Practicing texas politics 16th edition pdf

Chapter6

The Media and Politics

· Chapter Introduction

· 6-1 Where Do We Get Our Information?

· 6-1a Print Media: Newspapers and Newsmagazines

· 6-1b Electronic Media: Radio and Television

· 6-1c Digital Media: The Internet and Social Media

· 6-2 The Media's Roles in Politics

· 6-2a Providing Information

· 6-2b Maintaining Democracy

· 6-2c Setting the Public Agenda

· 6-2d Shaping Our Views?

· 6-3 Campaigns and Citizen Participation

· 6-3a Campaigns and the Traditional Media

· 6-3b Digital Campaigning

· 6-3c Citizen Participation in the Digital Age

· 6-4 Bias?

· 6-4a Media Bias and the News

· 6-4b What Research Finds

· 6-5 Regulation

· 6-5a Regulation of Print and Broadcast Media

· 6-5b Internet Regulation

· 6-5c State and Local Regulation

· 6-6 Change in the Media: More Participation, More Sources, but Less News?

· 6-6a Concentration of Ownership

· 6-6b For Good and for Bad: The Rise of the Internet and Social Media

· 6-6c The Future?

· 6-7 Chapter Review

· 6-7aConclusion

· 6-7bChapter Summary

· 6-7cKey Terms

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics Chapter Introduction

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

Chapter Introduction

Milt Prigee/Cagle Cartoons

Critical Thinking

· Can government protect and promote the individual's needs and the society's interests in the face of great commercial power and rapidly developing communications technology? How? Why?

Learning Objectives

· 6.1 
Compare the ways in which Texans get their information today with past patterns.

· 6.2 
Describe the roles of the media in Texas politics.

· 6.3 
Discuss the roles of the media in modern Texas election campaigns.

· 6.4 
Analyze whether there is ideological bias in the Texas media.

· 6.5 
Distinguish how print and electronic media are regulated by government.

· 6.6 
Discuss the positive and negative effects of the changes the media are undergoing in Texas.

The media have long had a major impact on politics in Texas and the nation. They play a major role in maintaining our democracy: informing citizens and leaders about what governments and politicians are doing and the debates about those actions, sometimes reporting things officials would rather we didn't know, affecting the set of issues that governments consider seriously, and to some degree shaping public opinion. In carrying out these roles, the media both affect and are affected by the other political actors—government and political leaders, interest groups, and the public. Because of the importance of the media and their diverse nature, there is serious debate about whether and what kinds of bias exist and about the rapidly changing nature of the media (changes such as the decline of newspapers, the growth of the Internet and social media, and the growing concentration of ownership of newspapers, television, and digital media [as illustrated by the cartoon that opens this chapter]). These topics are explored in this chapter.

Please note two points about terminology. First, the word media is pluralplural; for example, “The media have long had a major impact.” Second, there are differences among authors on terminology. The term print media is generally accepted for newspapers and newsmagazines. Here, we refer to radio and television as electronic media and at times distinguish between broadcast and cable television. The Internet and social media are referred to as digital media.

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-1 Where Do We Get Our Information?

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-1 Where Do We Get Our Information?

LO 6.1

Compare the ways in which Texans get their information today with past patterns.

Although the simple answer to the question of where we get our information is from newspapers and newsmagazines, television and radio, and the Internet and social media, the answer is more complex. Most people get news from more than one source, and whether they remember the information depends on the trust they have for the source and a number of other factors. Newspapers were once the dominant source of news for individuals. Today, however, newspapers are in decline in both numbers and readership. Television news is widely watched but is thin in content and is gradually being outpaced by the Internet and social media. Although often absent in discussions of sources of news, family and friends are an important source of news for many individuals. The most common way that people (almost three-quarters of all Americans) get news personally is, not surprisingly, from conversations, in person or over the phone. Almost two-thirds of adults follow up the information from family and friends by seeking the story in the news media—traditional or new.

As Table 6.1 shows, television is still the place where the most people get news, but the Internet is second, and newspapers, once first, are now third. The table also shows that many people get their news from more than one source. In the survey reported in Table 6.1, adult Americans were asked to which source they “regularly” turned for news about the 2012 election campaign. Respondents could give more than one response, and the total percentages add to more than 260—an average of 2.6 sources regularly consulted. Table 6.2 shows that Texans and the nation have similar patterns of attention to sources of news. Among Texans, television is still the most common source of news, but the other media are not far behind.

