News Media and Public Policy: Part 1

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News Media and Public Policy Part 1
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Mass Media

• Mass media make money by carrying out a special
  form of communication mass communication
• Mass communication are messages produced by
  organizations and distributed to large audiences
  via technology, such as radio, cable, the
  internet, and satellites.

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Mass Media Content (Messages)

• Entertainment
• News
• Information
• Education
• Advertisements
• A mix of the above

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News Media and Public Policy Part 2
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Top Mass Media Co. by Revenue
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Top Mass Media Co. by Revenue
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Top Online Media Co. by Revenue
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What is News?

• Hard news
• Coverage of breaking events involving top
  leaders, major issues, or significant disruptions
  in the routines of daily life Objectivity is a
  key goal
• Investigative reports are a special case
• Opinion/Editorials
• Soft news
• All other news Market-centered journalism (of
  interest rather than need to know) Infotainment
  typically more sensational, more personality
  driven, less time-bound, more practical, more
  incident based

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Newsworthiness Is About

• Timeliness (e.g., current events)
• Conflict
• Close proximity (e.g., an issue that affects me)
• Unusualness/novelty
• Significant consequences or impact
• Prominent players (e.g., politicians or
  celebrities)
• Human interests

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News Sources

• Newspapers
• News magazines
• Television
• Networks
• Cable
• Satellite
• Newsletters (typically gather news reports from
  other sources)
• Trade publications/websites (typically gather
  news reports from other sources)

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News Sources

• New media
• World Wide Web (some sources provide first hand
  accounts, some sources gather news from other
  sources)
• Public information utilities like CompuServe,
  AOL, Prodigy, MSN (typically gather news reports
  from other sources)
• Wire services like AP, UPI, Reuters
• Electronic information services like Dow Jones
  News Retrieval, Bloomberg News

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Top Television Network News

• Morning news (week ending 11/11/01)
• Today Show (NBC) avg. 6 million viewers
• Good Morning America (ABC) avg. 5.1 million
  viewers
• The Early Show (CBS) avg. 2.8 million viewers
• GMA gaining on the Today Show
• Nightly news (week ending 1/13/02)
• Nightly News (NBC), avg. 11.6 million viewers
• World News Tonight (ABC), avg. 10.7 million
  viewers
• The CBS Evening News, avg. 10 million viewers

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Top Newspapers by Circ.(6m-9/01)
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Top Magazines by Circ.(6m-9/01)
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Elite News Outlets

• Followed by opinion setters, policymakers,
  leaders, activists
• Influence other media
• Cable News Network Los Angeles Times
• Washington Post (Washington Times)
• Wall Street Journal
• New York Times
• NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
• National Public Radio

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News Medias Roles in the Policymaking Process

• Government watchdogs
• Expose fraud, abuse, inefficiencies in
  government policy/programs
• Agenda setters
• Direct attention to particular problems and
  alternatives that are discussed and/or addressed
• Framers
• Affect how audiences view problems and
  alternatives

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News Medias Roles in the Policymaking Process

• Educators
• Teach the public about problems, policy
  alternatives, policymakers, policy advocates, the
  policy process, etc
• Forums for debate
• Provide a communication link between policy
  makers, politicians, and the public
• Advocates
• Via commentary and editorials, journalists
  champion causes or policy alternatives

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News Criticisms

• Is biased or not balanced
• Is often inaccurate
• Contains too much sensationalism
• Contains too much violence/crime
• Contains too little policy information
• And more.

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Views of the News

• National surveys by Thomas Patterson
• 49 of Americans rate news as excellent or
  good
• 51 of Americans rate news as fair, poor, or
  awful

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Views of the NewsSource Patterson Survey 2000

• Americans have a love/hate relationship with the
  news

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News Constraints

• Deadlines
• Competition
• Journalists skills, training, perspectives
• Size of space available for news
• Length of broadcast spots or print articles
• Complexity of policy issues

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News Consumption

• Pew Research Center Media Consumption Survey
  2000
• 53 of Americans wish they had more time to
  follow the news
• 50 of Americans only follow news closely when
  something important or interesting is happening

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News ConsumptionSource Pew Research Center
Media Consumption Survey 2000

• Many Americans do not hear the news and most
  news of interest is local.

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News ConsumptionSource Pew Research Center
Media Consumption Survey 2000

• Older Americans pay more attention to both
  national and local news

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News ConsumptionSource Pew Research Center
Media Consumption Survey 2000

• Online news is becoming the primary news source
  for young adults

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News ConsumptionSource Pew Research Center
Media Consumption Survey 2000

• There are few significant ethnic differences in
  news consumption

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News Acceptance Source Pew Research Center Media
Consumption Survey 2000

• Most Americans believe that the media is
  telling the truth. But some
  sources are not considered credible.

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Final Points

• There is no such thing as the media
• News is affected by journalists, policy experts,
  policy makers, interest groups
• News matters for newsworthy policy issues