Media And Politics Test 2

Front 1

C-SPAN

Back 1

Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network
One of the only news organizations that gives major coverage to the Senate and House of Representatives

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Candidate-centered

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elections have shifted away from having the majority of the focus be on the party as a whole and has shifted focus towards individual candidates.

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Presidency-centered-

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Media has shifted to toward President- centered coverage for all sorts of reasons:
Much easier to cover and much easier to predict when focused on the
President, 538 people can be unpredictable,
Also with strategies of going public Presidents can use the media for a mutually beneficial relationship that is much easier to maintain then with a large group of congressmen

Front 4

Contract with America-

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Refers to a ten-point policy platform drafted by Newt Gingrich in 1994 to represent the unified, conservative legislative agenda for the House of Representatives. Widely considered the preeminent example of a legislative leader “going public.” (pg. 218-219)

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Newt Gingrich-

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Leader of the Contract with America and Republican Revolution in 1994. He excelled in the strategy of going public. All of this his bill had catchy titles like the American Dream Restoration Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Gained popularity with the public and Republicans gained a majority in the house for the first time since 1954. Then became speaker.

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Samuel Kernell-

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A political scientist who is noteworthy for coining the notion of “going public.” According to Kernell, “it is a strategy whereby a president promotes himself and his policies in Washington by appealing to the American public for support.” had negative view of going public because he felt it eliminates the ability of congress to compromise without losing face (public support), often times leading to an undesirable result

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Jeffrey Tulis-

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Was known for the Rhetorical Presidency

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Rhetorical presidency -

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21st Century Presidency is one that advocates policy agenda, sway public opinion, try to speak to the public instead of to congress. In the 20th century this was not his job, his job was to enforce the law. The Presidency should not be influencing law making. We expect Presidents to speak to us, to try to continue to campaigning. Complete change in how Presidents go public

Front 9

Going public-

Back 9

A strategy used by presidents and other politicians to promote their policies by appealing to the American public for support. If a president enjoys strong public support, that popularity creates an important bargaining advantage. A president with high level of public approval can often count on being able to persuade a few members of the opposition who may fear that they will not be reelected if they take a stand against a well-liked president.

Front 10

Sound bites and talking points-

Back 10

people don’t have the attention spans to listen to long winded policy information. Also the media is known for pulling selections from a longer speech out of context. Thus politicians prefer sound bites to get their point across.

Front 11

Al Gore-

Back 11

gave first nationally broadcasted speech from the House floor via CSPAN, Senate didn’t allow until later (1986) Created the Internet!!

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Permanent campaign-

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politicians, even when in office are always looking towards the next election and what they can do to put themselves in better position.

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Policy entrepreneur-

Back 13

vv

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Richard Neustadt -

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Wrote the manual on how to how to be president (began under Nixon). President’s real power comes from his ability to bargain. Negotiate with other policy makers with a solution everyone can agree with. But important to keep bargaining behind closed doors so no one knows what you had to give up. Keeping bargaining low profile it allows people to not look like a flip-flopper, weak etc. Neustadt also coined phrase political capital

Front 15

Bargaining-

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Hard to do nowadays because of going public and having policy centered elections. Candidates stake out their positions and don’t change. But obviously still important to do to avoid partisan gridlock

Front 16

Political capital-

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Neustadt coined political capital, using public approval as a tool to enact policies. Politicians can fail though if they announce they have earned this through Election. Bush declared in 2004 he had earned the political capital for social security reform, but never accomplished this

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Leaks-

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vv

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Press conferences-

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Used by Presidents in many different ways. Wilson used them to ask reporters questions about his presidency. Nixon saved himself in 1952 with his Checkers speech. Involved in scandal having to do with campaign funding. First part of the speech was great and memorable secured his VP nomination

Front 19

Woodrow Wilson -

Back 19

Same model as Roosevelt (Progressive). Held regularly scheduled Press conferences, first to do so. Wanted to use press conference to ask reporters questions. Wilson pushed the country into WWI, had an agenda to pursue. Had a complicated relationship with the press and congress. He wanted to cultivate public opinion with the media. Wilson’s give and take relationship with media and his pursuits in creating public opinion lead to mutual frustration at times.

