Media~ Guided Reading Questions

Chapter 6

~ Intro

1.  Child abductions are a concern of the population, covered by the media and addressed by Congress, but explain why media coverage of this topic is “incomplete”.

2.  What is the main point of the 1st paragraph on page 186?

~The News Media in America

3.  Briefly describe the milestones in the historical evolution of news media:

·  Pennsylvania Gazette

·  Revolutionary War newspapers

·  Alien & Sedition Acts

·  Penny Press

·  Associated Press & Reuters

·  Yellow Journalism

·  Muckrakers

·  FCC

4.  How did media coverage of Vietnam change what people were used to?

5.  Differentiate between the FCC’s fairness doctrine and equal time provision. Today?

6.  The trends of FCC were on concentration and cross-ownership of media, explain how that paved the way for “media conglomerates”?

7.  What was Howard Stern’s response to FCC fines and investigations?

8.  Is print media “dead”? Explain and support with info from p. 192.

9. 

NOTE: “In fact, the list of the top 100 magazines in America (based on circulation) includes publications on just about every topic, from SI to Vogue, but none focused on politics and government.”

10.  Briefly describe how TV has evolved from the “talking head.”

11.  Which political party dominates radio airways

12.  List the 3 differences in media sources (p. 193)

~ Nuts & Bolts: 6.1- Holdings of New Corporation

13.  Explain the goal of a media conglomerate.

14.  Observe all the media outlets owned by the Fox Empire.

~ What Difference Does the Internet Make?

15.  List a few media sources that are liberal and few that are conservative.

16.  How has the Internet created opportunities for two-way interaction between citizens, reporters, and government officials?

17.  List the four reasons the Internet hasn’t created a more informed citizenry?

~ How Political Reporters Work: Sources, Leaks, and Shield Laws

18.  Defend the following statement: “Politicians need the media and the media needs politicians.”

19.  Define: “clear and present danger” and “prior restraint”.

20.  How have most attempts to prevent publications turned out?

21.  What is a leak? Give one example.

22.  Why do reporters restrain their stories?

23.  Politicians try to “stage” media events. Why did that not work for FEMA as mentioned in your reading p. 197?

24.  What does it mean to be “on background” or “off the record”?

25.  Why are shield laws important to reporters?

NOTE: No federal shield law exists…. Only state shield laws.

~ How Do Americans Use the Media to Learn about Politics?

26.  What is the by-product theory?

27.  What is the likelihood that media will change them minds of the following:

o  Highly-interested people-

o  Moderately-interested people-

o  Uninterested people-

~Table 6.1 The Changing News Landscape

28.  Has the development of new Internet sources changed the types of news sources Americans regularly use? Explain.

~ Table 6.2 Traditional News Sources Face Stiff Competition

29.  Are there generational differences in the use of different media sources? Explain.

NOTE: Regardless of the type of media source, we are learning from each—just not enough to become experts.

~ Studying the Impact of Media Coverage on American Citizens and Government
Policy

30.  What are media effects?

31.  Complete the chart below:

Media Effect / Example
Filtering (agenda-setting)
Slant
Priming
Framing

~Table 6.4- How Framing Works: Alternative Questions about Economic Stimulus

32.  How did responses to the poll questions vary with the specific wording of the question?

33.  How did the Department of Defense attempt to get media coverage of the Iraq war that was favorable to their “preferred policy outcomes”?

34.  How did this style of reporting differ from that of Vietnam?

~What Do Political Scientists Do? Measuring Media Effects

35.  AWESOME STUDY!!!!! Describe the following:

o  Hypothesis

o  Sample

o  Process

o  Conclusion

36.  Summarize the arguments about whether or not media is biased… Is if biased content/presentation, etc or is it biased perception?

~Challenging Conventional Wisdom- The Liberal Media?

37.  What is the “real question”?

38.  What are the results?

39.  Why do those results differ so much from those of “All Journalists’ Self-Reported Ideologies?

~ Assessing Media Coverage of American Politics

40.  Define: attach journalism, horse-race politics, soft news, and hard news.

NOTE: Journalists cover politics that fits public opinion and its need to attract an audience.