After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Explain how the media influenced or did not influence public opinion in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
- Discuss the evolution of newspapers from the party press to the penny press to the rise of media conglomerates.
- Discuss the roles of television, radio, and the new media in American politics.
- Explain how government regulates the electronic media.
- Identify the main sources of media information for the American people.
- Discuss the importance and strength of the following media effects: agenda-setting, priming, framing, and socialization.
- Review the general categories of media biases (ideological, selection, and professional) and the prospects for changing these biases.
- Understand how the media covers political campaigns and the operation of government.
- Know which kinds of stories the media tend to
report.