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Teddy Roosevelt- first president to understand news media could serve his interests. Achieved huge attention and PR benefits from his service in the Spanish American War (rough rider). he gave reporters unprecedented access; however, in exchange, he claimed control over what was reported, as well as the ability to revoke said access if he was displeased by the coverage.
bully pulpit comes from Teddy. His bully pulpit style allowed him to effectively pursue his own agenda by using every opportunity to utilize the public to assert political pressure on congress

Back 20

first president to understand news media could serve his interests. Achieved huge attention and PR benefits from his service in the Spanish American War (rough rider). he gave reporters unprecedented access; however, in exchange, he claimed control over what was reported, as well as the ability to revoke said access if he was displeased by the coverage.

bully pulpit comes from Teddy. His bully pulpit style allowed him to effectively pursue his own agenda by using every opportunity to utilize the public to assert political pressure on congress

Front 21

Franklin Roosevelt-

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People had used radio before but he was first to use the Radio as a national medium. A lot of media members did not like FDR and called him a socialist and communist. Print Media did this, but Radio did not because he could speak to the whole country at the same time. Looks for ways to speak to the public without a filter, Twitter, youtube latest version of that. fireside chats. he was successful because he was able to calm and reassure the American public, and they trusted him, thus supporting his New Deal programs

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JFK- ·

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Television President

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Richard Nixon-

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Horner said everything presidents do now can be traced back to Nixon, Mastered the Media. He used the TV to repair his damaged image with the Checkers Speech. Understood entertainment tv and was the first President to really do so. Nixon appeared on Laugh-In and that changed the popular opinion. Real pioneer. President Nixon by going to the networks to veto the bill (Vocational Rehabilitation Bill) was able to achieve his political goals. Had to control how he appeared on Television after the 1960 debate.

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Vietnam and and Nixon-

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November 1969, gives a speech about Vietnam. Coined the term Silent majority Kids were not the majority, peace with honor, etc. V.P. Spiro Agnew often very critical of the media

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Ronald Reagan-

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Ability to convince people everything was going to be alright. Set up very similarly to Nixon’s media operations. “teflon president”, nothing seemed to stick to him (Leslie Stall Documentary). very successful at rallying public opinion behind his policies. Used “Going Public” masterfully to force congress into negotiations and pushing his own agenda (powerful threat and therefore effective strategy)

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Going Public-

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when a president rallies the support of American citizens which puts pressure on Congress to take action

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Michael Deaver-

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Mastermind behind the propaganda machine of Reagan. Deputy Chief of Staff ( Reagan’s first term ). Created Reagan’s persona, made him a lot more personable. Understood production values, always put Reagan in front of great backgrounds all the way up to his funeral. Gave 60-90 day predictions that were fairly accurate. he could predict what story the media was going to cover 80% of the time. Amazed at the willingness of the press to take their stories. Leslie Stall had a “Negative” documentary but failed according to Deaver because of the placement of a picture of Reagan was way too positive and that made everyone think Reagan was fine

Front 28

Bully pulpit-

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Teddy Roosevelt founded this idea. Tried to influence the American People. Got stories in popular magazines and would do so when congress was not in session. Claimed to revoke access to office if the media wrote something that displeased him

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Clinton-

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Clinton used the threat of a veto as a bargaining tool. Bargaining was not seen as a weakness. Clinton cut all the media out and restricted access

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’s talk (see powerpoint on Blackboard, his comments about cameras in the courtroom) -

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he was for having cameras in the courtroom except in cases involving juveniles.

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Cameras in the courtroom (arguments for and against) -

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hotly contested. federal judges like that they aren’t recognized on the street. They would prefer not to have their decisions criticized or scrutinized by the public or media. federal judges see themselves as above politics and feel that television would draw them into political squabbles. people who argue for cameras in the courtroom feel that judges should be held accountable just like any other government leader. If they make a poor decision, they shouldn’t be able to hide from it or get away with it because people don’t know about it. how can the press fulfill their first amendment duties without access.

