To what extent do the media influence your political views?
Our opinions are shaped, in part, by the information we receive about the world. And never before in human history has so much information been made available to us through the mass media. By 2009, Americans were buying over 46 million copies of daily newspapers, the lowest number since the 1940s. However, other sources of media have grown more popular. In 2009, Americans listened to over 14,000 radio stations, and each household watched an average of 8.3 hours of television a day. Add to that the wealth of information made available through the Internet and you can begin to see why many people complained of information overload.
A century ago, this would have been an easy question to answer. Americans got their news from the print media mainly newspapers and magazines.
A half-century ago, the answer would have been less simple. By the 1950s, the broadcast media – mainly radio and television – had become major sources of news. Where once the broadcast media limited their news offerings to short news summaries and nightly newscasts, we now have 24-hour news programming available on both radio and cable television stations.
To make matters still more complex, a growing number of people now get instant news on demand using the electronic media computers, cell phones, and other communication devices that connect via the Internet to the World Wide Web. The Web makes billions of documents stored in computers all over the world accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. The rise of each new medium has changed the public’s news-consumption habits.
A generation ago, most Americans looked to trusted news media newspapers, news magazines, and broadcast news shows for information on politics and public affairs. The news media rely on a small army of reporters, fact-checkers, and editors to research and report stories in an accurate, unbiased manner.
Beginning in the late 1980s, new ways to communicate with the public about politics began to appear.
These “new” media include online communities, RSS feeds, online encyclopedias, internet videos, podcasts, and social media Web sites.
While running for president in 1992, Bill Clinton became a master at using the new media to talk directly to voters. He even appeared on MTV, playing his saxophone and fielding questions from young people.
In the 2008 presidential election, Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama also utilized this new media. McCain showed off his wit and mocked his opponent on Saturday Night Live. Obama posted campaign advertisements on YouTube, making his campaign accessible to anyone.
Social media has also become a platform for politicians to express their views and gain followers. During the 2012 presidential election, candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both used Facebook and Twitter to reach out to voters.
Late night shows, such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, weave comedy with serious political issues and have become sources of news for many viewers. Because late night shows reach viewers who may not watch traditional networks, many politicians are eager to appear on them as guests.
News-oriented Web logs, or blogs, have emerged as another new medium. A blog is a journal or newsletter posted on the World Wide Web. Because the Web is essentially free, anyone can create a blog to distribute his or her opinions.
More and more, readers are turning to blogs as primary sources of news. At times, blogs report stories before the news media. The scandal that eventually led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment was first reported in 1998 in Matt Drudge’s blog, The Drudge Report. Another news blog is The Huffington Post, founded in 2005, which provides readers with current information on topics such as politics, business, technology, and entertainment.
While blogs are often written by specialists, in many cases these writers are not accredited. Some of what passes for news on blogs may be gossip, false rumor, or opinion. Because bloggers are not required to follow the same standards for accuracy as professional journalists, their reports should be read with caution.
The news media – old and new – have three essential roles in a democracy. The first is serving as a “watchdog” over the government. The second is setting the public agenda. The third is supporting the free exchange of ideas, information, and opinions.
One of the greatest concerns of our nation’s founders was the potential for government officials to abuse their power. They saw a free press as a guard against corruption and the misuse of power. For more than two centuries, the media have fulfilled this watch-dog role by exposing everything from the corruption of the Grant administration to the efforts of President Nixon to cover up the Watergate scandal.
Far too much happens in the world for the press to report on everything, however. News editors and producers have to choose what to cover and what to leave out. These decisions help determine what issues get placed on the public agenda. Politicians and activists try to harness this agenda-setting power of the media to focus attention on issues they care about.
Finally, the news media serve as a marketplace of ideas and opinions. The airwaves today are filled with opinion journalism – the chatter of “talking heads” eager to share their views with the world. Most people who tune into these electronic debates do so not to receive objective analysis, but rather because they share the talk show host’s political point of view.
Public officials at all levels of government work hard to both attract and shape media coverage. The most common way to do this is by staging an event and inviting the press. Presidential press conferences are an example of staged events.
In 2007, Senator Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign by staging an event at Illinois’ Old State Capitol, the place where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House divided” speech against slavery in 1858. As hoped, the event attracted thousands of supporters and widespread press coverage.
Politicians also try to influence the press by granting interviews to reporters. Often they set ground rules that indicate what information reporters can use and how they can identify their source. If it is an on-the-record conversation, the report can quote the public official by name. If it is an off-the-record conversation, the reporter can use the information but may not reveal the source.
When speaking on the record, politicians usually put their own spin on issues. Their goal is to convince both reporters and the public that their view of events is the correct one. They also try to include colorful sound bites that capture their main points in just a few words. They know that short sound bites are more likely to be run in news stories than are long speeches.
Public officials sometimes use off-the-record conversations to float trial balloons. A trial balloon is a proposal that is shared with the press to test public reaction to it. If the reaction is negative, the official can let the proposal die without ever having his or her name attached to it.
Off-the-record conversations are also used to leak information to the press. A leak is the unofficial release of confidential information to the media. Public officials leak information for many reasons. They may want to expose wrongdoing, stir up support for or opposition to a proposal, spin the way an event is covered, or curry favor with reporters. In 2000, President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have made it easier to prosecute government officials for leaking secret information to the press. Former Justice Department official John L. Martin said of the antileak bill:
The biggest leakers are White House aides, Cabinet secretaries, generals and admirals, and members of Congress. If this were enacted, enforced and upheld by the courts, you could relocate the capital from Washington to [the federal penitentiary at] Lewisburg, PA.
Many Americans believe that the media have a liberal or conservative bias. Nevertheless, most professional journalists strive to be fair and unbiased in their reporting. In its code of ethics, the Society of Professional Journalists calls on its members to be “honest, fair and courageous.” It cautions that “deliberate distortion is never permissible. “
What critics see as media bias may, in reality, be a reflection of how news organizations work. Most news media outlets are businesses. They need to attract readers, listeners, or viewers to survive. With limited space or time to fill, their reporters, editors, and producers have to make choices about what stories to cover. These decisions are less likely to be motivated by political ideology than by what they think will attract and hold an audience.
Journalists look at many factors in choosing what stories to cover. One is impact. Will the story touch people in some way, even if only to make them mad or sad? A second is conflict, preferably mixed with violence. Does the story involve a crime, a fight, a scandal, or a disaster? A third factor is novelty. Is the story about a “hot topic” or a breaking news event? A fourth is familiarity. Does the story involve people we all know and find interesting?
These factors influence what you see and hear as news. Because reporters like novelty, you won’t see many stories about ongoing issues or social problems. Because they want conflict, you won’t see much coverage of compromise in the making of public policy. And because they are looking for impact, bad news almost always wins out over good. As an old saying in journalism goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.