Inquiry3 Evidence2 Nagamine

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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 unprecendented 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 managable, 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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