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Advise and consent -

Back 32

a power of the U.S. Senate to be consulted on and approve treaties signed and appointments made by the POTUS to public positions, including Cabinet Secretaries, federal judges and ambassadors

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Gold Clause cases -

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FDR took the nation off of the gold standard and devalued the dollar. This quickly made its way to the Supreme Court. This case was a unique case when the court enabled for greater press access to the proceedings (1st time that the media really jumped on a court case)

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) -

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Supreme court found state laws for segregation in public facilities constitutional. later overturned by Brown v. Board of Edu

Front 35

Brown v. Board of Education I & II -

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perfect example of ambiguity in the name of compromise. Chief Justice Earl Warren fought incredibly hard for a unanimous decision. He was able to but could not get everyone to agree on implementation of separate but equal, therefore the decision was intentionally vague and decreed separate but equal unconstitutional, but did not dive into how to most effectively ameliorate this situation. important thing for Warren was eliminating possible legal argument supporting separate but equal because he knew implementation would inevitably be handled down the road

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Lawrence v. Texas -

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dealt with sodomy laws (ruling them unconstitutional). carefully distinguished from gay marriage. overturned Bowers v. Hardwick

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Bowers v. Hardwick -

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two men were arrested under sodomy laws when caught engaging in such acts

Front 38

Chandler v. Florida -

Back 38

Supreme Court case that ruled in favor of allowing cameras in the courtroom during criminal trials

Front 39

Robert Bork -

Back 39

nominated by Reagan to replace Powell on Supreme Court. Reagan wanted to make the court decisively conservative. liberals immediately concerned because this would upset the balance in the court from moderate to conservative. he had past ties to Watergate which made him very contentious. This nomination begun the huge partisan significance of Supreme Court Appointees

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Clarence Thomas -

Back 40

controversial nomination by Bush in 1991. his nomination was bitter and intensely fought because of an accusation that Thomas had made unwelcome sexual comments to attorney Anita Hill. Eventually appointed by Senate by a very narrow margin.
Democrats and Interests Groups couldn’t mount a unified messaged to speak against him
Pro-Life groups didn’t like him, His handling of age discrimination cases at the EEOC, ambiguity of his testimony or his lack of judicial experience all caused reason to doubt him but no group worked together.

Front 41

Harriet Miers -

Back 41

nominated by Bush to replace Sandra Day O’Connor. immediately and widely scrutinized for not having much legal experience and no judge experience. even conservative media surprisingly opposed the nomination because no one knew her background. She ultimately requested to have her name removed

Front 42

Krauthammer-Miers:

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The Only Exit Strategy."Miers withdraws out of respect for both the Senate and the executive's prerogatives.” Congress wanted to know Miers’s background, but she didn’t have anything. Instead of Bush and Miers admitting she was an awful candidate, she said she respected the Judicial Branch’s right to privacy and separation from the legislative process, so she declined the nomination out of respect for the judicial process.

Front 43

Sonia Sotomayor -

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nominated by Barack Obama to fill spot on Supreme Court (first Hispanic justice ever appointed)

Front 44

Elena Kagan -

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appointed Solicitor General by Barack Obama. later nominated by Obama for Supreme Court. although a democrat, liberals feared a move to the right if she was appointed because she was replacing liberal John Stevens.

Front 45

District of Columbia v. Heller -

Back 45

supreme court 2nd amendment case protecting individual’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes.... not sure how this relates to media

Front 46

Unanimity -

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when cases are particularly high profile or significant, the justices always strive for a unanimous decision, to set a definitive precedent (strength through unity). they want the interpretation of the law to be irrefutable.

Front 47

Van Orden v. Perry -

Back 47

Supreme Court case involving 1st amendment in which government monument contained 10 Commandments. Question was whether or not this violated the Establishment Clause.

Front 48

McCreary County v. ACLU -

Back 48

same as Van Orden v. Perry. in both cases Justice Breyer was the swing voter. difference between posting the commandments as a place in Western legal tradition and doing it with a specific religious intent. Media had a difficult time interpreting this distinction and thus, more cases about posting the Ten Commandments came up

Front 49

MEdia Effects

Back 49

VVVV

Front 50

Correlation vs. causation -

Back 50

assuming this means the media could attempt to relate 2 events that aren’t necessarily causal. Ex. attributing more crime in the area to increased minorities. “Iceberg” analogy

