Where do young Americans get news?

WHAT MAKES THE US MEDIA DIFFERENT?

• Is it a good thing that we have a mostly privately owned media? • Is s the media biased? The goal of “objective journalism” reporting bias, owner

bias• How does government regulate the content of TV and Radio?

– Why can the FCC regulate radio and TV?– What is the equal time rule (1934)? – Why was the Fairness Doctrine repealed (1987)?– Why is there no right of rebuttal (repealed 1990s)?– McCain-Feingold (Supreme Court hearing a case on this now): Can’t have

one-side political material 30 days before the primary & must disclose sources

• Other media have almost absolute freedom– Libel (published) and slander (spoken)– The Pentagon Papers case: No prior restraint– New York Times v. Sullivan (1964). Absence of malice in covering public

officials

HOW IS THE MEDIA CHANGING AND WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

• How is decline of the big three on TV and the rise of cable/niche audiences impacting objective reporting?

• Media difficulties (W. Post, NY Times!) = fewer reporters and the nationalization of the news

• Internet news, blogs, and soft news as important as the “real” news in shaping perceptions

• The media and politicians attacking the media

HOW DOES THE MEDIA EXERCISE POWER?

• What is its “watchdog” role? Why is it sometimes a governmental lap dog?

• How does the media shape political views?– Agenda setting (what you think about)– Issue priming (preparing you to see something in a

certain way)– Issue framing (impacting how you interpret what

has happened)

ARE THERE LIMITS ON THE MEDIA’S PERSUASIVE POWER?

• Information overload • Political socialization & interpretation• Selective exposure• Cognitive dissonance: You reject what doesn’t

fit into what you already know (how does this impact what kind of issues you will move on?)

• Low average political sophistication• Why TV is more persuasive than other sources:

Seducing the Public (Rod Hart’s research)