the following:
A. Equal time rule: if a station sells time to one candidate for office, it must be
willing to sell time to opposing candidates.
B. Right-of-reply rule: if a person is attacked on a broadcast, that person has the
right to reply over that same station.
C. Political editorializing rule: if a broadcaster endorses a candidate, the opposing
candidate has a right to reply.
D. For many years there was also the practice of the fairness doctrine, which
required broadcasters to give time to opposing views if they broadcast a program
giving one side of a controversial issue. In 1987 the FCC, believing that the

doctrine inhibited the free discussion of issues, abolished it.

Campaigning
I. When candidates wish to campaign on radio or television, the equal time rule applies. A
broadcaster must provide equal access to candidates for office and charge them rates no
higher that the cheapest rate applicable to commercial advertisers for comparable time.
A. At one time this rule meant that a station or network could not broadcast a debate
between the Democratic and Republican candidates for an office without inviting
all other candidates as well. Now stations and networks can themselves sponsor
debates limited to major candidates.
II. Though laws guarantee that candidates can buy time at favorable rates on television, not
all candidates take advantage of this. The reason is that television is not always an
efficient way to reach voters.
A. A market is an area easily reached by a television signal.
The Effects of the Media on Politics
I. Some research indicates that what appears in print or on the air probably does have an
effect on how citizens think and what they think about, how they attribute responsibility
for problems, and what policy preferences they hold.
A. There is very little evidence that enables us to know precisely how large that
effect is or under what conditions it exists.
B. Television and radio suffer from processes called selective attention (the citizen
sees and hears only what he wants) and mental tune-out (the citizen simply
ignores or gets irritated by messages that are not in accord with existing beliefs).
Radio and television may reinforce existing beliefs, but it is not clear that they
can change them.
II. There are some elections in which voters have few sources of information beyond what
the media provide. Primary elections involving political unknowns and general elections
of low-visibility offices may make voters dependent on newspaper and broadcast ads for
information.
III. The major effects of the media probably have much less to do with how people vote and
more to do with how politics is conducted, how candidates are perceived, and how
policies are formulated.
A. National nominating conventions have been changed to fit the needs of television
broadcasters. Some candidates have found it possible to win their partys
nominating for senator or governor with expensive advertising campaigns that
bypass the parties and ultimately weaken them.
B. Unknown politicians can acquire a national reputation by being at the center of an
event covered by the media.
IV. The issues that citizens believe to be important politically are very similar to the issues
that newspapers and television newscasts feature.
A. Watching television news programs affects the importance people attach to
various issues.
B. People are much less likely to take their cues from the media on matters that
affect them personally.
V. The media also affect how we perceive certain issues and candidates. Voters who get
their information from television and those who get it chiefly from newspapers often do
not view political matters the same way.

A. Televisions news stories affect the popularity of presidents; television

commentary tends to have a large effect.
Government and the News
I. In a government of separated powers, weak parties, and a decentralized legislature, any
government agency that fails to cultivate public opinion will sooner or later find itself
weak, without allies, and in trouble.
Prominence of the President
I. The press secretary heads a large staff that meets with reporters, briefs the president on
questions he is likely to be asked, attempts to control the flow of news from cabinet
departments to the press, and arranges briefings for editors.
A. The result of all this media attention is that the actions of our government are
personalized to a degree not found in other democracies.
Coverage of Congress
I. Congress does not get as much attention as the president. The members of the House are
so numerous and specialized that they generally do not get much attention.
A. The Senate has used television much more fully, heightening the already
substantial advantage that senators have over representatives in the getting the
public eye. Senatorial use of televised committee hearings has helped turned the
Senate into the incubator for presidential candidates.
Interpreting Political News
I. News stories, especially those about events of which we have no firsthand knowledge,
are apt to be accepted without question. This may be particularly true of television news
stories, since they enable us to judge not only what is said but how it is said.
II. Americans tell pollsters that they get most of their news from television, and that they
regard TV as more reliable than the printed press. Though in general the public has a
favorable view of the media, between 1985 and 1989 there was a sharp increase in the
proportion of Americans who thought the media tended to favor one side of the story.
A. Between 1985 and 1989 there was also a sharp increase in the percentage of those
who thought stories were inaccurate.
B. In general the popular worry is that editors and reporters allow their personal
political beliefs to influence the stories that they choose to run and to color the
way in which they report them.
III. In a presidential election it is unlikely that editorial endorsements make any difference.
The question today is whether the liberal views of reporters bias the news.
Are News Stories Slanted?
I. The fact that reporters tend to have liberal views does not mean that their stories will
inevitably have a liberal slant. Other factors influence how stories are written, including
the need to meet an urgent deadline, the desire to attract an audience, a professional
obligation to be fair and tell the truth, and the need to develop sources among people
holding different views.
II.
There are three kinds of stories:
1. Routine stories: these are public events regularly covered by reporters and
involving relatively simple, easily described acts or statements.
2. Feature stories: these are public events knowable to any reporter who cares to
inquire but involving acts and statements not routinely covered by a group of
reporters. Thus a reporter must take the imitative and select a particular event as