Front 51

Knowledge gap -

Back 51

as the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, higher socioeconomic status segments tend to acquire this information faster than lower socioeconomic status population segments

Front 52

Milyo and Groseclose -

Back 52

did a unique study on media bias where they measured media bias by comparing how media outlets and politicians site the same think tanks and policy groups. results found strong liberal bias

Front 53

Riccardo Puglisi

Back 53

of the London School of Economics created a method of measuring coverage that was based on his theory that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party "own" different issues. Puglisi doesn't analyze the tone of newspaper reports; he only counts how many times certain issues were mentioned. But the tone of coverage probably has some impact on voters, and the logic behind "all publicity is good publicity" may be flawed. (BB notes “Media Bias”)

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Problems with studies for ideological bias (both from the bias of researchers and from trying to control the bias of researchers) -

Back 54

scientifically impossible to measure media bias because ultimately it’s people doing the research and it’s not hard science. There is no such thing as a truly neutral person. Trying to suspend your political beliefs to study media bias is nearly impossible. Also there is so many media outlets that judging all of them would be impossible

Front 55

Agenda setting -

Back 55

by virtue of what storylines the media publish and spread, the news media indirectly “sets the agenda” for what is seen and valued to be important. For example, the issues the media talks about will be the ones that people find to be most important. 3 levels - awareness (most basic form; if media reports on an issue, we know about, if they done, we probably don’t know about it), Salience (advanced level, the level of importance of an issue), Prioritizing (the most susceptible to agenda setting are the less educated or interested)

Front 56

McCombs and Shaw -

Back 56

researchers at UNC who aimed to prove that the news media is telling us what to think about. They based their data on the 1968 presidential election asking voters what the most important issues of the election were. reopened the field of research into what impact the media has on influencing people’s personal political beliefs (pg. 243) They discovered a perfect 1:1 correlation between how the respondents ranks the importance of issues with how much those topics were covered in the news media. This phenomenon is called The Agenda- Setting Effect

Front 57

Framing (by media – thematic and episodic; by politicians)

Back 57

- refers to the context for which a news story is placed, ex. - characterizing a war report on Afghanistan as a success as opposed to comparing it to Vietnam. Episodic - viewing an event individually as opposed to part of a larger theme. thematic- putting a single event into larger context. Iyengar says that press too often uses episodic framing, rather than discussing what’s at the root of problems. In terms of how politicians use framing would be calling welfare entitlements or handouts.

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Anti-authority bias

Back 58

- In other words, it is not a matter of opposition to Republicans or Democrats but rather opposition to anyone in power. In my own research, I have detected a clear tendency among reporters to question most of the public acts of presidents, openly suggesting that the
administration is engaged in some kind of media strategy meant to influence the public. Many
people suggest that media coverage of politics is always negative, and if this is true, we need to
ask why. It is certainly possible, in light of the fact that a generation of reporters came of age
during the Vietnam War and Watergate, that some reporters simply mistrust politicians
automatically and that this bias is reflected in their reporting on a regular basis.

Front 59

Priming -

Back 59

political consequences of agenda setting, where the news media emphasize certain aspects of political events but not others. primed to focus on issues that get more attention

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Prioritizing -

Back 60

the most susceptible to agenda setting are the less educated or interested

Front 61

Walter Lippmann -

Back 61

political columnist who wrote “Public Opinion” which focused on media bias. He argued that media is influential in the sense that media outlets determine what to cover and not cover, thereby dictating what the public knows about politics.

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Profit bias-

Back 62

The news media are private businesses. As such, newspapers and magazines must sell as many copies as they can, and television and radio channels must attract as large an audience as possible. They more they sell, the more they can charge for advertising and the more money they can make. This is the essence of capitalism, and there is certainly nothing wrong with it. However, this means that media outlets' news judgment is somewhat in question because the types of stories they run will, naturally, be calculated to attract as many viewers or readers as possible.

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Ideological bias

Back 63

- Synonymous with political bias. If a person is a Republican then they are inherently predisposed towards those positions and vice-versa.

