Goverment Summary

4 Pages 1069 Words

The struggle over who gets what, when, and how is largely carried out in the mass media. Media power is concentrated in the leading television news networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN), national newspapers (Washington Post, New York Times, Wall St. Journal), and newsmagazines (Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report). Television is the first true mass communication medium because it is in virtually every home. The average home TV is turned on seven hours a day and shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20 are among the most popular. Today the Internet is assuming the proportions of mass media, partly under the auspices of existing media as in the case of www.cnn.com or www.newsweek.com.
Reporters and news editors usually deny that they are powerful political actors, claiming they only mirror society; but the "myth of the mirror" is that the media do play key roles in setting the American political agenda by determining what news is to be covered, how much, and in what context.
The Politics of the Media
The economic interests of the media in gaining and keeping viewers may bias it toward sensationalism, giving disproportionate coverage to events involving war, violence, conflict, scandal, corruption, sex, scares, and personal lives of politicians and celebrities. In general, there is a negativism in the media, biasing it toward bad news as more newsworthy. "Good news" stories, such as the fact that drug use has declined, is less reported and as a result often is not part of the knowledge base citizens use in forming their opinions. The news profession itself holds investigative reporting in high esteem, creating media pressure toward muckraking. Reporters may see themselves as "watchdogs" of the public interest or even as adversaries of government. Journalistic activism, in turn, means that the personal values of reporters are more important than they would otherwise be. Surveys of reporters, editors, and other media executives reveal a liberal...