1. Provides a forum for candidates and political parties to debate their qualifications for office before a national audience.

2. News programs can contribute to informed citizenship by providing a variety of perspectives on the important issues of .the day.

3. Acting as agents of citizens, the media can monitor the acts of public officials, thus helping deter them from violating the public trust

 The two key factors affecting media performance.

1. Regulatory policy

2. Market forces. The FCC is in charge of regulating the media

Influence primaries had/have on the candidate nomination process.

1. The adoption of primaries meant that, instead of cultivating party activists and leaders, candidates had to appeal directly to the public.

Impact television had for candidates reaching national audiences (Fig. 2.2)

1. Technological developments in particular, the widespread proliferation of television made it possible for candidates to reach statewide and national audiences.

2. Fig. 2.2 by 1963, 91% of American households had at least one television setup from only 45% just ten years earlier

-Shift from party based campaigns to candidate based campaigns on television

In focus: What’s different about American Media?

  More private ownership – media entities in the US are almost entirely privately owned and operated.

·      Less regulation -  Us has a more laid back approach when it comes to governing the media  whereas other democracies are more strict.

        In Focus: Public Broadcasting and the BBC

·      Public broadcasting refers to systems in which television and radio receive funding  from the public  funding can come from the public in the form of licensing fees or indirectly through state subsidies a.k.a taxes.  Some public broadcasters run also run commercial   advertising to supplement their revenues.

·      BBC was the model for many public broadcasting systems around the world. Principal funding source is the television licen. bbc does not carry ads

The Fairness Doctrine

·

• broadcasters to present opposing sides on controversial issues.
• it was repealed in 1987 and 
• now broadcasters  with a partisan slant have increased in frequency and scope.

OECD comparisons

     Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

In all member countries (except for US) political parties are granted blocks of free airtime for “political party broadcasts” during campaigns

-In up amount of airtime is based on number of candidates being fielded by each party

-In France broadcasts most grant equal airtime

• ·      Antitrust legislation has been invoked to block the acquisition of one newspaper by another, in cases where it has been considered that such mergers would lead to a decrease in competition in the media market, thus potentially harming consumers.

• Ex. US v.s Times Mirror Co.1967 - The court blocked the acquisition of the San Bernardino County Sun by the larger Los Angeles Times on the basis of the government’s argument that the deal would harm competition.

Three Major TV networks and emergence of cable networks:

Abc, cbs, nbc are the three major TV networks, in late 1980s approx. 25 million more tuned into network newscasts than subscribed to the top twenty daily newspapers combined

CNN was the first all news network in 1980. Followed by FOC, CNBC and MSNBC. By 2009 90% of American households had cable news

Newspaper circulation trends:

Nielson Rating points:

GRP-gross rating points

-Television news audiences are measured by the AC Nielsen Company.

1 rating point translates to 1% of viewing audience.

Two sources of data: television diaries by a large sample of households (5,000) and 24 hour monitoring of TV sets (among smaller subset).

Each TV program is identifiable by a unique digital fingerprint.

Operation Desert Storm:

Table 3.2 Top ten rated TV broadcasts

See figure in book.

TOP ever is Super Bowl 44 Saints vs. Colts.

MASH final episode

Dallas “who shot JR?”

National Opinion Research Center Confidence Levels:

General Social Survey asked a representative sample of Americans for their level of confidence in the media. In 1973 (1^st year) only 10% replied “hardly any”

In 2008 this number had jumped to 45%.

Although confidence in every public institution has declined by some 8% since 1973 news media surpassed this trend.

In focus: The Hostile Media Phenomenon:

Define mediality:

LA TV violence coverage:

Study on LA news coverage.

Total of 3,014 news stories on crime during 1996 and 1997. 83% focused on violent crime.

Murders were 1% of crime, but 17% of stories.

Hillary Clinton Combat Story Coverage:

Pack journalism:

.

1974 Cover up:

“Watergate” is a general term used to describe a complex web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974. The word specifically refers to the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.

Nixon resigned

Indexing:

Patterns of Global terrorism report: (2003)

In an April 2004 news story CNN suggested that Bush was winning the war on terrorism. Washington post op-ed found flaws in state departments report.

Terrorism was not down in ways people thought. Non-significant events had decreased but large mass killings had increased.

