HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Muckraker, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Trutv
6 Jun 2018
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The Evolution of the Mass Media
Mass media organizations are not part of the American political structure. Voters do not elect
journalists, nor do journalists hold any formal powers or privileges (aside from those stemming
from the First Amendment right to a free press). Research also shows that the mass media do not
exercise direct influence over people, either officials or regular voters. Neither endorsements nor
bias in news coverage sways individuals into accepting the views of reporters or publishers.
Nevertheless, media organizations (and in particular the journalistic profession) do
enjoy various means of indirect influence over political decisions. They shape how
Americans view candidates early in an election process and frame the terms of political
debate. They focus the attention of regular Americans on particular social problems,
influencing which issues politicians consider worthy of attention. And members of the
bureaucracy often use news articles as an indirect means to communicate with each
other or to learn what is going on in other parts of the government. For these reasons
and others, the mass media are critical players in the American political system.
Mass media fall into two types: the print mediaof newspapers and magazines and
the broadcast media of radio and television. Although most Americans got their news
from newspapers and magazines in the 19th and early 20th centuries, electronic
journalism, particularly TV journalism, has become dominant in the last 50 years.
Today, advances in technology are blurring the distinction between the print and
broadcast media. The Internet makes information available that is also published in
newspapers and magazines or presented over the radio and TV. It also provides
political parties and their candidates, interest groups, and individuals an outlet for their
own political content.
Newspapers and magazines
The earliest newspapers in the United States were tied to political groups or
parties. The Federalist Papers, which urged the ratification of the Constitution, were first
published in New York newspapers. During George Washington's administration,
the Gazette of the United Statesrepresented Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists,
while the National Gazette supported Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic
Republicans. The development of high-speed presses, growing literacy rates, and the
invention of the telegraph led to the rise of independent, mass-circulation newspapers in
the first half of the 19th century. Competition for readers and advertisers became
intense, so papers increasingly emphasized the sensational side of news in the second
half of that century. This style of reporting became known as yellow journalism, and
the most well-known practitioner was William Randolph Hearst in his New York
Journal. Its stories and reports on Cuba, particularly the explosion of the USS Mainein
Havana Harbor, helped build support for the war against Spain in 1898. Although there
was a decided shift to objective and balanced reporting in reaction to Hearst's style, this
type of journalism continues in the tabloid press, which includes some mainstream
newspapers and the "supermarket papers" such as National Enquirerand Star.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Mass media organizations are not part of the american political structure. Voters do not elect journalists, nor do journalists hold any formal powers or privileges (aside from those stemming from the first amendment right to a free press). Research also shows that the mass media do not exercise direct influence over people, either officials or regular voters. Neither endorsements nor bias in news coverage sways individuals into accepting the views of reporters or publishers. Nevertheless, media organizations (and in particular the journalistic profession) do enjoy various means of indirect influence over political decisions. Americans view candidates early in an election process and frame the terms of political debate. They focus the attention of regular americans on particular social problems, influencing which issues politicians consider worthy of attention. And members of the bureaucracy often use news articles as an indirect means to communicate with each other or to learn what is going on in other parts of the government.
