Overview Chapter

This chapter focuses on the role of the media in politics. It contends that the news media serves as a different kind of intermediary than either parties or groups and that problems arise when the press is expected to perform the same functions as these institutions. The main ideas presented in this chapter are the following:

• The American press was initially tied to the nation's political party system (the partisan press) but gradually developed an independent position (the objective press).
• Although the United States has thousands of separate news organizations, they present a common version of the news which reflects journalists' shared view of what the news is.
• In fulfilling its responsibility to provide public information, the news media effectively perform three significant roles--those of signaler (the press brings relevant events and problems into public view), common carrier (the press serves as a channel through which political leaders can address the public), and watchdog (the press scrutinizes official behavior for evidence of deceitful, careless or corrupt acts).
• The press cannot do the job of political institutions, even though it increasingly tries to do so.