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Frank Luntz

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- conservative political framing expert who was famous for pioneering the term “death tax” to successfully eliminate the estate tax

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Berelson and Lazarsfeld Minimal effects -

Back 65

lead authors on this subject motivated by the assumption that the media has to have an effect on how people perceive politics/what they believe. Found that the media merely reinforces people’s partisanship rather than form it. in other words the media’s influence is indirect, if any. personal interactions are essential to media messages being spread

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Two-step flow -

Back 66

messages flow from mass media down to opinion leaders who filter these messages then spread them to the public. this process diminishes the direct impact of the mass media. in other words opinion leaders possessed much more influence since they garner a lot of respect within their individual communities.

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PUBLIC OPINION

Back 67

VVVVVV

Front 68

Nonattitudes -

Back 68

term used by public opinion researchers back in the early days of public opinion polling to refer to the phenomenon of people offering an opinion even when they don’t actually have one

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Measuring opinion vs. collecting opinion -

Back 69

People of all ages may simply be becoming less consistent in their preferences. As a population, Americans are ever-more mobile and fickle. One professional pollster, Peter Hart, says that for politicians, this means "you can go from top to bottom much more quickly.” This is different from the problem of nonattitudes. In this case, people have opinions—but they easily change. That means the result of any single poll, such as on a subject such as health care reform, for instance, are really nothing more than a snapshot of that moment in time. B/c of this, it become very difficult to accurately quantify or measure public opinion.

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Screening questions -

Back 70

used to gauge the respondents education on the issue

Front 71

Probability sampling (different methods of doing this) -

Back 71

any method that uses some form of random selection. A random selection is one that assures that the different units in the population have an equal probability of being chosen.

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Scientific polling (random, representative) -

Back 72

In a simple random sample, every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. For this method, you compile a list of everyone in the population and then randomly choose a sample. This is not a feasible way to sample the population of America because it is too large. There is no comprehensive list of everyone in that population.

Front 73

Representative-

Back 73

In this kind of sampling, the population is divided into subsets according to demographic characteristics that are of interest to the researcher, such as age, income, and ethnicity. People are then sampled randomly from each subset. This guarantees that a sample will include a sufficient number of cases with characteristics of interest to the researcher. This method reduces sampling error because more care is taken to ensure that all of the elements of a population are reflected. The sample is representative of the population.

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Exit polls -

Back 74

poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations, asks whom the voter actually voted for as opposed to opinion polls

Front 75

Delegates and trustees-

Back 75

Trustees are officials who are entrusted by the voters to make the right decisions, to use their own judgment to decide what is best for the people they represent. Delegates are officials who make decisions based solely on what their constituents want. These two terms underscore an important question for government leaders: “what is the proper way for a representative to behave?”

Front 76

Appropriate role of public opinion in a representative democracy-

Back 76

We have discussed the fact that many representatives elected to office are "delegates," meaning they seek input from their constituents when deciding how to vote. Given all that we have learned about the many things that can go wrong with public opinion measurement, it seems that we should be concerned when politicians put too much stock in polls. Is it a problem if the data they use to ascertain "what we want" are inaccurate or flawed? This is certainly something to think about when we consider how prominent polling has become in American society.

Front 77

Public opinion-

Back 77

asks people who they plan on voting for, which can create biased results as they may not actually turn out to vote.

Front 78

Push polls -

Back 78

polls that use loaded questions the direct people towards certain answers

Front 79

Survey problems (question wording, question order, respondent, interviewer effects)

Back 79

- people tend to answer questions whether they know the answer or not. there is no guarantee that the respondent is being honest. you have to be careful with your wording because it can greatly affect the results of the survey, i.e. welfare vs. entitlements

Front 80

Bradley effect-

Back 80

Blk ppl do worse than expected bc White ppl lie
theory proposed to explain observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes where a white candidate runs against a non-white candidate. theory proposes that some voters tell pollsters they are going to vote for the non-white but actually vote for the white candidate. Named after LA Mayor Tom Bradley who was projected to win his election for governor but lost.

Front 81

TEXTBOOK

Back 81

VVVVV

Front 82

Governing by media-

Back 82

In the premedia era, an essential element of presidential leadership was the ability to create winning coalitions from across the party or ideological lines. Now, with the advent of media, presidents have the increasingly important role as direct spokesman to the public. Therefore, whereas in the past a president would privately consult with and influence congressmen, contemporaries now prefer to influence Congress indirectly by making them respond to “the people.” ( the threat to “go public”)

Front 83

Comparing Congress and presidency as focal points of media coverage-

Back 83

Historically, it used to be that Congress received the majority of media attention and spotlight. However, since the JFK administration, the President has increasingly garnered more media focus, so much so that presently, the president receives about 3X more media coverage annually than does congress.