USA Patriot Act:

In times of national crisis people tend to agree with president on matters of national security so they do not seem unpatriotic.

When Bush proposed the patriot act (which eroded Americans rights) in the aftermath of 9/11 it passed the senate by a vote of 99 to 1,

Challenging Official Briefings/Accounts:

In the beginning of the Vietnam way media did little to question the administrations account

Finally in 1969 indexing kicked in a people started fighting against the war and anti war news coverage began.

Senator McCarthy primary record:

Challenged President Johnson for 1968 democratic nomination.

-In New Hampshire primary got 41%

Approval Ratings and 1983 invasion of Grenada:

Patriot Missiles and Misinformation:

Embedded Journalist Viewpoint:

No longer feasible to deny reporters first hand coverage after 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Journalists are embedded with invading forces.

Press couldn’t counter official accounts

They must follow rules or they will be expelled from war zone.

·      Traditional forms of communication.

o   Point-to-point (single sender and recipient)

o   Broadcast (single sender, multiple recipients)

o   Traditional forms of communication limited to single form (print, audio or video)

- in 1995 14% of adult americans said they used the internet

- Between 1999 and 2010 the share of online population reached 79%

- In the span of a decade, self reported internet use increased by a stunning 560%

- In 1995, only 2% of internet users regularly read news online, 15 years later that is number is 46%

·      Online news audience composition. (Fig 5.3).

-This figure shows differences among various groups in the percent that report getting news online.

- Poor and less educated are much less likely to report accessing news online than are the rich and more educated.

-73% of White-non Hispanic households have home internet access and only 50% of black households do.

• Optimists/Skeptics

1. Optimists- are individuals who see technology as a means of revitalizing the public sphere→ by providing direct and immediate access to diverse political perspectives.

2. Skeptics- Are individuals who warn that information technology is no panacea for the limitations of conventional news programming and weak demand for political information.

• Fig. 5.6.

attentive public hypothesis

1. Attentive Public Hypothesis- The act of seeking out political information, online as elsewhere, is simply a matter of generic political interest.

- People captivated by politics tune into all forms of news whereas a political majority tunes out politics in favor of online bargain hunting or keeping up with friends.

issue public hypothesis.

• Review the use of new media in Obama’s 2008 campaign

- Impact of new media has been the greatest on the goal of mobilization.

- New media has lowered the cost of communication

- Also allows an assembly of network supporters

- Obama had an online campaign, website, online videos, and he used social media

- He developed a vast network of supporters and volunteers

- Campaign Broke new ground→ the use of online campaign communication through YouTube.

- He also raised money online as well.

Know the difference between free media and paid media key examples

.

o   Free media is news coverage, Paid media is advertising.

o   Ex. 2002 race for governor of California less than 1% of all local news broadcast in the month of October focused on the election.

o   Ex. 2010 race for governor of California, Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate, spent more than 150 million dollars of her own money, most of it on television ads.

Strategies That Candidates Use to Manage the Press

o   Avoid behavior that calls into question your stability for office.

o   Don’t waffle or flip flop on the issue.

o   Make sure journalists have low expectations concerning your chances of victory.

o   Schedule events strategically to maximize their newsworthiness.

o   When leading in the polls, restrict journalist’ access.

o   Go local to avoid critical coverage from national news organizations.

o   Feed the press titillating but critical information concerning your opponent.

·      Understand what playing the expectations game means.

o   In the early stages of the primary campaign, favorable coverage of  the candidates position in the race can prove pivotal; candidates though to be doing well can use their standing to attract more financial contributions.

o   Candidates who “beat the odds” and surpass journalist’s expectations benefit from electoral momentum.

o The rise of negative advertising.

·      What are GRPs?

o   Gross Rating Point

§  Basic unit of exposure to advertising

·      The difference between image ads and issue ads.

o   Image ads

§  Maintain thematic continuity with the biographical message by presenting the candidate as a likable human being with a strong sense of pubic service

o   Issue ads

§  Either focuses on the candidate’s past experience and record in public life, or outline the candidate’s positions on major policy issues

  The fact that the public considers each party to be more capable on different issues. Candidates tend to campaign on issues that their party owns because their message is more credible when consistent with the stereotype of the party.  

