Title: The Media: -INFLUENCE -Regulation
1The Media -INFLUENCE-Regulation
2The Future of the Media
- The printed daily newspaper as we know it in
decline - More and more people access news and information
via the Internet - Important questions
- Is democratic accountability threatened by the
loss of newspapers? - Is web-based journalism democratizing?
3People, Government, and Communications
- Mass communication transmits information to large
audiences - Mass media do the communicating
- Print media
- Broadcast media
- Media has important role
- Information from government to citizens
- Information from citizens to government
4Audiences of Selected Media Sources
5Magazines
- More specialized news than daily newspapers
- Can influence attentive policy elites
- Two-step flow of information then influences mass
opinion - However, circulation also has declined
6Radio
- Regular radio broadcasting began as local
broadcasts in 1920 - Coast-to-coast broadcasts first heard in 1937
- More than 13,000 licensed stations today
- Audiences continue to grow
- News and talk radio popular
7Television
- First major broadcasts in 1940 color and
coast-to-coast broadcasts in 1951 - In 2009, U.S. had over 1,300 commercial and 300
public television stations - Around 99 percent of homes have TV
- TV has biggest news audience after Internet
8The Internet
- Majority of government agencies and political
organizations have websites - Private citizens operate websites and blogs on
politics and public affairs - Rapid way to transmit information and mobilize
public opinion - Major stories starting to originate on blogs
many authors consider selves journalists
9Compared With What?
10Private Ownership of the Media
- In U.S., private ownership of media taken for
granted - China has Internet police to prevent subversive
content - In some countries, print media privately owned
but broadcast media run by government - U.S. has only about 300 public TV stations and
400 public radio stations
11Private Ownership of the Media
12The Consequences of Private Ownership
- Private media ownership means more political
freedom, but also dependence on advertising
revenues - When looking at overall coverage, media functions
more for entertainment than news - Criteria for newsworthiness is audience appeal
13Getting the News Consider the Source
14Market-Driven Journalism
- Larger audiences earn higher advertising rates
- Outside agency determines market share of shows
for broadcast media - So, news broadcasts and commercials are targeted
for viewing audiences, both national and local - Major news organizations like CBS, ABC, and NBC
are part of larger corporations - Must make a profit
15Government Regulation of Media
- Although privately owned, mass media regulated by
government - Broadcast media more regulated than print media
- Technical regulations
- Ownership regulations
- Content regulations
16Regulation of Content
- The First Amendment prohibits Congress from
abridging freedom of the press - Federal courts have decided many cases defining
how far freedom of the press extends in various
areas - Most news allowed, except for strategic
information during wartime - FCC initially designed to ensure radio and TV
served the public interest - Fairness doctrine and equal opportunity rule
17Regulation of Content
- Fairness doctrine repealed in 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals struck down rules
regulating political endorsements and personal
attacks in broadcast media - Print media not subject to restrictions
- Some advocate deregulation of broadcast media
18Functions of the Mass Media for the Political
System
- Reporting the news
- Interpreting the news
- Influencing citizens opinions
- Setting the agenda for government action
- Socializing citizens about politics
19Reporting the News
- News media reports on important political events
with journalists on location - Washington, D.C. has largest press corps
- Media relationships with president controlled by
the Office of the Press Secretary - Opportunities include news conferences, press
releases, background information, off the
record comments, and photo opportunities
20Interpreting and Presenting the News
- Media executives, news editors, and reporters
function as gatekeepers of news flow and validity - Personification makes news more understandable
- Rise of Internet has made more views available
- More information available, but no gatekeepers to
check validity of content
21Media Coverage of Elections
- Personification of political news encourages
horse race journalism - Most Americans want more coverage of issues
- Changing poll numbers and media events
considered more newsworthy
22Where the Public Gets Its News
- Newspaper most important source until 1960s, then
TV - Today, 65 percent of Americans name TV or cable
news networks as primary news source - Newspapers 14 percent
- Internet 11 percent
- Multiple sources used by many, including
late-night talk shows
23What People Remember and Know
- Although 80 percent of public access news media
each day, most retain little - National survey in 2009 found respondents could
only answer five of 12 questions about current
events correctly - Those who rely on TV retain less than those who
read print media - Some media researchers believe TV is behind low
level of citizen knowledge about public affairs
24Figure 6.5Gagging on Late-Night TV
25Influencing Public Opinion
- Difficult to measure extent of medias influence
on public opinion - Does the media create public opinion by its
reporting of events? - Studies on specific areas, such as pretrial
coverage of serious criminal cases, show
significant influence
26Setting the Political Agenda
- Most scholars see medias greatest influence in
its ability to identify issues needing government
attention - Media can force government to address unpopular
or unknown issues - Some issues, such as crime, disproportionately
covered - Public also influences media coverage
27Setting the Political Agenda
- Politicians eager to influence media coverage
- Public opinion
- Opinions of attentive elites
- Presidents sometimes go public to advance a
political agenda
28Socializing the Citizenry
- Young people politically socialized via medias
entertainment function - Media reinforces dominance of existing culture
and order - Today, messages about government very different
than in past - Media has contradictory roles in process of
political socialization
29Evaluating the Media in Government
- Some believe news filtered through ideologies of
media owners, editors, and reporters - Reporters tend to be liberal (32) rather than
conservative (8) - Editors and owners more conservative
- Talk radio dominated by conservatives
30Partisanship and the Credibility of the News
31Evaluating the Media in Government
- In general, incumbents receive more news coverage
than challengers - Political bias in coverage depends on the party
in power - Media may also be biased in the way news stories
reported
32Contributions to Democracy
- Most political communications from government to
citizens through media - News reporters tend to be critical of
politicians, serving watchdog function - Media polls enable reporting of public opinion on
major issues - Necessary for majoritarian model of government
33Effects on Freedom, Order, and Equality
- Media has played important role in advancing
equality - Media coverage of civil rights movement critical
to its success - However, media resists government efforts to use
it to promote public order - What is balance between free press and national
security?