Table 6.1

Sources for Campaign News, 2012

Note: Numbers do not add to 100% because respondents could answer “regularly” to more than one item.

Source: Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, www.journalism.org/2012/10/25/social-media-doubles-remains-limited/ .

Critical Thinking

· There are many sources of news. Can you rank them in terms of which are better sources? What are the things you consider in the ranking?

Table 6.2

Attention to News Sources in the U.S. and Texas

Source: 2012 National Election Study Time Series, Survey Documentation and Analysis, University of California, Berkeley, http://sda.berkeley.edu , analyzed by author February 6, 2014.

Critical Thinking

· The table shows no major differences in paying attention to the news between the national and Texas samples. Why is this?

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-1a Print Media: Newspapers and Newsmagazines

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-1a Print Media: Newspapers and Newsmagazines

Newspapers were long the news media for Americans. Nationally, newspapers began in the colonies in the early 1700s and had become important sources of political news by 1750. After 1800, they grew in number and news content, increasing from 92 newspapers in 1789 (the effective date of the U.S. Constitution) to 1,200 in 1835. The number of U.S. newspapers peaked at just over 2,600 at the beginning of the 20th century and declined to about 1,400 by 2009. Circulation peaked at 37 percent of the population in 1947 and then declined to 15 percent by 2009. From the first newspaper in Texas, the Gaceta de Texas (which may have published only one or two editions), to Texas's independence, few newspapers were actually published in the state. By 1860, there were 82. Most ceased publication during the Civil War, but the number increased soon after the war and on into the 20th century.

By 1965, Texas ranked third in the nation in number of daily newspapers, and 80 percent of Texas households subscribed to at least one newspaper. However, competition from television slowed the growth of newspapers, and the advent of the Internet put them into decline. Newspapers have been particularly hurt by the loss of advertising to Internet sites. Loss of classified ads to such sites as Craigslist has been especially damaging to revenue. By 2013, there were 81 dailies in the state, compared to 118 in 1975. Nevertheless, the Dallas Morning News ranked 12th nationally in circulation in 2012 (410,000) and the Houston Chronicle 14th (326,000). Like others in the state and nation, both newspapers have reduced staff and newspaper size. Nationally, by 2012, newspaper professional employment was down 30 percent since 2000 and below 40,000 for the first time since 1978.

In 2012, Texas had 404 newspapers that were published less often than daily (most commonly weekly). These weeklies tend to provide local social and political news but little state or national news. (Lots of pictures of kids, awards, and weddings help circulation greatly.) They tend to serve small towns and counties, suburban areas, college campuses, and communities with common interests such as business, legal, military, and ethnic groups. One listing shows 46 ethnic newspapers serving African Americans, Latinos, or the major Asian groups (14 in Dallas, 13 in Houston, and 19 in the rest of the state). Decline of the major dailies has given an opening to alternative newspapers in some cities, notably the Dallas Observer, Houston Press, and Austin Chronicle. Availability of print news has been boosted to some extent by the rise of several newspapers to national circulation, particularly the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and perhaps the Los Angeles Times. These dailies, of course, carry little Texas state and local news.

Newsmagazines have always been fewer in number and read by fewer people. However, such periodicals are quite influential because they tend to be read by elites. Because newsmagazine reporters have more time to gather information and study it, their stories often provide more perspective than those published in newspapers. With its large population, Texas would seem a likely candidate for several competing newsmagazines. However, this competition has not emerged. Progressives and liberals have read the Texas Observer since 1954, but there is not a comparable conservative newsmagazine. Texas Monthly, a slick, well-written magazine, carries some political articles and commentary but focuses more on social and cultural stories. Its article on the best and worst legislators after each biennial session of the Texas legislature is watched with trepidation by legislators up for reelection. As is detailed below, political websites on the Internet have taken up some of the slack from the shortage of state newsmagazines.

Office of the weekly Menard News and Messenger in Menard, southeast of San Angelo.

Menard News and Messenger

Critical Thinking

· Will local newspapers survive the Internet challenge? Why or why not?