§  Ex, republicans are thought to perform better in the area of military and defense policy

§  Meanwhile, the democrats are considered more favorably on issues such as education and Social Security

·      Wedge Appeals – immigration.

·      Campaign Advertising Strategies.

o   Target voters who may be pivotal to the outcome of the race

o   Advertise during programs watched by those likely to vote

o   Ride the wave by connecting advertising to issues or events in the headlines

o   Use biographical spots early in the campaign to introduce the campaign; then move on to image and issue ads

o   Take advantage of issue ownership

o   Use wedge appeals when necessary

o   Go negative to generate media coverage and be credible to voters, and use surrogates to deliver the most controversial claims

o   When attacked, mount a comeback

·        * What going public means.

Details of last govt. shutdown.

Reagan’s planeside statement.

Jimmy Carter carrying item.

Daily press briefings.

Topic president dominated congress x 3 in news coverage.

What the honeymoon period is.

Which president took trips to most competitive states?

Bill Clinton made about 75 more trips to competitive states, whereas bush made about 225.

• Be able to define and identify a dependent and independent variable.

•  

• The independent variable is the one that is changed in an experiment

• The dependent variable is the one that observes an impact from changing the independent variable.

• Message Learning Theory

• Attitude change depends on source (who), message (what), and receiver (whom) factor.

  o   While accepting the premise that exposure to and acceptance of persuasive message are both conditioned by specific properties of recievers.

   

  o   Most experiments expose subjects to a single message and then measure the effects on the message immediately afterwards.

• Agenda-setting: By covering some issues and ignoring others, the media influence which issues people view as important and which they view as unimportant.

• ex.: The famine in Ethiopia… people only cared once it was all over TV.

• Priming effect: The more prominent an issue become in the public consciousness, the more it will influence people’s assessment of politicians.

• ex.:Jimmy Carter quit his campaign (when he was dead even with Reagan)to negotiate for the release of Americans from the Iranian government. This became the big headline and he was seen as having the ability to control terrorism. Which was used to base their votes.

·      Methodological Trade-Offs.

• Surveys

• Strengths: can be generalized

• Weaknesses:Rely on self-reported data (inaccurate), so they cannot reveal the true relationship between cause and effect.

• Experiments

• Strengths: provide the most unambiguous evidence of causation.

• Weaknesses: issues of mundane realism, sampling bias, and self-selection, make it hard to generalize the results to the real world.

• Framing – examples.

•  

o   Framing refers to the way in which the media, by highlighting some aspects of an event or issue and ignoring others, can influence how people think about that event or issue. Changing the manner of presentation of a news story can result in a very different audience perception of that story,

Persuasion Effects theory

o   Is typically defined as attitude change.

o   Ex. Persuasion can involve switching from having no opinions at all to having an opinion, or from having a weak opinion to having a strong opinion, or from not intending to act on an opinion to intending to act.

• A New Era of Minimal Effects

• Changes in media environment may weaken the media’s influence over the audience.

• Increased capacity of consumers to choose from a multitude of media channels makes it likely that many consumers will find themselves in the audience for programs they already agree with.

• Increasing opportunities to self-select into media audiences may lead to a new era of minimal effects.

o   GNP – Gross National Product (based on ownership)

§  Calculation of total production and services of a country by its citizens domestically or abroad, over one year.

§  GNP = GDP + Net Income from assets abroad – Net Payment to foreign assets

§  Changes in GNP during preceding twelve months are relevant to election outcomes

o   GNP – Gross National Product (based on ownership)

§  Calculation of total production and services of a country by its citizens domestically or abroad, over one year.

§  GNP = GDP + Net Income from assets abroad – Net Payment to foreign assets

§  Changes in GNP during preceding twelve months are relevant to election outcomes

§  GDP = Consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)

 viability 

o   A candidate’s ability to win; vote getting prowess

o   Especially prolific of early primaries – the bandwagon effect

·      Voting as expression of partisanship 

– independents, swing voters, long-term influence.

o   Party affiliation is the single most important determinant of vote choice

§  It is the long term influence on elections

o   A third of the electorate reject partisan labels in 2008, calling themselves independents

§  Voting for independents varies by election, thus they are known as swing voters

·      Often the target of most campaign activity

§  They make up their mind as the campaign progresses, so campaigns must attract a sufficient amount of them to ensure a plurality.Ma

·      Holding the base.

o   Campaigns hold the base, meaning that they ensure that their partisans remain steadfast.

o   Polarizes the electorate along partisan lines; As the campaign progresses, voters come to behave in line with their party affiliation, their evaluations of the incumbent administration, or their assessments of the state of the country.

