Politcal Science- Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Special Interest Groups and the Mass Media

Background of interest groups:

Interest groups have been viewed with suspicion from the beginning of time. James Madision in the Federalist papers warned against different factions in government. Madison knew that different factions were necessary, but he hoped that separation of powers would moderate the faction issue.

What’s the function of special interest groups?
1. Bring awareness to the public.
2. Represent their people- link between the members and the government.
3. Provide information to the government.
4. A channel for political activism.

Types of interest groups:
1. Economic- most interest groups are economic.
a. Labor groups- AFL, Teemsters Union.
b. Business- groups who help businesses- Chamber of Commerce, National Associations of Manufacturers.
c. Professionals- ABA, AMA.
d. Agriculture.
2. Groups that represent a cause-
a. Specific causes- NRA- National Rifle Association.
b. Wellfare of specific groups- AARP, NAACP, veterans of foreign wars.
c. Religious causes- National Council of Churches and the American Jewish Congress.
3. Public interest groups- are concerned with the environment, consumer products, civil rights, crime etc.

Strategies of interest groups:
1. Influence elections- encourage candidates to vote. They campaign for candidates and contribute to the campaign through PACs.
2. Lobby- supply information to the officials. Some of the lobbying is direct lobbying and some is grass roots lobbying- send letters and emails. Coalition lobbying is when they join with similar groups to influence the legislatures.
3. Litigation- through legal means, to take your case to court. Special interest groups will go to court for you. The most famous example is Brown vs. Board of Education.
4. Going public- try appealing to the public to get support for their cause, often through the media or other methods.

PACs-

During the 1970s, there were many reforms in how much money the PACs could give. Huge corporations and labor unions were no longer allowed to give direct contributions to these citizens. Federal laws regulate the PACs today. They must register, give money to lots of people and all of their accounting must be open to the public.

The first time lobbyists were regulated was in 1946 with the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act. Lobbyists had to register with the clerks from the House of Representatives, but the regulation was only for those sitting in DC directly, influencing Congress. The 1946 law was directed only at those speaking directly to members of Congress. In 1995, they passed the Lobbying Disclosure Act- regulated lobbyists much more. They had to disclose more information about their agenda. This wasn’t only for lobbyists speaking directly to congressmen but also to those influencing Congressmen.

Mass Media:

Mass media is all kinds of communication that speaks to the general public- radio, TV, newspaper and internet.

Original newspapers expressed the views of specific groups. By the 1890s, every city had at least one or more daily newspaper. Circulation wars led to yellow journalism- souping up the news. This had political consequences. By the 1950s, newspaper competition had ended and by 2009, many newspapers had gone out of business.

Magazines have smaller circulation. The earliest public affairs magazines were in 1880s with the Muckrakers exposing political and economic corruption such as Ida Tarbell wrote about the Rockefellers. In the 20s and 30s, there were news weeklies like Time, News Weekly and US News and World Report. Today there is still readership. Also, there are select conservative and liberal magazines.

Television attracts the largest mass media audience. After WWII, it really took off. News anchormen were made into celebrities. They helped promote politicians. They brought about McCarthy’s end and pumped Kennedy up. Today, because of cable TV, we had a different view of mass media.

Media organizations use the internet to convey information. It has newspapers, magazines and personal blogs. More and more people are receiving their news via the internet.

Widespread radio use began in the 20s. In the 30s, FDR used radio as means of communication in his famous fireside chat.

Role of the media:
1. Informs the public.
2. Shapes your opinion.
3. Provides a link between citizen and government.
4. It’s a watchdog- investigates citizen’s personality and the governments like the Muckrakers by the Watergate Scandal.
5. Set the agenda- influence what becomes public news. A key example is the Vietnam conflict- filmed what they wanted to in order to turn people away from the war.

Media is privately owned. They have tremendous political freedom. Because it is private money funding the media, they are also dependant on advertisers so they must please the people. Government regulates radio and TV more than newspaper.

All kinds of regulation:
1. Technical regulation- began in 1934. The Federal Communications Act was set up to regulate the technicalities of the media.
2. Structural regulation- in regard to ownership of the companies. You don’t have one person owning all of the media. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act brought in a field of competition.
3. Content regulation- the first amendment allows for freedom of the press. But over the years, the media has been regulated somewhat.

What is news? Any important thing that the media would like to tell you that happened in the past twenty- four hours. Media decides what is newsworthy. The gatekeepers decide what goes onto the paper and radio and how it is presented. The time limitation and impact of the story are factored into what is news. In politics, there is something called horserace journalism- focus on the guy who is winning.

Media and the president:

All major news organizations have journalists in all cites. In Washington DC they have disproportionate number. Of all the press corporations in Washington DC, a third are assigned to cover the White House. The White House allows special access to the president and sometimes addresses the media. They have the office of the president and the secretary give information to the press.

Some ways the press receives information:
1. News releases- prepared speeches.
2. News briefing- every day there is an announcing and releasing of the press secretary.
3. News conferences- high level officials are questioned by the press. This is often rehearsed.
4. Leaks- often intentional. Information is given out by officials. Officials are guaranteed anonymity. Sometimes leaks are sent out to gage a response- called floating ideas.

Reporters are expected to behave in a certain way:
1. On the record- official could be quoted by name.
2. Off the record- you can’t mention his name or what he said.
3. On background- what he said could be printed, but not his name.
4. On deep background- you can’t even say you heard it from a source.

Congress gets less media attention than the president and they don’t have such tight control over the press. Most of the news about Congress is about Congress in general, not about a particular person. It’s about hearings or scandals… CSPAN is a cable network with twenty- four hour news of what goes on in Congress.

Media tends to be liberal and there is huge media bias.