The print media have been particularly important sources of political information for at least four reasons. First, compared with television and radio, print media have the space to cover more stories and to develop these stories in greater detail. Although many in the general public are satisfied with only the headlines and highlights, opinion leaders and those actually involved in government and politics need more detail and more complete coverage. Hence the second reason for the importance of newspapers is that they are the major source of news for the elite (the better educated, more affluent population and the political leaders). Third, newspapers remain the largest gatherers of news. The major national newspapers and two wire services (Associated Press [AP] and Reuters) provide much of the national and international news that appears in other newspapers, on television and radio, and in Internet blogs. Newspapers tend to set the news agenda for broadcast news. The print media have more reporters to find the news and are more often the ones who break stories (that is, initially report them). Finally, the major print media today require that stories be vetted for accuracy and attempt to follow standards of objectivity in reporting. Objectivity and vetting are only gradually developing on the Internet and are often problems on the two leading cable news channels, Fox on the right (the conservative side) and MSNBC on the left (the liberal side). (See the section later in this chapter on “Bias?”)

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-1b Electronic Media: Radio and Television

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-1b Electronic Media: Radio and Television

Commercial radio in the United States began in the 1920s and by the 1930s entered its two-decade “Golden Age.” Radio, however, did not penetrate Texas and the rest of the South in the 1930s to the degree that it did elsewhere. In Texas and other states, coverage of the war fronts during World War II enhanced the standing of radio, as did its value as a distraction from the horrors of war. Nationally and in Texas, radio remains pervasive. Ninety-nine percent of American homes have one or more radios receiving broadcasts from more than 11,000 radio stations. In Texas, there are 950 stations, almost double the number of newspapers.

Radio is still an important source of entertainment, particularly music, but it has limited value as a source of political news. Radio stations usually provide five minutes of news on the hour—headlines without much detail. For state and national news, most have at best a small news staff and depend on stories from the news services or feeds from such sources as the Texas State Network or, more recently, Fox News Radio. Local news tends to be light, and politics must compete with local social, cultural, and sports events for the short time available.

Two developments have increased the news impact of radio: the rise of talk radio and the development of radio focused on news. In the 1980s, politically oriented radio call-in talk shows became popular. Two decisions by the federal government had a major impact on this phenomenon. In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) abolished the Fairness Doctrine that required stations to provide both sides of controversial topics they chose to air. As a result of the doctrine, both liberals and conservatives had been common in the small world of talk radio. Without the Fairness Doctrine, conservatives quickly outpaced the liberals. The change is rooted in a technical factor. Because of the way radio waves are transmitted, AM radio has a poorer sound quality than FM radio. As a result, since the 1960s AM stations had been losing music listeners (and with them, advertising) to the better sound quality of FM. Talk shows did not require high-quality audio, however, and were welcomed by the AM stations. Nevertheless, since the 1990s, many talk shows have moved from AM to FM.

In a second change, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 facilitated the development of large chains of radio stations, which in turn made easier the syndication of popular talk radio programs. This made talk radio available to more stations and their listeners. Clear Channel Communications, headquartered in San Antonio, for example, has become a major national and Texas player in talk radio. It owns 840 stations nationwide, including 58 in Texas of which eight are news and talk radio stations. By 1991, conservative Rush Limbaugh had become the most syndicated talk show host in the United States, followed in the early 2000s by another conservative, Sean Hannity, and many others.

In Texas, nationally syndicated talk show hosts have substantial followings, along with hosts with Texas origins, such as Alex Jones, Michael Berry (husband of Texas Secretary of State Nandita Berry), Neal Boortz, Joe Pagliarulo, and Dan Patrick (who achieved political prominence as a member of the Texas Senate before election as lieutenant governor in 2014). Talk radio has provided an opportunity for its predominantly conservative audience members to air their views and create a sense of community. Studies indicate that talk shows are a mix of news and entertainment, with more than half of listeners simply reinforcing their preexisting views. Nevertheless, research also shows that regular listeners are influenced by the views they hear.

The political role of radio has also been enhanced by the availability of all-news stations—some local, some part of large chains, and some from satellite radio, which provides a variety of news formats. In addition, public radio provides substantial coverage of local, state, and national news. Examples include Austin's KUT, KERA in Dallas, Houston's KUHT, and Texas Public Radio, which operates several stations in San Antonio and the Hill Country. National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), and local public radio and TV stations receive a small amount of public financing but raise most of their money from individual and corporate donors. In Austin, KUT's coverage is enriched by a partnership with the online newspaper The Texas Tribune. Additionally, several public radio stations in the state have combined resources for reporting on environmental and energy-related issues through a collaboration called StateImpact.

