The Media

Media protections are found in the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the

freedom of speech, or of the press; or the

right of the people peaceably to assemble,

and to petition the Government for a redress

of grievances.”

Roles of the Press

Information provision– informs

people of what government is

doing and potential problems

facing society.

Gatekeepers- Decides what

information will be given and

what will not be covered.

From Pew Charitable Trust‘s Center for Excellence in Journalism,

April 10, 2010

From Pew Charitable Trust‘s Center for Excellence in Journalism, October 27, 2010

Media Power

Sources of Media Power

Agenda setting the power of the

media to bring public attention to

particular issues and problems

Priming a process of preparing the

public to take a particular view of an

event or a political actor

Framing the power of the media to

influence how events and issues are

interpreted

Traditional Sources

Newspapers

News magazines

Broadcast news

New Sources

Internet news

Blogosphere

– Huffington Post

– Drudge Report

Entertainment news

Where you get your

news has real

consequences for

your information

about politics and

current events.

Selective perceptionrefers to the tendency of audiences to perceive media messages in ways that reinforce their previously held political beliefs.

Selective exposurerefers to the tendency of audiences to seek out information sources that are most likely to confirm their previously held ideological beliefs.

Source: Pew Research Center. “Cable and Internet Loom Large in Fragmented Political News

Universe,” 11 January 2004 (http://people-press.org/reports/display.php.3?ReportID=200).

Pew Center for Excellence in Journalism, August 2008

Although conservatives and Republicans

are more apt to see the news media as

biased, both sides of the political divide

selectively perceive that the media is

biased in favor of their opponents.

Source: Pew Research Center, “Cable and Internet Loom Large in Fragmented Political News

Universe” 11 January 2004 (http://people-press.org/reports/display.php.3?ReportID=200).

Media Critics

Although partisan critics of contemporary media

politics point to the unfair treatment of their side by

the media, the fact is that the politics of media bias

is incredibly complex as politicians, reporters, and

the public engage one another in a system that is

politically charged throughout.

Two journalistic

“norms” –

adversarialism

and objectivity –

also work to

mitigate individual

reporter biases and

likely affect news

content.

Adversarialism, whereby the press considers itself a watchdog over the government, tends to focus reporters on negative aspects of the political process.

An adversarial press is less prone to passively accept the “talking points” and media messages of any particular campaign.

By the same token, the norm of objectivity in the press makes reporters reluctant to take sides on an issue, instead leading them to seek out “both sides.”

Thus any particular candidate or campaign’s attempt to set an agenda or frame an issue is likely to be met by the competing claims of their opponents.

Adversarial Relationship?

Jim Cramer and CNBC