Front 84

Going public (Congress vs. Presidents)-

Back 84

By nature of the situation, Presidents can much more easily address the public, whereas Congress and legislative committees represent a wide range of political preferences (makes a unified message very difficult). Although congress can attract huge audiences for popular committee/subcommittee hearings, their usual inability to find a collective message inhibits the power of legislative “going public.”

Front 85

Trends in presidential press conferences-

Back 85

When the prime-time audience was there for the taking, the benefits of reaching the entire nation outweighed the risk of appearing before a group of seasoned reports all bent on asking the tough questions. However, with the loss of national audiences, the risk of committing a gaffe or appearing uninformed has deterred modern presidents from holding frequent press conferences. FDR was the first president to really use the press conference as the principal source of news- he still holds the record for most scheduled press conferences. (more than the combined total of all his successors!) Holding a primetime press conference was completely the brainchild of the JFK administration.

Front 86

Narrowcasting-

Back 86

A more focused version of going public. This strategy tailors certain messages for specific local and regional audiences, usually who live in battleground states, which could prove pivotal in the next election. (the entire goal here is to attract favorable coverage)

Front 87

Planted questions-

Back 87

Refers to the practice of getting a pliable reporter to ask a softball question provided by the White House during a press conference. Usually, such an act is rewarded by the Press corps offering that individual an exclusive interview, piece, etc. (this practice was especially common during Eisenhower and LBJ administrations).

Front 88

Framing effect-

Back 88

“Framing” refers to the way in which opinions about an issue can be altered by emphasizing or de-emphasizing particular facets of that issue. “Framing effects” involve the use of different, but logically equivalent, words or phrases to describe the same possible event or issue. As previously mentioned by DV4- these differences are often semantics. For instance, calling “people on welfare” versus “poor people.”

Front 89

Evolution of media effects research-

Back 89

Serious research into this effect launched in the 1930’s due to political events in Europe. The emergence of extremist political parties in Germany and Italy alarmed many and prompted policymakers to fear that public opinion could be easily swayed by demagoguery or xenophobic appeals (propaganda). Thus, Hovland (discussed below) was contracted by the DOD to begin his innovative experiments. Following WWII, scientist turned their attention to the persuasive effects of political campaigns. Although they expected mass momentum swings amongst voters based on who won, the evidence suggested that campaigns reinforced people’s ideology rather than shaping it. This supports the notion of minimal media effects. Later the emphasis is placed upon “what do people think about” and agenda setting. (pgs. 231-232). They discovered that agenda setting did actually contribute to the change of attitude or persuasion.

Front 90

Harry and Louise-

Back 90

Refers to an ad campaign that successfully mobilized opposition to Clinton’s health care reform package in 1993. The ads featured a middle-class couple who opposed the Clinton plan on the grounds that it would create a massive bankruptcy. Before these ads aired. the bill enjoyed public support at a 2:1 ratio; however, this media strategy completely eroded Clinton’s base of supporters, dooming the bill to failure. Preeminent example of “Issue Advertising”-- (pgs. 222-223)

Front 91

Random assignment-

Back 91

The process that ensures that during an experiment, the treatment group (those exposed to the message) and the control group (those not exposed) will be similar on average. For example, the two groups will have approximately the same proportion of Democrats and Republicans. Thus, there can be no doubt that any observed difference between the treatment and control groups after the experiment concludes was caused by the manipulation and nothing else.

Front 92

Hovland-

Back 92

One of the founding fathers of the field of media effects. In the late 1940’s, Hovland led a research team, with DOD funding, that endeavored to discover the conditions under which people might be persuaded to change their positions on social and personal issues. Authored the term “Message Learning Theory”- states that attitude change depends on source (who), message (what), and receiver (whom). He also was famously the first to identify the impact of methodological choices on research findings. He warned that exclusive use of one or the other would inevitably cause biased results.