Regularly scheduled television broadcasting in the United States began in 1928. However, Texas did not have commercial television until after World War II, when the industry began to flourish nationally. In 1948 WBAP-TV, the first television station in Texas and the South, was opened by Amon G. Carter, publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a pioneer in Texas radio. In the 1950s, television flourished in the state. It appears that Texas paralleled the nation in the expansion of television. Nationally, the number of households with television expanded from 9 percent in 1950 to 97 percent in 1975, a percentage that has held steady to the present. Today, 80 percent of households have cable or satellite, although the proportion is declining among younger viewers. As of 2014, there were about 125 television stations in Texas, 12 of which are Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations, covering 99 percent of the state's population.

As Table 6.1 shows, television news today comes in at least five different formats. From the most to the least used by the public, they are cable news (particularly Fox, MSNBC, and CNN), local news, network news (NBC, CBS, and ABC), news talk shows, and late night comedy shows.

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-1c Digital Media: The Internet and Social Media

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-1c Digital Media: The Internet and Social Media

In comparison to the other media, the Internet is a recent phenomenon with its roots in the 1960s. The blooming of what we think of as the Internet (sometimes referred to as the Net) and social mediaWebsites and computer applications that allow users to engage in social networking and create online communities. Social media provide platforms for sharing information and ideas through discussion forums, videos, photos, documents, audio clips, and the like. came in the period 1994–2004. In the last decade, there has been an explosive growth of websites, both in number and function. Not surprisingly, the Net has become a vital part of politics and society. Today, news websitesAn Internet site that provides news. These sites are often affiliated with a newspaper or television station, but many are independent. and political blogsA website or web page on which a writer or group of writers record opinions, information, and links to other sites on a regular basis. are increasingly important outlets for news. It is now quite rare for a Texas newspaper (including weeklies) or television station not to have a website providing a range of news (some extensive, some not). The connection with social media is also strong. Logos for sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and Linkedin are commonly found on the state's newspapers, television, and magazines and their Internet sites. These logos encourage readers to join conversations happening on these sites about current issues, and some users prefer to log in through social media to navigate news sites and to post comments.

Symbols of the new media: Facebook, Twitter, and the Tumblr site for Texas's online newspaper, The Texas Tribune.

Source: www.facebook.com; www.twitter.com; http://texastribune.tumblr.com/

Critical Thinking

· How have the Internet and social media influenced the reliability of news?

In addition, since 2009, the Texas Tribune has been a high-quality nonprofit online newspaper that reaches a wide range of people, including most of the state's political elite. Texas has long had political newsletters that cover major issues and happenings—generally for a fee. The Quorum Report, for example, has been a self-described source of “information and gossip” since 1983 and went online in 1998. One of the more influential political blogs in the state is by Texas Monthly senior executive editor Paul Burka (BurkaBlog).

The two major political parties, most statewide and some local candidates, and a multitude of interest groups maintain blogs, along with writers on the left and right. Examples of ideological blogs include Burnt Orange Report and Grits for Breakfast on the left and North Texas Conservative and The Conservative Cloakroom on the right. In spite (or because) of their minority status in the state, liberals have been more successful in establishing Texas blogs. As Tables 6.1 and 6.2 show, from a fourth to a third of Texans and Americans currently get news from the Internet.

Over time, the use of social media has grown considerably among all demographic groups. Today, almost three-fourths of Americans over 18 use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, with small differences in amount of usage based on gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, or residence (urban, suburban, or rural). Only age shows a substantial difference, and even then the oldest generation is not absent. Ninety percent of those 18–29 use social networking sites, compared to 46 percent of those 65 and older. Which site is preferred evolves over time. In the period 2011–2014, Facebook appears to have lost 59 percent of its high school and college users, but numbers for other demographic groups continued to grow.

