Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Ch. 7 AP Gov.

Terms in this set (54)

The media are an
essential component of democracy
media's role in American democracy
-supply information to the citizenry
-nongovernment sources of information
-give the public opportunity to evaluate issues to form reasoned opinions and actions
without media, would have to rely entirely
on information provided by government
-importance evident in the First Amendment
Media formats include
1) Print
2) Broadcast
3) online
Print
newspapers, magazines, books
Broadcast
Radio and television
-(both) broadcast and subscription service
Online
professional journalism, blogs, social
Print media is a part of
the traditional media
Print media
-oldest method for the dissemination of the news
-no longer the primary news source for most Americans
-Newspapers, however, remain important because they are influential among the political elite
-AP provides most of the national news that is published by local newspapers
-newspaper industry has been less profitable in recent years
-a majority of newspaper reporters identify themselves as liberal
Radio and television are also
part of the traditional media
television news
-estimated that over 95% of Americans have a television
-serve the extremely important function of alerting viewers to issues and events
-however, cover relatively few topics and provide little depth of coverage; time limits and ratings constrain content
television news reaches more Americans
than any other single new source
-politicians and others often seek to manipulate the news by providing the media with sound bites
e.x. President Bush's "Axis of Evil"
sound bites
brief quotes and short characterizations of the day's events
politicians generally consider local broadcast news a friendlier venue than the national news
national reporters are often inclined to criticize and question, whereas local reporters are more likely to accept pronouncements of national leaders at face value
Radio news
-repeat headlines (their audience changes hourly)
-provides day's major events without providing much detail- 5 minutes per hour
Sets with similar terms