Oles’
Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University (Ukraine)
The Mass Media in the USA
The American
political system has entered a new period of high-tech politics, a politics in
which the behavior of citizens and policymakers, as well as the political
agenda, is increasingly shaped by technology. The mass media – television,
radio, newspapers, magazines, and other means of popular communication – are a
key part of that technology.
These days, the
news media often makes the news in addition to reporting it. Television news
anchors are paid high salaries and sometimes behave in Hollywood style. Few
media encounters made as much news as the “Am-Bush” of Vice –President George
Bush by CBS anchorman Dan Rather in 1988. The secret to controlling the media`s
focus is limiting what they can report on to carefully scripted events known as
media events staged for the purpose of
being covered. Getting the right image on TV news for just thirty
seconds can have great payoffs in a campaign. Also important are slickly
produced TV commercials. Image making is also a critical element in day-to-day
governing, especially for presidents. The Reagan administration was
particularly concerned with image. His news management operated on seven
principles: 1) plan ahead, 2) stay on the offensive, 3) control the flow of
information, 4) limit reporters` access to the president, 5) talk about the
issues you want to talk about, 6) speak in one voice, and 7) repeat the same
message many times. Although the Reagan presidency was often a performance,
presidents cannot ignore the need for effective communication. Much of American
government and politics hinge upon the media. Critics fear that the media can
determine the American political agenda, aiding one candidate while ruining
another. The media have helped create what Elinor Fuchs calls the
“theatricalization of American politics”.
Lyndon Johnson`s
hounding by the press illustrates the common view that we live in the mass
media age. This was not always true. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45)
practically invented media politics. Power and news radiated from Washington.
Roosevelt gave two press conferences, presidential meetings with reporters,
each week. Roosevelt was the newsmaker. He was also the first president to use
radio, broadcasting “fireside chats” to the nation. Roosevelt knew how to feed
the right story to the right reporter. In those days, the press rarely reported
on a president`s or candidate`s private life. The cozy relationship between
politicians and the press lasted through the early 1960s. The Vietnam War and
Watergate soured the press on government. Today reporters are cynical about
government and politicians. Investigative journalism, the use of detective-like
reporting methods to unearth scandals, pits reporters against political
leaders. This type of reporting is protected by the First Amendment. There is more
censorship, government regulation of media content, permitted in the United
Kingdom than in the United States. Evidence suggests that investigative
journalism has contributed to greater public cynicism and negativism about
politics. There are two kinds of media: the print media include newspapers and
magazines and the broadcast media consist of television and radio.
News reporting is
a business, with profits as the bottom line. To the journalism student, “news”
is what is timely and different. Television news is tailored to a very low
level of audience sophistication. Networks often define news as what is
entertaining to the average viewer.
The
organizational process shapes the news. Most news organizations assign their
best reporters to particular beats, specific locations where news frequently
emanates from, such as Congress. Journalists rely almost exclusively on
established sources to get their stories. Those who make the news depend on the
media to spread information and ideas. Some news comes from trial balloons,
information released to the media to see what the political reaction will be.
Reporters rely on public officials, who usually have the upper hand, to keep
them in the know. Despite dependence on familiar sources, an enterprising
reporter occasionally has an opportunity to live up to the image of the
crusading truth seeker.
News coverage by
the media is usually superficial, even the coverage of the issues during
presidential campaigns. TV news, in particular, is little more than a headline
service. Coverage of complex policy issues is even thinner. Although technology
has greatly increased the speed of information, news coverage has become less complete. This practice has
frustrated many politicians.
Many people
believe that the news is biased in favor of one point of view or another. There
is limited evidence that the media has a liberal bias. However, most studies
have shown that the media are not systematically biased toward a particular
ideology or party. Most reporters strongly believe in journalistic objectivity
and most stories present opposing points of view. Journalists are often
rewarded for objectivity. The media do, however distort reality because they
cannot cover all possible stories. The bias is toward stories which will draw the
largest audience, stories about conflict, violence, disaster or scandal.
Television is biased toward stories with good pictures. A talking head (a
person`s face talking directly to the camera) is boring,while action pictures
get a larger audience.
The media act as
a key linkage institution between the people and the policymakers, having a
profound impact on the political policy agenda. The watchdog function of the
media helps to keep government small. Many believe reporters are biased against
whoever holds office at the time and want to expose them in the media. With
every new proposal being met with skepticism, regular constraints are placed on
the growth of government. This makes the press reformist rather than liberal or
conservative. However, when they focus on injustice in society they inevitably
encourage the growth of government. When the media uncover a problem in society
they ask what the government is doing about it.
Widespread access
to information could be the greatest boon to democracy. However, the rise of
the information society has not brought about the rise of the informed society.
The media do not do a good job covering the issues. The media`s defense is that
they report what the people want. The networks must appeal to the maximum
number of people, who want news to be more entertaining than educational, in
order to make a profit. Thus it is ultimately the people`s fault for not
wanting to hear about complex political issues.