Front 93

Methodological pluralism-

Back 93

(Ch. 8?)

Front 94

Interaction of personal circumstances and news coverage in agenda setting-

Back 94

What the public notices (in the news) becomes the principal basis for their beliefs about the state of the country. Thus the relative prominence of issues in the news is the major determinant of the public’s perceptions of the problems facing the nation. The media’s issue agenda becomes the public’s agenda. (Example: famine that devastated Ethiopia in the 1980’s. It persisted for months and cost thousands of lives but most Americans were completely unaware. It finally got media attention in October, 1984 and once the spotlight turned on, there was an outpouring of relief efforts and support). Finally, the further removed an issue or event is from direct personal experience, the weaker the agenda-setting effects of news coverage are. When an issue is in the news, people personally affected by it are the first to have their agendas set by that issue.

Front 95

Priming-

Back 95

Refers to the way in which the media affect the criteria by which political leaders are judged. The more prominent an issue becomes in the public consciousness, the more it will influence people’s assessments of politicians. (the weights that individuals assign to their opinions on particular issues)

Front 96

1980 presidential campaign-

Back 96

Provides an especially dramatic example of priming. With less than a week to go before the election, the polls showed Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to be dead even. Suddenly, the Iranian government offered Carter a last-minute proposal for releasing the American hostages whom had be captured for over a year. Carter immediately suspended his campaign to devote full attention to these negotiations. The hostage issue and the progress of the negotiations became the major news story of the day. The media’s preoccupation with the hostage story caused voters to seize on the candidates’ ability to control terrorism as a basis for their vote choice. Given his record in office, this logic proved disadvantageous to Pres. Carter.

Front 97

Thematic framing-

Back 97

Places a public issue in a general context and usually takes the form of an in-depth background report. (Example: story about a war that discusses the historical context of the relations between the two sides, what contributed to the conflict, etc.)

Front 98

Episodic framing-

Back 98

Depicts issues in terms of individual instances or specific events (the carnage resulting from a particular terrorist bombing for example). In the United States= by far the most prevalent mode of presentation in news stories, largely as a result of market pressures.

Front 99

Standard election forecast-

Back 99

Voters are expected to reelect the incumbent during times of economic growth but opt for change during times of distress. Basing their predictions on a combination of incumbent approval and the past state of the economy, the forecasting models have accumulated an impressive track record: with the exception of the 2000 election, the models have correctly predicted the winner from every election between 1948-2004 (with only a small spread between the predicted and actual results).

Front 100

The keys to forecasting presidential elections-

Back 100

Public approval and economic performance
The key factors utilized to forecast the ultimate outcome include: some measure of public support for the incumbent (typically the incumbent’s standing in trial heat polls on Labor Day or the percentage of the public who approve of the president’s job performance) coupled with standard indicators of economic performance. Examples could include change in Real GDP during the second quarter of the election year, consumer satisfaction with personal finances in the 2nd quarter, or the percentage change in GNP between the 4th quarter of the preceding year and the 2nd quarter of the election year.

Front 101

Reinforcement effect-

Back 101

There exists a relationship between the reinforcing effects of advertising and voters’ level of political interest. However, there is a diminishing reinforcement effect depending on one’s degree of partisanship. For example, an intense Republican who already follows the campaign religiously needs no additional encouragement. Oppositely, for a more lukewarm partisan, television advertisements may provide the necessary spark to ignite partisan sentiments. (Layman's terms: The reinforcement effect claims that campaigns typically polarize the electorate along partisan lines and that weak partisans are most strongly affected)

Front 102

Effects of campaigns-

Back 102

Although strong evidence suggests that the general political and economic context in which elections occurs might be just as, if not more important than campaigns, campaign consultants assert that well-executed campaign maneuvers can produce a significant increase in a candidate’s level of support. They argue that the political advertising and the candidates’ travel schedule, verbal dexterity, and demeanor in the debates makes all the difference in the world. In short, the theory is that image matters; therefore, image is what the campaigns seek to create, using intensive interventions.

