Editorial Cartoons

The first two cartoons stand in sharp contrast to one another.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/crook.html

The first is that of President Nixon.  Here the focus is on his crime in wiretapping his executive office and the greed that accompanied it.  The cartoon and message is very stylized.

http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/clinton-cartoon.jpg

In this cartoon portraying President Bill Clinton during the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal,  the focus is on his private matters.  The slapstick comedy that accompanies this is strikingly different in style than the "I'm not a crook" cartoon of Nixon. 

Together, these two present evidence of the evolution of the media's use of comedy and political opinion to influence the public.  

Sabato, Larry J. and Robert S. Lichter. “News Coverage of the Clinton Scandals: An Overview.” When Should the Watchdogs Bark? Media Coverage of the Clinton Scandals. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1994. 5-13. Print.

            Sabato and Lichter provide an overview of the Clinton Scandals and their media coverage.  The skeptics of the Clinton Administration start with personal affairs that date to long before the president’s campaign to the Whitehouse.  In 1993, “four Arkansas state troopers who had worked on then-Governor Clinton’s security detail publicly accused him of rampant womanizing”.  The media picks up this scandal and exposes the new issue in political news coverage: whether or not the “president’s personal life” is fair game for broadcast outlets.  The Whitewater case, which involves the controversies of financial problems associated with Whitewater Development Corporation, grabs far more headlines than the President’s personal relationships.  The Whitewater coverage outweighs that of the personal scandals during the Clinton Administration, and the coverage on the Whitewater Scandal is at a minimum.  For, over the years of Clinton’s presidency, “scandal news of all types has accounted for only five percent of the administration’s coverage of the network evening news broadcasts”.  Thus, the coverage of the Whitewater Scandal has been at a minimum in the news press, and the broadcast media has been more focused on the policies of the president, as opposed to personal issues.      

Paletz, David L. and Robert M. Entman. “Public Opinion.” Media Power Politics. New York: Free Press, 1981. 184-195.

            Paletz and Entman argue that “elites crystallize and define issues… (and) establish public opinion”  by manipulating the mass media, who are the “handmaidens of the powerful”.  The three main types of media are the specialized press such as business periodicals, prestige print media such as The Nation, and the popular press such as ABC.  The elites generate policy dependant on problems and events, and catapult their agenda into the public media. These ideas “flow downward”  and reach the masses.  This diminishes the general public’s power to create new ideas for political issues.   The elites, who are made up of politicians, intellectuals, and reporters, have a an unsteady hold on the public.  In 1979, the elites agreed that the gasoline shortage was “authentic, (but) polls showed that the majority of Americans felt it was contrived by the oil industry”.  This power-struggle persists to create a “frustration in exerting domination” for the elites.  The struggle persists from within the elites as well.  The media utilizes this “frustration” by swaying the public in their favor when the elites disagree, for the “media more often expedite than frustrate the control of elites as a class over the rest of society’s political ideas”. Whether the issue is domestic or foreign, the elite and the media have an intertwined role to play.   

New Project Guidelines

I will be researching the American mass media's effect on the public perception of politics and politicians.  I will analyze the way the media portrayed the Clinton and Watergate scandals, and how these portrayals impacted the public's perception on the government.  Using political cartoons and a brief history of the media, I will attempt to show my audience how to analyze the media's information on political agendas, and determine whether or not the facts or biased.  This will uncover the centuries-long power of the media to shift public opinion in american politics.

Abstract

Here is my abstract for my research paper.  I have since defined my thesis further, but this is the general subject matter of my project.

Kalee Mitchelson Dr. O’Conner

History Major

Public Perception: Media’s Influence on Public Political Opinion

Since the birth of American mass media during the 18^th century, power has been given to the media to mold public opinion on politicians and political issues.  This power has shifted over the centuries from agenda-driven political parties to a whole new sector of single-issue driven reporters, who seek to either destroy or advance specific political agendas.  I will explore this turbulent history of the mass media, and discover their biases and views on politics in America.  In analyzing the different media coverage on the Watergate and Clinton Scandals of the 20^th century, I will determine the current state of the mass media, its intentions, and its biases in the shaping of modern public opinion. 

Smith, Anthony. “The Condition of the Newspaper.” Goodbye Gutenberg: The Newspaper Revolution of the 1980’s. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1980. 27-41. Print.

            The newspaper’s long history begins in the seventeenth century with the “news-hawker”, who “negotiated” the released information.  The “nouvellistes” speak the news to crowds and in the early 19^th century, newsboys make the newspaper the “mental highway through which the imagery of the city traveled; it brought people into the city and held them there”.  The images and stories of individual American success fuel what Oswald Spenglar calls the “Age of Discussion” where “political change shifted irreversibly…from physical to mental struggle”.  The 1880’s provide the modern approach to “the signed dispatch” and the interview.  With that, the interview and the investigation become the most highly praised form of journalism.  The Washington Post maintains its hold on Watergate investigations by holding a monopoly over local newspapers.  This new economic stronghold changes the newspaper business to a “local monopoly market”.  The demographics change as a result.  The old demographics of the newspapers, the “elite”, lose interest in the commonality of the papers.  The population shift in the 1960’s to a “megalopolitan” lifestyle threatens the newspaper industry. Television dominates the news business and relays information faster than newspapers.  The old political opinions neutralize, and the public grow discontented with the “homogeneity of opinion” in the newspapers.  The “mid-life crisis” of the newspaper occurs with the increase of television maturity.   

