Manipulating Access
There is constant tension between those assigned to ferret out the news and those as-signed to control press access to news sources. Press secretaries, public information officers, and public relations firms are hired to encourage press access to favorable information and to minimize or block Cartier Replica access to unfavorable information. When negative information seeps out, it is the function of news managers to prevent or lessen its spread through the media and to cast it in the best possible light.
News managers control the press by controlling press access to those who have in-formation–for example, by limiting the number of presidential press conferences or by communicating through press releases. Control can also be exerted by providing easy access to those likely to cover an issue or program favorably and limiting the access of those thought to be opposed to the interests of the news source.
Exclusive interviews with reporters function this way. The third highest-rated pro-gram of the spring 1995 season was Diane Sawyer’s exclusive Prime Time Live interview with music star Michael Jackson and his then wife, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of deceased rock icon Elvis Presley. The interview was Jackson’s first after his settlement of charges that he had sexually molested a young boy and after his marriage to Presley. Only the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards drew larger audiences. The agreement for the interview coincided with ABC’s decision to trade ad time worth about $1 million for rights to the star’s future videos. Those in ABC’s news division denied that they had known of the entertainment division’s talks with Jackson’s managers when they scheduled the exclusive interview.
Jackson’s goal was promoting his new album, “HI Story–Past, Present and Future, Book I,” which was released shortly after the interview. News stories reported that “in return for the rights to Jackson’s videos, according to an ABC executive, ABC Entertainment aired ten, 30-second advertisements promoting the album between Diane Sawyer’s interview on June 14 and the release of the album on June 21.”The timing led some to surmise that Jackson’s managers had, in effect, given ABC the exclusive interview in return for promotional time for Jackson’s new album. By airing the spots between segments of the interview, the news show became, in effect, an extended pro-motion for the new album.
It is also possible to manipulate coverage by leaking information favorable to one position or damaging to an opponent’s position. Finally, government officials control access by refusing to respond to a specific question on the grounds that the requested information would breach national security, by Tag Heuer Carrera Replica asserting that the person being questioned is not empowered to reveal the information, or by answering that the matter is still under study or in litigation.
The press’s desire for access is generally expressed as “the public’s right to know.” Problems emerge when this right conflicts with an individual’s right to privacy (should a rape victim’s name be included in a news story about a rape?), the right to a fair trial (does publicity minimize a defendant’s ability to get a fair trial?), and national security (should the media voluntarily suppress information that may damage the nation’s interests at home or abroad?).
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