People get news from social networking sites, but it tends to be incidental to looking for something else. Thus, they have more exposure to news but may disregard or forget the message because it was not their primary focus. Facebook remains the most common networking site (used by almost two-thirds of adults). As Figure 6.1 shows, 30 percent of U.S. adults get news from that site. The range of news topics users find on Facebook is broad. Entertainment news about celebrities is the most common kind of information accessed. News about national government and politics is fourth, and local government is seventh (see Figure 6.2). Half of social network users have shared the news they gather there with others on the site, and almost half have discussed the information online. A minority also have contributed to news reporting by posting photos or video they took at a news event.

Figure 6.1

Percent of U.S. Adults Who Get News from Each Social Networking Site and Who Use Each Site

Note: The percent of U.S. adults who get news on Pinterest and Vine is less than one percent each. Facebook News Survey, Aug. 21-Sept. 2, 2013 (N=5,173)

Source: Katerina Eva Matsa and Amy Mitchell, “8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News,” Pew Research Journalism Project, March 26, 2014, http://www.journalism.org/2014/03/26/8-key-takeaways-about-social-media-and-news/ .

Critical Thinking

· Is the proportion of those getting news from social media likely to increase or decrease? Why?

Figure 6.2

Percent of Facebook News Consumers Who Regularly See News on Facebook About …

Source: Katerina Eva Matsa and Amy Mitchell, “8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News,” Pew Research Journalism Project, March 26, 2014, http://www.journalism.org/2014/03/26/8-key-takeaways-about-social-media-and-news/ .

Critical Thinking

· How good are the quantity and quality of news people get on social media?

Learning Check 6.1

1 From which medium do the most people get their news today?

2 From which medium did most people get their news in the early 20th century?

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-2 The Media's Roles in Politics

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-2 The Media's Roles in Politics

LO 6.2

Describe the roles of the media in Texas politics.

The media are commonly said to fill four roles in U.S. and Texas politics: to provide information for the public and decision makers, to help us maintain our democracy, to help shape the public agenda (what government does and doesn't do), and to shape our views.

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-2a Providing Information

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-2a Providing Information

The first role, providing information, is basic and sounds simple. However, the transfer of information to the public is complex. Most people are not involved in politics and at best care only marginally about what is happening politically. They are more likely to hear and remember ideas and important but unexciting information if it comes from someone they trust. This source may be a trusted newscaster such as Walter Cronkite(1916-2009), the Texan who was anchor for CBS's nightly news program for 19 years, or local news anchors such as Houston's Bill Balleza, Dallas/Fort Worth's Gloria Campos, or San Antonio's Randy Beamer. Bloggers and talk show hosts also may fill this role. Trusted “opinion leaders” are most often friends or relatives who pay close attention to the news on traditional or new media and pass on the information to people they know. Because these leaders are known and trusted, the information they provide is more likely to be heard, remembered, and further explored. A majority of Americans who hear about a story from friends and family follow up by seeking a full news story.

Knowing something about an issue increases the probability that related media stories will be heard and remembered. Members of the political elite are more likely to pay attention to the news and to get more out of it than the general public. They know more initially, and because of their knowledge they feel a greater incentive to become aware of what is happening. Research shows that there is a substantial, long-term difference between ordinary citizens and leaders in understanding the news and in levels of knowledge (remembering and putting it into context). Many scholars see a growing knowledge divide between the informed and the less informed.

An impediment to gaining information for both the interested public and the elite is the softening of the news. Growth in the number and range of alternatives to newspapers and network evening news has produced a sharp increase in competition for advertising dollars, which are closely connected to audience size. To gain more readers/listeners, news providers have increased the amount of entertainment in news broadcasts (often referred to as soft newsNews that is more entertaining, sensationalized, covers only the surface, and has little connection to public policy.) and decreased the quantity of hard newsNews that focuses on the facts, provides more depth, and commonly has implications for public policy.. Local television news in Texas and elsewhere has long focused on accidents, crime, and the reaction of local residents to national events. As a result, although crime has declined in many cities such as Houston and Dallas, regular viewers of local news often believe that crime is increasing. Similarly, followers of talk radio, one of the ideological cable television networks (Fox and MSNBC), or ideological Internet blogs may develop more political knowledge but also come to accept inaccurate or incomplete versions of reality.

