Second Piece of Evidence

http://www.usfca.edu/facstaff/boaz/pol326/feb12.
htm
Second piece of evidence:
Media as the "Fourth Estate"

Access to information is essential to the health of democracy for at
least two reasons. First, it ensures that citizens make responsible,
informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or
misinformation. Second, information serves a "checking function" by
ensuring that elected representatives uphold their oaths of office and
carry out the wishes of those who elected them.
In the United States, the media is often called the fourth branch of
government (or "fourth estate"). That's because it monitors the political
process in order to ensure that political players don't abuse the
democratic process.
Others call the media the fourth branch of government because it
plays such an important role in the fortunes of political candidates and
issues. This is where the role of the media can become controversial.
News reporting is supposed to be objective, but journalists are people,
with feelings, opinions and preconceived ideas.
How Media Helps Shape Public Opinion
A clever choice of words can make things seem different than they
are. For instance, during the Vietnam War, the Defense Department of
the United States used many misleading phrases in news reports.
Instead of "forced transfer of civilians" they said "relocation", and
instead of "lies" they said "elements in the credibility gap." By using
carefully chosen phrases, the Defense Department made their war
efforts seem less harmful to the people in the United States. They
aren't "vouchers", they are "opportunity scholarships"; it's not "tax
cuts", it's "tax relief."
If we didn't know better, we'd think that the dogs have gone crazy and
started attacking humans in unprecedented numbers (ala Hitchcock's
"The Birds"), but in fact dog attacks on people are down . It's simply
that the Diane Wipple story has drawn public attention (and media
focus) to the dog-bites-man story.
Media's Influence on Politics
The influence of the mass media affects politics in the United States
greatly. The public's point of view is changed by the way the news is
reported. When the public's views are affected, the voting polls are
too. In turn, when votes are changed, different public officials are
elected. The government officials are the men and women who make
the laws and generally run the country. The mass media is at the
beginning of a long chain, but nonetheless, the media has a powerful
effect on politics in the United States.
Role of the media during the election cycle and beyond...
Primary season: Importance of doing well in Iowa and New
Hampshire...goal is not necessarily to win, but to win over
expectations (Clinton in '92). Candidates who exceed
expectations win, those who fall short lose.
Horserace coverage: typical of media coverage of elections.
Not coverage of issues, but report of who's ahead, stats, and %s
of public opinion.
Sound bytes: contribute to problem. We now expect brevity. We
expect issues and campaigns to be summed up in seconds. No
time for content in a 10 second sound byte.
"Line of the Day" begun by Reagan WH. Pre-empted the press.
Presidential manipulation of the press by setting the agenda
before the media could decide what to cover.
Importance of a good White House Press Secretary: The
creation of this position represents the importance of maintaining
a good relationship with the people and the press. Theodore
Lowi describes the Press Secretary as "the apex of a huge
public relations apparatus in the executive branch which devotes
an extraordinary amount of staff, resources, and time to
generating a positive image of the president." Dee Dee Myers,
Mike McCurry: important to build good relationship with White
House Press Corps. Tough job: must balance loyalty to pres and
appearance of being "on board" with maintaining trust and
respect of press (so that they will cover you favorably.)
Consequences of "media politics"...
Decline in party influence-foremost among the changes brought
on by the new media politics is the declining influence of political
parties, particularly in presidential elections. During the 40s,
when social scientists first investigated the impact of media on
the outcome of presidential elections, party allegiance was the

most important determinant of the vote. Today, the candidate as
a personality is the primary determinant, and party affiliation
comes in close to last. When voters base their decisions on a
candidate's personality, character, or stand on the issues, the
media becomes a very significant player b/c they are the chief
source of info about these matters. As image becomes more
important, the role of parties naturally declines. When voters can
see and hear candidates in their own living rooms, they can
make choices that differ from those made by the party. The role
of party as campaigner for the candidate has become almost
obselete. More candidates enter the races and campaign on
their own strengths, raising their own money and building their
own organizations.
Increase in power of media in elections and campaigns (media
as "king makers")- more than ever, media personnel can
influence the selection of candidates and issues during election
time. The selection process begins in the primaries when
newspeople, on the basis of as yet slender evidence, must
predict winners and losers in order to narrow the filed of eligibles.
Concentrating on the front-runners in public opinion polls makes
the media's task more manageable, but it often forces trailing
candidates out of races prematurely. Example of little known
Georgia Governor, Jimmy Carter. NBC called Carter "the man to
beat." Afterwards, he got the covers of Newsweek and Time.
Conversely, the media has been known to destroy candidacies:
Joe Biden and Gary Hart in 1988.
Marketing imperative- the type of candidates that emerge has
also been altered by the new media politics. Political recruiters
have become extremely conscious of a candidate's ability to look
impressive and to perform well before the cameras. People who
are not telegenic are eliminated from the pool of available
recruits. Abraham Lincoln's rugged face probably would not have
passed muster. Franklin Roosevelt, who was keenly aware of the
likely harmful effects of a picture of him in a wheelchair (which
would make him appear weak), never allowed photos to be taken
while he was being lifted to the speaker's rostrum.
The post-modern campaign- mass media coverage has become

the campaign's pivotal point. Campaigns are arranged for the
best media exposure before the largest suitable audience. To
attract media coverage, candidates concentrate on press
conferences, talk show appearances, or trips to locations that
serve as good backdrops for photo ops. Appearances on various
entertainment shows are now routine (anyone remember Clinton
blowing his sax on Arsenio?) Candidates plan their schedules to
dovetail with media coverage habits. They spend
disproportionate amounts of time campaigning in Iowa and New
Hampshire where media coverage is heavy.

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http://www.usfca.edu/facstaff/boaz/pol326/feb12.

Media as the "Fourth Estate"

the outcome of presidential elections, party allegiance was the

The post-modern campaign- mass media coverage has become

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