11 Media, Politics, and Government: Talking Heads are Better than None

1. 11Media, Politics, and Government: Talking Heads are Better than None

2. Reality and Beyond • The mass media are powerful because of their vast reach and scope • In addition to this multiplicative effect, the mass media literally shape the very reality of politics • Political reality is mediated reality

3. Reality and Beyond • How do you know China exists if you have never been there? • You do not have to experience things directly (experiential reality) in or to accept them to be real (agreement reality) • This is particularly true of politics

4. Reality and Beyond • We construct our reality by putting together bits and pieces of information • It is thus important to examine: • How these bits of information are brought to you and • How you use them to create your view of politics

5. Reality and Beyond • We constantly see, hear, and smell far more than our brains can perceive • The reality created by this mass of information depends on our particular cognitive framework • We notice things that fit our existing beliefs and fail to notice things that do not • Essentially, we are prone to fooling ourselves

6. News Media and Politics • We get most of our political information from the news • Our agreement reality about politics is based on this information • Consequently, it is important to examine how news filters, ignores, selects, or distorts the political information they presents

7. The Business of the News • News is a big business • What do they sell? • They sell you, the audience, to advertisers • The business is based on presenting the news in a way that will attract as wide an audience as cheaply as possible • Stories are often distorted to fit a dramatic imperative that will attract an audience

8. Conflict Makes the World Go ‘Round • First, the very premise of the dramatic story structure is action and change driven by conflict • Journalistic norms of fairness and objectivity exaggerate the emphasis on conflict by providing equal coverage of opposing sides • Even if one side represents a near consensus

9. Sex and the City • Second, sex sells • Not only are beautiful people featured • A sexual element adds to the presumed newsworthiness of a story

10. Honey, the Dingo Stole Another Baby • Third, the unusual is dramatic and thus newsworthy • Even if it is important, the commonplace is not news

11. The Tragically Hip • Fourth, stories must be tragic • Human impact is another aspect of newsworthiness • The dramatic imperative of the commercial news distorts what is presented as news • We build our reality of politics from these distorted images • Political consensus and cooperation are often lost behind the drama presented

12. Elite Dominance of the Sources of News • Because elites are prominent and unusual, they are presumed to be newsworthy • The ability to gain news coverage is tremendously valuable to political elites • Elites want to get coverage and the media wants to cover elites • This mutual exploitation model is driven by economic forces and self-interest

13. Braunwarth “Political Rhetoric” (ch. 5 Reader) • Political Issues are inherently complex • TV Media can only present part of the issue • Political Actors try to present their own self-interested “frames” or picture of reality • To avoid appearance of bias, the media practice a “norm of objectivity” which includes reliance on official sources with little commentary or criticism • Allows public officials virtually free reign to construct their “spin” on political reality • Very difficult for news spectators to figure out because of the lack of context in which these constructions could be better understood

14. Framing Public Opinion • How are issue framed? Try this exercise: • Don’t think of an elephant • What did people think when Nixon said, “I am not a crook”? • Why a “tax burden” rather than “membership dues” or “service fees”? • Why “strong and resolute” rather than “intelligent and compassionate”? • The way a policy is framed or worded is often more important than the policy itself • Particularly important given high levels of ignorance • Both parties are increasingly attentive to framing but which view of reality has been winning the framing debate?

15. Understanding the Distortions is the Key • First, to be critical consumers of information, we must appreciate how the media presents the news • Second, we must also be cognizant of our predispositions and how we use them to make sense of the world • Third, we must be on guard for those who would manipulate our predilections for their own benefit

16. Contemporary Examples • Can you think of how the presentation of a contemporary issue might be distorted in order to meet the media’s dramatic imperative? • How might people with different predispositions construct different realities based on the presentation this or another contemporary issue? • Can you think how political elites might manipulate the presentation of an issue in order to further their own ends?