The Mass Media and Political Coverage
Our prime source of political news is the mass media. But as noted earlier, comparatively little time is devoted to it on the local TV news. The same can be said of the space in many newspapers. Network broadcasts, which have the largest audience, are limited to a half-hour and can only briefly report even major stories. More detailed coverage and analysis are available from cable news stations and programs like Meet the Press.
The focus of political coverage is on the president; whatever the president says or does is newsworthy. Part of the White House press corps always travels with the president to make sure every word and deed is immediately reported. With the exception of the most sensational deliberations of Congress or the courts (the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and the O.J. Simpson trials, for example), the media give less attention to the other branches of government. Cable television has more recently filled this void. The House of Representatives allowed TV coverage in 1979, and the Senate allowed it in 1986 through C-SPAN. truTV gives Americans insight into the workings of the judicial system. Whether TV cameras are allowed in a courtroom is up to the judge, and there has been a reluctance to grant permission in the wake of the Simpson criminal trial.