STUDY GUIDE FOR POLS 1101 Test 4 Spring 2012 1 Read notes and compare to chapters 2 Read Chapters 6 7 8 10 3 What is newsworthiness Obtruding events timely new or unfolding developments rather than old or static ones dramatic striking developments rather than commonplace ones and compelling developments that arose people s emotions 4 Know differences between types of media definition of media vs journalism as given in class what regulates each type News a report of recent events or previous unknown information Traditional News mediums Print broadcast Internet New Media Cable television Internet blogs and satellite technology Media convergence the merging of various forms of media Media exists to make money or are part of a bigger group to make money News media used to distinguish social media News media is media that covers events in timely dramatic and compelling fashion A Journalist is someone who gets paid to engage in a news gathering for presentation to the public Journalist Practice Journalism Objective Journalism is based on reporting of facts Traditional media is print and broadcast news media is cable and internet What Journalist DO Collect information Verify information before they use it Generally identify their sources not always Rely on 1st hand observations whenever possible Consult multiple sources Present contrasting views 5 Types of elections Primary election Direct primary gives control of nominations to the voters Developed and structured by individual party Closed primary participation is limited to voters registered or declared at the polls as members of the party whose primary is being held Open primary A form that allows independents and voters of either party to choose which primary they will vote in though they can vote in only one of them General Elections Ran in November vote for a republican or democrat REFERENDUM VOTING ON AN ISSUE RECALL VOTING TO REMOVE SOMEONE INITIATIVE PEOPLE PASS LEGISLATIVE LAWS ALONG WITH LEGISLATION DIRECT DEMOCRACY 6 difference between political parties and interest groups Political Party is a group of like minded individuals who come together to elect people to office They are legally recognized in states Interest groups a group of like minded individuals who come together to promote issues THEY DO NOT GET PEOPLE ELECTED Interest groups can be private or public 7 Difference between major and minor partys and why Major Parties are Democrats and Republicans Minor Parties are everybody else All minor parties are third parties Two Party System is largely the result of the United States choosing its officials through plurality voting in single member districts 8 Public opinion The politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens that they express openly What the public thinks about something not necessarily ground The collective impressions by those who vote public opinions are found by polls Political Socialization The learning process by which people aquire their political opinions beliefs and values 9 Internet and free speech and right to privacy how do they all relate to topic of media Freedom of speech for the press was once reserved for a few in history Today because of the Internet freedom of the press is actively enjoyed by a larger number of Americans than ever before Access to the internet provides the ordinary citizen with an opportunity to be a part of the news system Internet has made it easier for citizens to avoid news when using the media 10 Why do we have political partys Political Party is an ongoing coalition of interest joined together in an effort to get its candidates for public office elected under a common label Parties GIVE VOTERS A CHANCE TO INFLUENCE THE DIRECTION OF GOVERNMENT PROVIDES PEOPLE WITH AN OPPURTUNITY TO MAKE A CHOICE Federalist vs Jeffersonian Democratic Republican Whigs vs Democrats Republicans vs Democrats 11 What are polls and what do they do Opinion polls are the primary method for estimating public sentiment In a public opinion poll a relatively few individuals the sample are interviewed in order to estimate the opinions of a whole population such as residents of a city or country If respondents are chosen at random from a population their opinions will approximate those of the population as a whole 12 How voters decide how they will vote Rank among highest voters 1 Black Women 2 White women 3 White men 4 Black Men All adults have a low to vote Registered voters have high Likely voters have higher Prospective Voting when voters evaluate candidates on the basis of their positions on issues and then cast their ballots for those who represent their views This type method of candidate evaluation focuses on what the candidates will do in the future Retrospective Voting a method of evaluating candidates in which voters evaluate incumbent candidates and decide whether to support them based on their past performance 13 Why do some people vote and others do not vote Factors that influence this are Income Upper Income have above average voting rate are 50 percent more likely to vote in presidential election then those with lower income Lower income citizens mainly do not own cars or homes and are less likely to be registered to vote in advanced of an election They are also less familiar with registration locations and requirements Gender black woman highest voters black men lowest voters Education College educated more likely to vote than citizens with less education Age Young adults are substantially less likely than middle ages and older citizens to vote Senior citizens have even higher turnout than voters under the age of thirty Race Same with gender black women white women white men black men CIVIC ATTITUDE REASON NOT TO VOTE APATHY A LACK OF INTEREST IN POLITICS ALIENATION A FEELING OF POWERLESSNESS ROOTED IN THE BELIEF THAT GOVERNMENT PAYS NO ATTENTION TO THEIR INTEREST SOME VOTERS VOTE BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IT IS APART OF THEIR CIVIC DUTY A BELIEF THEY OUGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS Affects voter turnout weather confusion of voter district logistical problems 14 Agenda setting public agenda and framing in media dialogue Agenda Setting is a powerful use by the news media in the United States In Using Agenda Setting journalist are engaged in framing agenda setting is making a decision of how to present the media How they frame their presentation If there are bias or untruth in it it usually occurs in the framing process Framing is packaging info in a way that views the info