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Front-loading-

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This process refers to the ever growing significance of early primaries. To maintain relevance and attention, many states have pushed their primary date forward to follow closely on the heels of New Hampshire (the first primary every cycle). Thus, primaries across the country are “front loaded.” The major consequence of front loading is a serious reduction in the flow information between candidates and voters. In the context of rapid-fire primary elections occurring in far-flung locations, it’s virtually impossible for the candidates- no matter how well financed they might be to- to reach a majority of primary voters. These constraints almost guarantee that voters in early primaries will lack information when they go to the polls. (pg. 294)

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Criticisms of media-based campaigns-

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1) Media-based campaigns are light on substance (issues). Sound bites and 30-second commercials, the critics suggest, are inherently superficial forms of political discourse. The news media is equally to blame for their unwillingness to raise the actual issues to the same level of newsworthiness as horse race coverage.

2) They intentionally intend to deceive and manipulate. Advertisements that deal in symbols and slogans rather than careful and well-documented analysis are thought to deflect voters from the real issues of the day. (However, this the critics underestimate the intelligence of the electorate-- b/c when voters do change their minds during an election, it’s in the direction of the “correct” partisan or retrospective vote). (pg. 301-302)

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Electoral momentum-

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When voters don’t have much information, they fall back on available cues. Because the media almost exclusively covers elections via “horse race coverage,” voters are very likely to know which candidates are doing well and which ones are faring poorly. This to voters, is perceived as a candidate's viability. Because viability is all that most voters have to go on, a candidate who comes to dominate the early races (primaries) benefits from momentum, standing to reap a whirlwind of public support in the upcoming primaries. (pg. 294)

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Lead-story effect-

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Merely the notion that the American public’s attention to news is so limited and woefully poor that they only notice glaring headlines or “lead-story coverage.”

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Rally effect-

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Refers to how in the aftermath of major foreign policy actions undertaken by the U.S. government, people rally behind the president. (War, natural disaster, etc.) However, when there is popular criticism of the president’s actions (usually by Congress or other high figures), the louder the dissent, the lower the probability that the public will rally around the president. (pg. 317)

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“True leadership”-

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Refers to the quintessential dilemma facing political leaders- how to maintain public approval while also pursuing sound policy decisions (that aren’t usually popular). Taxes provide the litmus test for “true leadership.” The public instinctively opposes higher taxes but insists that government continue to deliver benefits and services. (pg. 324) This can be dangerous, as presidents often ruin their political fortune by making these tough decisions (examples: H.W. Bush- raising taxes, or Walter Mondale campaigning to raise taxes).

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Pandering-

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Due to the increasingly popular utilization of “going public,” politicians are more than ever before subjected and bound to the will of the people. However, pandering is a rather extreme form, in which policymakers cave to any and all public pressure and pursue legislation that might be detrimental to the country simply b/c they seek reelection and fear the wrath of the people. (pg. 323)

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Reagan and Clinton and theories of popularity-

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3 principal factors that influence presidential popularity: 1) Length of time in office 2) The course of events 3) Public relations

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Effect of real-world events and news coverage on presidential popularity-

Back 111

Important conclusions regarding this relationship: 1) Presidential popularity is more responsive to economic events than to news coverage of these events. (Economic events have a life of their own that is independent of news media offerings). For economic issues, news coverage is redundant b/c people hold the president accountable based upon their personal experiences. However, with national security issues (like terrorism), president has much greater ability to influence the interpretation of these events, and more people usually support him b/c of this.

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Shirley Sherrod-

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A black, mid-level official in the Agriculture Department under the Obama administration. She was immediately fired following accusations from a conservative blogger that she had previously refused to help a farmer in need of economic assistance b/c he was white (this while she was still with the Georgia Department of Agriculture). These allegations proved to be completely false and resulted in huge public fallout for President Obama and his staff. Yet another example of pandering- the Obama administration decided to terminate Sherrod without even considering the possibility that the charges were false, b/c they were fearful of an all-out attack from conservative media.

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Implications of going public-

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The need to maintain high levels of public approval often deters the president from exercising policy leadership. Instead of using their expertise at making sense of what’s best for the nation to make independent policy choices, leaders may defer to public opinion, which is generally uninformed. (More detailed discussion of the implication pgs. 321-328) Finally, it also raises the level of conflict between the executive and legislative branches, making compromise and accommodation more difficult.