newsworthy, decide to write about it, and persuade an editor to run it.
3. Insider stories: information not usually made public becomes public because
someone with inside knowledge tells a reporter.
A. Routine stories are covered in almost exactly the same way by almost all media.
The political opinions of journalists have the least effect on these stories,
especially if several competing journalists are covering the same story over a long
period of time.
B. Feature and insider stories must be selected, and thus someone must do the
selecting. The grounds on which the selections are made include not only the
selections are made include not only the intrinsic interest of a story but also the
reporters or editors beliefs about what ought to be interesting. Among these
beliefs are the political ideologies of the journalists.
C. If a nonroutine story is a major, complex, somewhat unusual event, all the media
will cover it, but each will choose what themes to emphasize and what questions
to raise. The very act of selection usually involves some political perspective.
D. Insider stories raise the most difficult questions of allthose of motive. The
motives of those who leak information are almost never reported.
Why Do We Have So Many News Leaks?
I. The bureaucracy, members of Congress, and the White House staff regularly leak stories
favorable to their interests.
II. Because we have separate institutions that must share power, each branch of government
competes with the others to get power.
A. One way to compete is to try to use the press to advance your pet projects and
make the other side look better.
III. The press and the politicians have come to distrust one another. As a result, journalists
today are far less willing to accept at face the statements of elected officials and are far
more likely to try to find somebody who will leak the real story.
A. We have come to have an adversarial pressone that is suspicious of officialdom
and eager to break an embarrassing story.
B. This cynicism and distrust of government and elected officials have led to an era
of attack journalism. Many people do not like this type of journalism, and the
medias rising cynicism about the government is mirrored by the publics
increasing cynicism about the media.
IV. One of the effects of the increasingly adversarial nature of the press is the increased
prevalence of negative campaign advertising. Adversarial media coverage has helped
make negative ads more socially acceptable.
A. Negative ads change the preferences of some voters, but also reduce voter
turnout.
Sensationalism in the Media
I. Competition in the information industry has increased dramatically since the 1970s and
80s. The result of this intense competition is that each radio or television network has a
small share of the audience. To attract any audience at all, each program has a big
incentive to rely on sensational news stories.
A. Reinforcing this desire to go with sensationalism is the fact that covering such
stories is cheaper than more serious stories.
II. Reporters are more easily manipulated by sources than once was the case.

III. Since the terrorist attack on the United States on 9/11/01, there has been scattered
evidence to suggest that sensationalism in the media has declined a bit, while public
interest in national news and trust of news organizations have increased somewhat.
Government Constraints on Journalists
I. An important factor works against the influence of ideology and antiofficial attitudes on
reportersthe need every reporter has for access to key officials. Thus, Washington
reporters must constantly strike a balance between expressing their own views and
keeping a source.
II. The government is not without its means to fight back. The number of press officers in
the government has grown sharply in recent decades.
A. These officers can try to win journalist friends by offering leaks and supplying
background stories. (a background story is one that purportedly explains current
policy and is given on condition that the source not be identified by name.)