Agenda Congestion
refers to how clogged or open the agenda is to new items
Alarm Model
reporting important events/issues that trigger the social or political equivalent of an alarm
-alarm model would mean that journalists and news outlets should not even try to monitor politics and society for all important information to convey to the publ
Patrol
scanning the surrounding policy/geographic neighborhoods for additional stories, often pursuing these stories through more in depth, investigative reporting.
- Actively search for crime being committed
- Catches crimes that do not trigger alarms
- Alarm/Patrol Hybrid
Investigative journalism only on the issues most important to the
public
Exs: alarm/patrol hybrid model is responsible for sustained media explosions like the one surrounding Terri Schiavo.
Bearing Witness
Firsthand coverage of events
-parachute war reporters
-covering press conferences
Disproportionate Information-Processing approach
-meaning agendas do not process real world events in real time or in proportion to the "size" of those events; instead going from one hot event to another, and excluding many other important issues
Explosiveness
The agenda will lurch from periods of relative stability (patrol periods) to moments of large change (alarm periods)
Interpretive reporting
-emphasize autonomy
-Provide evaluation of the facts, even if that means taking sides in a debate
-Should point out deception and spin from official sources
Following Up
Def.: seeking reasons for events
-Embedded war reporters
-Beat reporters
Formal Censorship
-legislation that sets forth what may and may not be published
Going Public
-President seeks to build public support for policies by speaking directly to citizens and generating positive news content through exchanges with the presses, public support can pressure Congress to follow administrations agenda.
-powerful strategy for a
Indexing
-level of policymaker attention surrounding an issue tends to affect the amount of coverage the issue will receive
Informal Censorship
-No censorship laws, but uses access to info to coerce press into self-censorship
Interpretation role of the media
-Providing explanations of a news items meaning, putting it into context, and speculating about its context
Ex: abortion
Investigative Journalism
Independent scrutiny by the press of the activities of public institutions
-Aim to document, question, and investigate activities
- In order to provide public's and officials with timely info on issues of public concern
Marketplace approach
-Competition-based incentives dramatically shape the stories that make the news.
Objective reporting
-emphasize objectivity
-Provide all sides of an issue or debate
-Present the facts, avoid favoring a single interpretation of the facts
-Do not evaluate merit of official sources
Organizational Process approach
- How journalists and editors respond to professional incentives to generate that day's news.
Public goods
Resources that anyone can consume
Skew
Some issues will be over reported (relative to the severity/importance of the problem), while others will be underreported
Socialization role of the media
Teaching basic values and orientations that prepare individuals to fit into their cultural environment
-Media suggest which behaviors produce desirable outcomes
-Provide the basic facts that allow people to change their attitudes
Surveillance role of the media
Determining which political happenings will be reported and which will be ignored
-Helps determine what information is salient
-Can influence the future behavior of officials
The CSI Effect
Drawing on fictional events to form opinions about unfamiliar scenarios
Wag the Dog (the concept, not the movie)
When elites shift the agenda away from salient, but harmful issues toward favorable, but less salient issues
Agency loss
The discrepancy between what principals would like their agents to do and how these agents actually behave