Mass MediaMedia…for the masses?

Mass Media Today

Examples? (This is pretty easy)

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/ Collection of presidential campaign ads – we’ll look at a few.

30-60 seconds to get a memorable/meaningful message across

“Media Events” – staged events designed to be covered by media – virtually no real importance if media weren’t present

Media History

Newspapers come about in mid-19th century

Radio/TV – First half of 20th century FDR

Press conferences twice a week

“Fireside Chats” – frequent radio addresses to Depression-ridden nation

Reporters largely deferential to government

Media History 2: Electric Boogaloo

Vietnam and Watergate – developing cynicism

Investigative Journalism – digging up scoops “Gotcha” stories

Negative references vs. favorable

Kennedy/Nixon = 3 to 1

Clinton/Bush = 2 to 3

Print

First daily – Philadelphia 1783

First Amendment protection means papers can expose government’s “dirty linen” Early 1900s – “Yellow Journalism” – Focus on sensationalism

New York Times – nation’s newspaper of record – comparatively high standards

Washington Post – perhaps best coverage from within DC

Associated Press – widest net of news gathering people (reporters, photographers, editors, etc.)

Decline of Print or: Television and Internet killed the Print Media Star

Newspaper readers more likely to vote 100,000 words/day published in a newspaper versus around

3,600 words/nightly news broadcast

Circulation has been dropping steadily for the past 50 years

Magazines also “newsweeklies” Time, Newsweek, US News and World

Report lag behind Reader’s Digest, TV Guide, and Natty Geo

Newsweek lags behind Playboy and People

More serious news/opinion magazines like New Republic, National Review, and Atlantic Monthly are even lower

Broadcast

Mid-’30s – radio ownership nearly universal

‘50s-early ‘60s – TV TV helped make Nixon’s career – “Checkers Speech” in 1952

TV nearly killed Nixon’s career – 1960 debate with Kennedy

Nixon had just spent a week in the hospital, looked like garbage; Kennedy had Tiger-Beat-Heart-Throb-like good looks

People who listened on radio thought Nixon won debate; those watching on TV thought Kennedy won

Government Regulation

FCC – Federal Communications Commission Prevent monopolies of airwaves – no single entity can

control more than 35% of broadcast market

Make sure stations are “serving the public interest” in order to keep their licenses

Enforce fair-treatment rules for political candidates and officeholders

Equal-time – if they sell time to one candidate, must be willing to sell to other candidates

Right-of-Reply – if a person is attacked on non-news program, that person has the right to reply on the same station

“Fairness Doctrine” – required broadcasters to give equal time to opposing views if they showed a program slanted to one side of a controversial issue

Fairness dropped in 1986 – proliferation of tv/cabnle stations make it unnecessary

Modern Times – “Narrowcasting”

“Broadcasting” – ABC, NBC, CBS choose term as they are appealing to “broad” audience

Modern cable stations/internet sites can appeal to a narrow focus – “narrowcasting” CSPAN, CSPAN 2 – coverage of House and Senate

MSNBC – Seen by some as a “liberal-slanted” news network

Fox News – Seen by some as a “conservative-slanted” network

Danger of Privately-controlled, narrow media

Jon Stewart on CNN’s “Crossfire” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

List of “living room candidate” videos

1952 – Eisenhower – Never Had it So Good

1952 – Stevenson – Let’s Not Forget the Farmer

1964 – Johnson – Peace Little Girl

1972 – Nixon – McGovern Defense

1984 – Reagan – Bear; Prouder, Stronger, Better

1984 – Mondale – Rollercoaster

1988 – Bush – Tank, Revolving Door

1992 – Clinton – Rebuild America

1996 – Clinton – Surgeon

2000 – Bush – Really MD

2004 – Bush – Windsurfing

2008 – McCain – Celeb; Original Mavericks; Dangerous; Compare

2008 – Obama – Fundamentals; Better Off; What Kind; Rearview Mirror