Chapter 19: The Mass Media "Media and the Presidency"

Introduction

In this chapter students learned about the basic forms of mass media, the role of mass media in politics, and government regulation of the mass media. In this activity students will take a closer look at the evolution of the media in presidential politics.

Lesson Description

Students will visit Newseum.org's Web site featuring the evolution of the relationship between the media and presidential candidates. They will explore a visual time line of the changing media and will read an essay by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. After answering questions about the material, students will write a one-page essay about the role the Internet played in the election of 2000.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will become aware of the influence of the mass media.
2. Students will be able to describe the changing relationship between the media and political candidates.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. Media coverage first entailed only newspaper or other written coverage of stories. In the 1940s the use of radio emerged, and television gained popularity in the 1950s. In the 1990s new technologies, including the Internet, made information highly accessible and instantly available to the public.
2. Students' answers will vary. Most will probably say that the press is not protective of public figures today.
3. Students' answers may vary. Television images proved very powerful in shaping public opinion. It allowed candidates to reach millions of people quickly and directly. Candidates used television to air advertisements and stage media events to influence public opinion.
4. Students' answers may vary. The relationship today generally is not as genial as it used to be. The press today does not seem to be as forgiving and is less likely to leave candidates' private lives private.
5. Students' essays will vary.