34The Advertising License to do business
- Before advertising became prominent, the price of
a newspaper had to cover the cost of doing
business. - With the growth of advertising, papers who
attracted ads could be sold below production
costs. This placed papers who lacked advertising
at a disadvantage. - The advertisers choices influence media
prosperity and survival. - As a result, working class papers and a more
radical press are at a disadvantage.
35The Influence of Advertisers
- Large corporate advertisers will rarely support
programs with serious criticisms of corporate
activities, environmental degradation, and
interconnections between military and industry. - Advertisers will also avoid programs with serious
complexities and disturbing controversies that
may interfere with the buying mood of its
readership/audiences. - This dependence on advertising dollars,
therefore, translates into less critical content
being printed or aired, resulting in articles and
programs, which are culturally and politically
more conservative.
36TABLOID TV
- Instead of critical documentaries, Discovery
and National Geographic Television programs
feature adventure and travel type shows which
invite viewers to escape into exotic landscapes
and scenarios. - News programs are becoming increasingly
tabloidizised, in their relentless search for
a nightly extravaganza of chaos, conflict,
confrontation, and controversy (Fleras, p. 47)
37Constructing News Images
- Seeing is believing The camera never
liesare clichés which draw attention to popular
beliefs and apparent faith in observation and
visual representation. - However, camera positioning and angle, picture
framing and lighting, image selection,
photographic retouching, digital image
manipulation, editorial cropping and final
juxtaposition can all radically change or even
invert the sense of depicted scenesthe camera
can lie.
38Signifier (shot) Definition Signified (meaning)
Close-up? Media shot? Long shot? Full shot? Face only? Most of body? Setting and characters? Full body of person? Intimacy Personal relationship Context, scope, public distance Social relationship
39Signifier (film/video) Definition Signified (meaning)
Pan down? Pan Up? Zoom in? Fade in? Fade Out? Cut? Wipe? Camera looks down Camera looks up Camera moves in Image appears on blank screen Image screen goes blank Switch from one image to another Image wiped off screen Power, Authority Smallness, weakness Observation, focus Beginning Ending Simultaneity, exitement Imposed conclusion.
40Sports is now a mass consumer spectacle
This is a bit different from the time when
gentleman amateurs played for fun and it was
not taken too seriously
Sport
Times have changed. We now have a golden
triangle between the media, sport and sponsors
Media
Sponsorship
41The Golden Triangle
- There is no doubt that sport, the media, which in
turn means sponsorship is linked - In all sports with strong media links,
professionalism is a reality - Sports have had to change their rules, format and
scheduling in order to meet the demands of TV
companies and sponsors
42Sports and the Media
- Sports are becoming increasingly commercialized
- We are getting the win at all costs ethic
- The stakes are high, so winning is vital
- This can intensify ethical problems such as
corruption, cheating, violence and drug abuse,
which are highlighted by the media
43THE REAL ISSUE
- HOW CAN SPORT RETAIN ITS TRUE NATURE AND VALUES
WHILE BENEFITING FROM THE MONEY OFFERED BY
COMMERCIALISM?
44WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
- 19th Century sport was seen as a
valuable experience in its own right - 20th Century sport became part of
the entertainment industry - Now just a branch of the advertising
industry?
45QUESTIONS
- Has money corrupted sport or has the media saved
sport from economic disaster? - Has sport benefited from its relationship with
the media? - Has sport been manipulated for the sake of the
sponsors, advertisers and passive armchair
spectators, at the expense of the paying
spectator?