Snow, Nancy. “Terrorism, Public Relations, and Propaganda.” Media, Terrorism, and Theory: A Reader. Ed. Anandram P. Kavoori. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. 145-160. Print.

Snow uncovers the changing face of propaganda in the United States.  The “looming charge of…propaganda casts a shadow on legitimate tools of persuasion that may benefit…the people of the United States”.  Since the Cold War, public relations have been muddled with government propaganda.  The Public Relations Society seeks to change this stigma.  The goal to persuade the audience, whilst maintaining credibility, is overshadowed by propaganda’s negative connotations. The beginning of propaganda, rooted in Pope Gregory XV and his Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith “ to promote the Catholic faith against the rise of Protestantism in northern Europe”, started as a tool of persuasion.  It has since evolved into American Government by being used interchangeably with “public diplomacy”.  Every government, “no matter what level of control”, uses propaganda to promote a desired view or information.  But, the difference between real public diplomacy and propaganda rests in credibility and the representation of different views.  Public diplomacy “involves interaction…with non-governmental individuals” to present many different views. Propaganda remains the poison of this higher form of persuasion.  The public distrusts its government and rejects the honorable forms of persuasion in fear of manipulation.  To repair this, public diplomacy must build “influence, trust, and credibility” with their clients to ensure a better relationship with the public.    

Myers, Gustavus. “Rise and Progress of the Gangs.” The History of Tammany Hall. New York: Boni & Liveright Inc, 1917. 128-139. Print.

            Myers analyzes Tammy Hall’s fight with political opposition to retain their stronghold on the New York public.  In 1840, a change in personnel within Tammany leads the political engine to be run from “the bottom of the social stratum”.  The immigrants seek political refuge with Tammany; the Native American Party and the Whig Party “bar them” from the enjoyment of political rights.  Tammany sets up a new department bureau to drill the immigrants and provide them with the means to become natural citizens. All of this, of course, ensures the Tammany vote.  Meanwhile, in 1844, “the foreign vote outnumbered that of the native-born citizens”.  The Whig Party is bewildered by the assistance to the naturalization of the foreigners.  Tammany further ensures the immigrant’s vote by holding “Irish, German and French meetings in the hall, where each nationality (is) addressed in its own language”.  The hold of Tammany on New York is strengthened by the immigrant’s large vote.  Mike Walsh and the “ward heelers”, known as “gangs” started to develop both for and against Tammany Hall.  Competition between Tammany, the Native American Party, and the Whig Party continues throughout the early 1840’s with wins on each side.  With the election of William F. Havemeyer for Mayor in 1845, Tammany regains another win.  Although Havemeyer is replaced by his own party in 1846, the public continues its love and hate relationship with Tammany Hall.  The public remains fooled.    

Terror and Sex

I decided to research some of the more contemporary aspects of the media.  The article on the Clinton Scandal was particularly interesting because it serves as a marker for the change between factual reporting and "vamp" reporting.  This exploitation has evolved into many different types of media: tabloids, shout shows, talk radio, etc.  Here is my annotated bib for the source on Clinton:

Hachten, William A. “ The Clinton Scandal and Mixed Media.” The Troubles of Journalism: A Critical Look at What’s Right and Wrong with the Press. 3^rd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005. 113-121. Print.

            

            Hachten observes the embarrassment of media journalism in the Clinton Scandal and beyond.  Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1998 brings out the worst in media journalism.  The “mixed media”, or the incorporation of new trends and technologies in reporting, has “altered the news media”.  The 24-hour cable news, opinion-based arguments, and “slinking standards” of sources support allegations “rather than dig out the truth”.  The sources hold power over the media.  The power in mixed media shifts from factual news to opinion-based talk TV on such networks as MSNBC and Fox News.  The journalism rule, that every source must be verified by two separate sources before being published, has been replaced by propaganda and the desire for “blockbuster stories”, such as the Clinton Scandal.  The media “shout shows” spew propaganda and political opinion that confuses the public, leading to disdain for the news media.  Public opinion can be mended with the incorporation of stern policies that research the validity of each source.  The doubt that exists in public opinion for the future of media journalism is based on the anticipation of the next big story.  A return to traditional journalism can, hopefully, mend the media’s relationship with factual reporting, and place them in good favor with the public view.    

Annotated Bibliography (d)

IN151, Assignment Three: Annotated Bibliography (d)

Serazio, Michael. “Rethinking a Villain, Redeeming a Format: The Crisis and Cure in Tabloidization.” The Changing Faces of Journalism: Tabloidization, Technology and Truthiness. Ed. Barbie Zelizer. New York: Routledge, 2009. 12-16. Print.