·      How advertising impacts different types of voters.

o   Voters’ sense of partisanship (for their affiliated party) is activated or strengthened through exposure to specific partisan messages or events

o   As in the case of advertising, voters watch debates as partisan fans, not objective judges.

·      The Reinforcement Effect.

o   Campaigns, in part, primarily reinforce- bringing voters’ candidate performances in line with party identification. Strengthens as campaigns progress, typically ending with very few partisans contemplating voting for the other party’s candidate.

o   Campaigns typically polarize the electorate along party lines.

o   Contrary to conventional wisdom, media-based campaigns do not manipulate voters; instead encouraging them to vote in accordance with core political loyalties.

o   

·      Trends in “Latino” voting.

·      Trends in “Latino” voting.

o   Language and unfamiliarity may be key barriers

o   In California, they are making up a significant share of the population, increasing in thee amount of registered voters to 21%.

o   Focus on immigration as a wedge issue in California will risk alienating a significant number of voters.

·      “Teflon president.”

o   Ronald Reagan’s nickname originally; after the suicide bomber rammed a truck filled with explosives into the barracks used by Marines and 300 died, Reagan gave a speech and his popularity improved.

§  Presidents can use symbolic appeals or staged rhetoric to maintain high approval ratings even in the face of events that signify obvious policy or performance failures.

·      Throwaway presidency.

o   The probability of failure is always tending toward 100%

§  The downward trend in popularity over a presidency has led some scholars to propose this idea

·      Due to the accumulation of opponents over time

o   Several presidencies have not conformed to the general theory of inevitable decline

§  Reagan; Clinton

Theories of Presidential Popularity. 

o   Three principal factors influence presidential popularity

§  Length of time in office

·      Decline over time

§  Course of real-world events

·      Rise and fall with events that the United States is doing a certain way

§  Public relations efforts

·      By influencing the way in which events are defined and framed in news accounts, the president is able to exert substantial influence over his standing with the public.

·      Walter Mondale example.

o   Can’t tell the public that its impossible to deliver benefits and services and not raise taxes. Dem. Nominee Mondale announced that the size of the federal budget deficit left him no choice but to raise taxes if elected. Carried only his home state (Minnesota).

o   Candidates who advocate for/preside over tax increases suffer at the polls.

·      Shirley Sherrod example.

o   Failure of fire-extinguisher logic (presidents may be pressured into taking actions that they believe will neutralize or counteract building public opposition)

o   Obama fired her after a conservative blogger posted a misleading excerpt from a speech given by Sherrod.

§  True story came to light the next day, and it was opposite what forced the president to act so quickly. Rushed judgment to appease the public, but it illustrated the pivotal importance of perception and imagery in modern American politics. Administration feared all out attack from conservative media.

·      Most glaring weakness of modern media-based campaigns. 

o   The absence of a substantive or policy-oriented electoral forum

o   The substitution of journalists and analysts for the candidates as the principal voices in the news

·      Three strike legislation.

o   Originated in California after abduction and murder of Polly Klaas

o   Legislation was rushed into action fanned by media coverage and public      outrage

o   Made the number of felony convictions rather the severity of the crime the basis for sentencing

o   Hundreds were severely punished for petty and/or nonviolent crimes

·      Proposition 66. (337-8)

o   Endorsed by virtually every major newspaper in Cali and backed by the Dems, Green and Libertarian parties.

o   Cali was the only state that didn’t distinguish violent/nonviolent in the three strike legislation

o   Would have restricted the definition of the third strike to violent felonies

o   Defeated by a powerful outreach campaign

·      Carnegie Commission. (P.342)

o   In recommending the creation of public broadcasting in the US, the Carnegie Commission emphasized the value of providing citizens with media programming that would allow them “to see America whole, in all its diversity.” (P. 14)

o   Made recommendations for the creation of public broadcasting.

·      Sarah Palin’s Facebook comment.

o   Two millionth fan comment: “Two million! Wow! That’s more than some cable news shows. Thank you all and let’s keep the momentum!”

o   Her page is instructive