Media and Politics Chapter 10 Lecture 4 Jaymie Ticknor Political Science 1050 Sect 002 6 and 13 February 2014 Evolution of Free Press early restrictions on the press establishment of press freedoms in the twentieth century Supreme Court established broader interpretation of a free press news organizations and individuals began winning cases allowing them to criticize government American Media is Privately Owned largest media outlets owned by the private sector in U S contrasts with media from many other countries which are publically owned Consolidation of media outlets government regulated the number of news outlets a company could own courts loosened restrictions American Media is Mostly Free from Government Restrictions freedom from prior restraint burden of proof for restraint is on government what about foreign controlled press An example would be Wikileaks Questions should government prevent U S news outlets from publishing information received from Wikileaks Draw line where government should know information in order to protect citizens while still giving citizens their privacy listening to phone calls looking for suspicious actions and behavior Should U S punish people who release classified information to the public What Information Sources Do Americans Rely On TV has been the public s main source of information since the 1960s we encounter different media during our day most people say television most used resource when asked directly Internet becoming increasingly important Is the Media Biased early stages of press in U S did not focus on objectivity Decline of mainstream newspapers major sponsors of objective journalism sagging circulation advertising Rise of politically slanted media higher ratings and more profitable Mixed Evidence of Bias in the Media Conservative accusations of liberal media bias evidence shows more journalists vote Democratic than Republican Conservative think tanks are cited more often in the media than liberal ones Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting FAIR 2008 Campaign Coverage Obama got more airtime than McCain coverage tended to be more negative for Obama Media Effects and Public Opinion early research suggested media impact on public opinion was minimal voters were party loyalists whose votes could not be swayed by media messages political behaviors were dictated by a number of characteristics Agenda Setting occurs when the media determines which issues the public thinks are important media covers some stories and ignores others or place them in different area media places important stories in most visible places even if they are important to individuals or not Priming and Framing Priming occurs when the media shape the standards people use to evaluate political figures Framing occurs when the media induce people to think about an issue along particular lines as opposed to others Influence of Media Effect Political Knowledge are more aware and understand politics exposure and yet less likely to accept political messages Political Ideology and Party Attachment less receptive to information that is not consistent with their political predictions Moderately Attentive and Predisposed Individuals are most likely to feel media influence because of having no firm foundation of being a liberal or conservative
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