Digital media make important contributions to the flow of information to the public. They remove the filters put in place by traditional media and allow the public to communicate directly. The site Reddit (commonly written as reddit), for example, allows users (rather than media professionals) to select the most important stories of the day. Unfortunately, the news role of social media has a fundamental conflict without an easy answer. On the one hand, few people use sites such as reddit (see Figure 6.1), and for those users, entertainment value often trumps substantive value in the news chosen. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence to support the charge that news selection by professional journalists is elitist in nature and does not resonate with a large part of the public.

Government, interest groups, and the elite want to “get the word out” to the public. This long meant trying to get the print and electronic press to cover their concerns as news. Today, the Internet and social media provide an array of direct outlets for users: advertisements on others' sites; their own Internet sites; blogs; and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Chapter 6: The Media and Politics: 6-2b Maintaining Democracy

Book Title: Practicing Texas Politics

Printed By: Ali Hussain G Almutlaq (almutlaq-2@hotmail.com)

© 2015 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

6-2b Maintaining Democracy

A second task often assigned to the media is protecting democracy. Historically, the media have played a key protective role, but the quality of the protection has varied greatly. The media play a vital informational role for both ordinary citizens and leaders. Without the media reporting what is happening, citizens would be unable to make intelligent decisions in voting and other forms of political participation. We would be dependent on what the government and interest groups tell us. We also rely on the media to investigate and dig out information the government and special interests wish to hide. Over time, the ability of the press to fill these roles has fluctuated.

The Partisan Past

Throughout the 19th century, newspapers in Texas and the nation were highly partisan, often scurrilous, and not addicted to the truth. For example, newspapers around the state were strongly divided on the personality of Sam Houston in both the editorial and news pages. When newspapers reemerged after the Civil War, they divided sharply over Reconstruction's Governor Edmund J. Davis. Nevertheless, the “yellow journalismJournalism that is based on sensationalism and exaggeration.” practiced by the Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers at the close of the 19th century laid a foundation for investigative journalism, according to some historians. Others see yellow journalism as the ancestor of today's supermarket tabloids. In any event, the Galveston News in the second half of the 19th century began to move away from harsh partisanship, and by the end of the century most Texas newspapers were following suit. Two factors seem to have contributed to this movement toward more evenhanded reporting. One was the growth of news services such as the Associated Press, which meant that newspapers were sharing the same story. The other was the increasing reliance on advertising revenue. Technological changes made possible the publication of large runs of a newspaper, which increased circulation. Publishers had to become more moderate and professional because they could not afford to alienate either advertisers or subscribers. Advertisers then and now look at circulation numbers to determine whether to buy advertising space and how much to pay.

Professionalism and Democracy

In the 20th century, professionalismReporting that is objective, neutral, and accurate. gradually became the standard for American and Texas journalists. To be professional, reporting should be objective, neutral, and accurate, not based on partisanship, ideology, or the economic interest of reporters or owners of media outlets. Professional journalism has long been seen as important to democracy. Citizens and leaders gain a fuller and more accurate picture of events, and government and special interests get away with less. However, there are other perspectives. Advocacy journalists strive for accuracy but reject objectivity (presenting both sides well). Ideological publications, such as the Texas Observer, practice advocacy. In newspapers, the distinction is easier to see. It is on the “news pages” that professionalism—objectivity and neutrality—should apply. Advocacy is practiced on the editorial pages, where editors and columnists give their opinions. In television news, the news and opinion segments tend to be less clearly separated.

Professionalism is, of course, an ideal, and most suppliers of news are judged by how close they come to the ideal, not by whether they are perfect. Several trends have chipped away at the standards of professionalism, and critics have noted that professional journalists tend to see official sources (that is, government officials and other powerful people) as reliable, legitimate, and knowledgeable. Thus, professionals may overreport views of the government and the elite to the neglect of other views. Critics note, for example, that reporters seem to have long taken at face value the bragging by legislative leaders about balancing the Texas state budget when the federal government has not been able to do so. The fuller picture is that the state constitution makes it virtually impossible for the legislature to spend more than the comptroller predicts the state will have available to spend.

Similarly, being objective means presenting multiple perspectives of an issue. However, if there is no debate among the powerful, concerns by ordinary citizens may be neglected. For example, problems at Veterans Affairs hospitals in Texas and the nation were long underreported. Also, there may be two sides to an issue among political leaders but a third side held by the public that may go unreported in the news. For example, in the recent debate over anti-abortion legislation passed by the legislature in 2013, most of the reporting focused on the two extremes—pro-life and pro-choice. However, for years the largest segment of the public has tended to reject the two extremes—no abortion at all or abortion for any reason. Americans are more likely to believe that abortion should be available but only under certain circumstances. The independent nature of Internet and social media interactions give hope that citizen views, not reflected in elite opinion, will also be heard.

