The term news media refers to the groups that communicate information and news to people. Most Americans get their information about government from the news media because it would be impossible to gather all the news themselves. Media outlets have responded to the increasing reliance of Americans on television and the Internet by making the news even more readily available to people. There are three main types of news media: print media, broadcast media, and the Internet.

Print Media

The oldest media forms are newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other printed material. These publications are collectively known as the print media. Although print media readership has declined in the last few decades, many Americans still read a newspaper every day or a newsmagazine on a regular basis. The influence of print media is therefore significant. Regular readers of print media tend to be more likely to be politically active.

The print media is responsible for more reporting than other news sources. Many news reports on television, for example, are merely follow-up stories about news that first appeared in newspapers. The top American newspapers, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, often set the agenda for many other media sources.

The Newspaper of Record

Because of its history of excellence and influence, the New York Times is sometimes called the newspaper of record: If a story is not in the Times, it is not important. In 2003, however, the newspaper suffered a major blow to its credibility when Times journalist Jayson Blair admitted that he had fabricated some of his stories. The Times has since made extensive efforts to prevent any similar scandals, but some readers have lost trust in the paper.

Broadcast Media

Broadcast media are news reports broadcast via radio and television. Television news is hugely important in the United States because more Americans get their news from television broadcasts than from any other source.

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