CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE LEFT OUT: BEYOND THE TWO-PARTY HORSE RACE A DOCUMENTARY FILM A thesis project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication By Jesse Bertel Ickler May 2015 The thesis of Jesse Ickler is approved: ________________________________ ___________ Professor David A. Blumenkrantz, MFA Date ________________________________ ___________ Dr. José Luis Benavides, Ph.d Date ________________________________ ___________ Dr. Melissa A. Wall, Ph.d., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to my project. First, thanks to my thesis committee members, Professor David A. Blumenkrantz, Dr. José Luis Benavides, and committee chair, Dr. Melissa Wall, for their notes and guidance along the way. Without their help, my project wouldn’t exist. Next, I want to thank Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman, Ralph Nader, and Luis J. Rodriguez for allowing me to film them. Their interviews and perspectives were the most crucial parts of my project. A special thank you to Noam Chomsky for granting me the opportunity to meet with him upon my first request, which in turn, opened the doors to subsequent interviews with Amy Goodman and Ralph Nader. I would like to thank my dedicated crew of three, Hector Zamora, Cesar Moreno, and Scott Glasser. They were the tripod on which I stood for over a year of shooting, traveling, and editing. Without them, I never would have accomplished shooting the campaign, and survived Boston, New York, and Washington DC. Thanks to Stephanie Henkel for helping me with interviews. A special thanks to Ankur Patel for keeping this fire burning from start to finish. Lastly, I want to say thank you to my wonderful daughter, Jade Maria Ickler. During this year, you gave me a reason to keep pushing forward. Your smile kept me going, even when it was difficult. Thank you for being patient with your busy father. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 4 Propaganda Model 4 News, Journalist, and Political Coverage 8 Objectivity in the Newsroom 9 Profit Considerations 10 Authoritative Viewpoints 10 Indexing 11 Follow the Trail of Power 12 Observe, Narrate, Adjudicate 12 News Icons 13 Horse Race Election Coverage 13 Third Party Candidates in the American Two-Party System 14 Nine Myths of the Two-Party System 15 The Role of Third-Parties 16 Constraints on Third-Party Success 16 Media Coverage of Third Party Candidates 17 Ignoring 18 iv Prominence of Coverage 19 Labeling 21 Chapter 3: Methodology 23 Project Design 23 Qualifications 23 Preparation 24 Interview Subjects 25 Interview Questions 27 Equipment 30 Financing 31 Limitations 32 Chapter 4: Transcript of Documentary Film 33 Chapter 5: Conclusion 77 Bibliography 79 v ABSTRACT LEFT OUT: BEYOND THE TWO-PARTY HORSE RACE A DOCUMENTARY FILM By Jesse Bertel Ickler Master of Arts in Mass Communication This thesis project examines the role of media in American democracy by looking at how third-party candidates are marginalized in news coverage. It is a documentary film about media coverage of third-party political candidates. It follows Luis J. Rodriguez, the best-selling author of “Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in LA” a memoir of his life as a Los Angeles gang member. The film documents four months of his campaign in the 2014 primary election for Governor of California as a Green Party candidate. It shows debates and events on the campaign trail as he went to different venues talking to voters all over California. This exploration continues after the election is over with interviews from leading experts on the topic, including Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman, and Ralph Nader. The film will shed light on the ways that third-party candidates are gaining support and how they are being marginalized by the news media. It is a critique of the mainstream news vi media’s lack of coverage regarding candidates outside the two-party system. In doing so, it also uncovers large misconceptions about American democracy and the marginalization of the voters. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Mainstream news media play a key role in shaping American democracy by influencing voters’ minds and thereby potentially steering the outcome of political campaigns. The mainstream news coverage offers two parties by which to categorize all the issues and simplify the discussion. As a result, key issues, such as climate change, economic disparity and corporate entitlement, are left out of the debates. However, third- party candidates often force these important issues to resurface. When this occurs, the media acts as a mechanism for the two party system, marginalizing third party candidates by ignoring and labeling them (Wolfsfeld, 2011). Aims of Project The aim of this thesis project is to explore how the media marginalizes third party candidates by following Luis J. Rodriguez’ 2014 California gubernatorial campaign. The goal was to find out if third party candidates are relevant in today’s politics and to see if they could provide realistic solutions to the issues that are most often ignored. This thesis also aims to better understand what it takes for third party candidates to compete in a race that is designed for only two parties to compete with each other. Research Questions This thesis project will answer the following questions: 1. What role do third-parties play in the American two-party system? 2. What are the obstacles third-parties face? 1 3. How does the media marginalize third-parties? 4. How does the marginalization of third-party candidates disenfranchise voters? Significance With the most of the important issues being vastly ignored by the two-party system, the majority of citizens feel that American democracy doesn’t represent them. Therefore, a large population of the country chooses not to participate. If, however, there were more options to reflect more of the ideas that represent more voices of the people, they would be encouraged to get involved. Regardless of their ability to successfully elect candidates to office, third-party candidates should be given an equal opportunity to have their issues discussed in the news media. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is necessary in a democracy to have all voices represented, not just the loudest. Americans know very little about third-party candidates, partly because the media marginalizes them. They learn about candidates from coverage of campaigns. For this reason, it is important for independent media to offer equal coverage to those who are left out of the mainstream. This thesis project will provide an example, which will give a better understanding of all sides of the debates and open up a larger range of opinion on important issues. Overview of Thesis This chapter introduces the project aim, research questions, and significance of this thesis. Chapter 2 is a literature review on the areas encompassing electoral politics and media, beginning with the propaganda model. The second section of Chapter 2 2 addresses the patterns and rules and themes of political coverage in the news. The third section defines third-parties in America and describes why the run, and the challenges they face. The fourth section ties Chapters 2 and 3 together by examining media coverage of third party candidates to see how they are marginalized. Chapter 3 is the methodology, which explains the logistics involved in carrying out the project. Chapter 4 is a complete transcription of the documentary film. Chapter 5 lays out the findings, conclusions, and limitations of the project. 3 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review starts out by explaining the domination of news media by a combination of government and private interests. In the next section, I will examine the key role journalists play in excluding dissenting voices from news stories. This literature review will then address the important role of third-party candidates in American democracy. The final section of Chapter 2 will analyze the ways third-party candidates are marginalized by the media. Propaganda Model The propaganda model explains the inequality of access to the private media systems that communicate messages and symbols dominated by power and money to the general populace (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). It is much easier to see a propaganda system at work in countries where the state bureaucracy has monopolistic control over the media and imposes official censorship. Propaganda systems are more difficult to see, as Herman and Chomsky state, “where the media are private and formal censorship is absent” (p.1). Herman and Chomsky (1988) explain how the government and dominant private interests are able to marginalize dissent by passing the news through five successive “filters” before it is “fit to print”. These five ingredients are essential to the propaganda model: (1) size, concentration of ownership and profit orientation; (2) advertising methods of news; (3) reliance on information provided by agents of power; (4) “flak” as a disciplinary measure; (5) anticommunism as a national religion. (p.2) 4 According to Herman and Chomsky (1988) the first filter, the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms, explains the limitation of media ownership to corporate giants. The increasingly requisite large size of investment over the last century has resulted in a mass media system controlled by major corporations, banks and government. Herman and Chomsky state, This trend toward greater integration of the media into the market system has been accelerated by the loosening of rules limiting media concentration, cross- ownership, and control by non-media companies. There has also been an abandonment of restrictions. (1988, p.8) This filter also explains the constraints market-profit-oriented forces and corporate interests place on mass media managers.