            Serazio raves about cheap media that “seduces through flashy fashion and vapid content”.  Tabloidization, which uses “vaudevillian bluster” to attract readers of all ages and walks of life, may not be the devil that journalism thinks it to be.  The format of the news strengthens the interest in politics and democracy.  This information is easily presented to “simplified palates of the lower class strata”.  The shift from factual news to obscene theatrics of tabloid writers spirals the news out of control.  Carolyn Kitch describes journalism as “feeling” and not “knowing”. 

Since September 11^th, people have become more apt to sentimental values than to factual news stories.  Tabloidization offers grief, but undermines heroism and “represents a danger of dependency”.  Sentiments thwart intellectual development in journalism.  Tabloids may be here to stay, but the “cheap” story should vanish.  The shift from lengthy, “complex stories” to the popular flash of tabloids has changed the world’s view on current events.  Elitist news, as the tabloids call it, may offer boring stories, but they are more accurate.  The popularity of tabloidization should be backed by “the fundamentals of good journalism”.  An alliance can be created, although “cautious peace with…(the) long time villain” will need compromise within “truth and objectivity”. 

             

Annotated Bibliography (c)

IN151 Assignment Three: Annotated Bibliography (c)

Alterman, Eric. “Introduction: Bias, Slander, and BS”. What Liberal Media?. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003. 1-13. Print.

Alterman, a self proclaimed liberal, starts his satirical outlook on media bias by telling us to “pick up a newspaper or turn on your TV”.  Media’s bias suits both the conservatives and the liberals, but sways to one side or the other, depending on what “social scientists” you talk to.  Stories are exaggerated and “liberal media” is “a myth”.  Republicans utilize the biggest tool of persuasion by demonizing the left.  Dwight Eisenhower degrades the liberal media who “sought to undermine the Republican Party’s efforts” to improve our nation.  Conservatives use the SCLM, or so-called liberal media, as an excuse for conservative failures.  Disproving the right proves easy to do.  Anne Coulter, a Republican and former MSNBC pundit, thinks all journalists are “retarded”.  Bernard Goldberg, author of Bias, uses just that, biases, as his success.  Self parodies at an all-time high, Goldberg breaks his “omerta” by attacking colleagues.  His failure to prove the liberal bias lies in his inability to do adequate research.  Social broadcasts, soaked with his “own experiences” discredits him completely.  Despite right-wing ravings, the media is an “independent beast”.  With the conservatives screaming for war, and the public confused on media bias, the time is right for America to “even up the sides a bit”.  

Annotated Bibliography (b)

Pasley, Jeffrey L. “The Newspaper-Based Political System of the Nineteenth-Century United States”. “The Tyranny of Printers”: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2001. 1-23. Print.

            Pasley explores the “merger” between the media and politics.  With journalists beginning as politicians, personal news stories are left out at the local level with “only the largest urban dailies…” reporting on personal, local stories.  The journalist’s power shifts as they “exercise control” in the 19^th century as the center of politics.  Sprung from “technological necessity” and the cultural need, politicians are unable to “campaign” independently.  Newspapers follow candidates to their events and mold public opinion on their political policy.  Word spreads by diverse American geography.  Jefferson-Hamilton debates spark increase in the partisan press and formation of the first political parties.  The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper created in 1831 by William Lloyd Garrison, springs from specialty interests.  The specialty papers are results from America’s uneven development in politics.  As the antebellum period ushers in new political parties, New York’s Tammany Hall dominates as one of the only political organizations to campaign constantly and independently.  Newspapers fill the gaps for others.  Newspaper editors become the most prominent politicians.  Thurlow Weed becomes a Whig and Republican editorial leader, using “political communication”.  The “newspaper politics” from the late 1760’s-1830’s define the editor’s role in the democratization of partisanship in America. 

Annotated Bibliography (a)

Huntzicker, William E. “News Hits the Streets”. The Popular Press: 1833-1865. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. 1-18.

Huntzicker recounts the History of American Newspapers beginning with “blanket sheets”: large newspapers big enough to “sit on”. These begin to change as The New York Sun incorporates personal articles and smaller papers.  The switch from “partisan and merchant journalism to commercial penny press” occurs with the creation of a mass audience.  David Day opens the Sun for ordinary people to read about themselves.  “A Boy Who Whistled Too Much” is an example of a simple narrative about people with little political relevance. As the paper grows, George Wisner, the “first full time police reporter” for the Sun becomes Day’s partner.  The “editorial moralizing” and “human miscellany” encompassed by articles such as “THE WAY THE WORLD WAS MADE” are titled all in caps to grab attention. Personal biases form most of the stories.  The sentiments cease once The Civil War leads to the following criteria in journalism: Who, what, where, and when.  Wisner follows the lead to become a master of journalism for the Sun, and Day promotes his company and heads the advertisements such as  “Marshall’s Infallible Remedy for the Piles”, a cure for hemorrhoids, which appeals to “unfortunate New Yorkers”.  This type of “succinct advertising” grabs the attention of the masses.

Annotated Bibliographies

So far, my research has consisted of reading through varies books on the history of press in America.  I have found two interesting points so far: The early newspapers in New York slowly started to be consisted of novelties items in the 19th century, and that the first real politicians were actually newspaper editors.

First Blog

This is my first blog on The Wonders of Visual Rhetoric.