The Mass Media and Politics

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The Mass Media and Politics

• Chapter 8, Section 3
• Mrs. Huston

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Impact of the Media

• Studies show that by the time a student graduates
  from high school, they have spent 11,000 hours in
  classrooms and 15,000 hours watching television
• TV and other media have a HUGE impact on the
  lives of everyone in the country

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Term Definition

• Medium a means of communication
• Mediathe plural of medium
• Mass Media those means of communication that
  can reach large, widely dispersed audiences at
  the same time

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Types of Major Mass Media

• Television
• Internet
• Newspapers
• Radio
• magazines

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Connection to government

• Not a part of the government, but are an
  important force in politics

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What does the media provide?

• Entertainment
• News
• Information
• Etc.

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Television

• Boomed in the 1950s following WWII
• 99 of US households have at least one TV
• 66 have 3 or more

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Trends

• The four major networks are losing audience
• Cable TV is gaining

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Newspapers

• Readership in traditional papers is down
• Visits on newspaper websites has significantly
  increased
• More than 66 million different visitors in the
  1st quarter of 2008
• Increase of more than 12 over last year

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History

• Colonial newspapers influenced participation in
  the American Revolution
• Freedom of the Press is in the 1st Amendmentone
  of our basic rights

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Types of Papers

• Most newspapers are local, but the Internet is
  expanding readership of major regional and
  national papers
• Spokane Spokesman Review
• Seattle Times
• New York Times
• Etc.

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Radio

• Began in the 1920s
• Advertising and programming became national
• Was a national entertainment and news medium

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Major source of an era

• Through the 30s 40s radio was the entertainment
  and news leader
• FDRs fireside chats
• War news, etc.
• Didnt die when TV came along

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Magazines

• Also began in colonial days
• First political magazines began in the mid-1800s
• Continued through the Progressive Reform era of
  the early 20th century
• News magazines still rank high
• Time, Newsweek, US News World Report

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Medias impact

• Public Agenda
• Affect the issues about which people talk and
  think through their reporting
• That, in turn, affects what policy makers will
  discuss
• Including some things and omitting or downplaying
  others has a significant impact

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Electoral Politics

• TV has made candidates much less dependent on the
  party than they were formerly
• TV the Internet allow candidates to appeal
  directly to the people
• Our impressions influence our votes

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Campaigns

• The best commercials for candidates
• Take no more than a minute or two
• Show people doing something
• Focus on sound bites and photo ops

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Limits on media influence

• Only a small percentage of the public actually
  follows world, national and political news
  through the media
• Of those who do follow the news, many dont
  understand the coverage
• People tend to follow sources that agree with
  their views

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Other limits

• Few public affairs programs are in prime time
• Evening news shows have only about 22 minutes of
  actual program and some of that is fluff rather
  than real news
• Dont often get much depth
• Newspaper readers often skip the political
  stories for the sports or comics

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Your role

• An unguarded democracy doesnt last long
• Citizens of a democracy have a duty to be
  informed and watchful to maintain their freedoms
  and rights

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Take Responsibility

• The countrys future is in your hands.