In recent years, the national media have become more adversarialReporting featuring opposition and a combative style. Also called attack journalism.. Aggressive use of investigations, publicity, and exposure has given them more independence and prominence. There is serious question as to whether the adversarial approach has happened in Texas, at least in the case of the traditional media (print and broadcast). The discussion of media coverage of scandals that follows provides some insight into this issue.

Most observers believe that the national media are more partisan today than during most of the last century. Clearly, some forms of media in Texas are partisan: blogs, social media, and talk radio/television. But the traditional media (newspapers and local television news) tend not to be heavily partisan. In terms of newspapers, differences are more a matter of degree than absolute. The editorial policy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, for example, is commonly seen as center-left, and its neighbor the Dallas Morning News is center-right. The Morning News, Star-Telegram, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, and Houston Chronicle all endorsed favorite son George W. Bush for president in 2004. In the three presidential elections from 2004 to 2012, four of the five papers endorsed at least one Republican and one Democrat. Only the Dallas paper was “red” (Republican) in all three elections.

Investigative Journalism

Today, we commonly look to the media to help keep our public officials honest by asking hard questions and investigating suspicious actions. Unfortunately, the ability of both the national and state (especially Texas) media to conduct investigations has declined. The reduction in the number of reporters is a major reason. An important tool for the watchdog role of the Texas media is the use of open meetings and open records.

Many government agencies and individual officials in Texas are reluctant to share information about how decisions affecting the public interest are made or the information used in making the decisions. In the past, meetings of school boards and other public boards were often closed to the public. However, during the 1973 session of the legislature, in the aftermath of the Sharpstown scandal (see below), the public interest group Common Cause received strong support from other public interest groups and the media to push through open meetingsMeetings of public entities that are required by law to be open to the public. and open recordsGovernment documents and records that are required by law to be available to the public. legislation. (A weak open meetings act was passed in 1967. The open records act is now officially the Public Information Act.) Today, as these acts have developed, they are among the strongest in the country.

Under open meetings law, government boards must discuss proposals and make their decisions in meetings open to the public. There are a few exceptions, such as personnel matters, contracts, and real property purchases or sales that can be discussed in executive (closed) session, but even then, actual decisions generally must be made in sessions open to the public. Ordinary citizens can, of course, attend, but it is reporting by the media that makes information widely available. Some cities and other government units now stream their meetings and make minutes and other documents available over the Internet.

Most reports, communications, and paperwork generated within executive agencies may be requested by citizens. In 2013, the legislature updated requirements to clarify the inclusion of emails. No reason need be given for the request, and there is no restriction on use of the information. Those most likely to ask for records are the news media, advocacy groups, and activists within the community.

As with open meetings, there are some restrictions as to what can be released, and this limitation can lead to difficulties obtaining information. For example, following the deadly 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, the state fire marshal aggressively inspected all 104 ammonium nitrate facilities in the state. When a reporter requested copies of some of the reports, the documents were so heavily redacted (marked through) that they were useless to the reporter. After requesting a state attorney general's opinion, the reporter received more information, although the attorney general's office ordered the fire marshal to redact the names and addresses of the facilities. During 2013-2014, the Texas Attorney General issued a string of opinions to state agencies ruling that the location of toxic chemicals should not be made public because of the danger of terrorism. The opinions highlight the conflict between keeping information from those who would do us harm and the public's needing to know where it is safe to live, to go to school, or to work.

The media not only report information they gather from open meetings and open records requests, they also report information obtained by others using data the state requires to be reported. For example, candidates, lobbyists, and officeholders are required to report financial information such as campaign contributions and expenditures to the Texas Ethics Commission, which places the information online but not always in a readily usable form. Public interest groups such as Texans for Public Justice often compile the information so as to make patterns clearer (for example, their report Texas' Top Lobbyists identified lobbyists who received up to $328 million for trying to influence the 2013 legislative session). The online Texas Tribune has developed several searchable databases, including salaries of public employees and the Texas Campaign Finance Database: 2000–2014.