Throughout history the news media has an important role in society by providing information for the general public and each individual. Regarded as the "fourth branch" of government, the influence that media has on political affairs is extremely powerful because it enable citizens to form opinions on certain issues. To many politician, media is an instrument of manipulation and enables them to persuade large masses of people. With power follows responsibility, which the public believe it is the responsibility of the press to "accurately" inform the populace. The public believe that an ideal relationship between the media and government is with checks and balances, therefore insuring a functioning democracy. However, over these past few decades…
For instance, many media outlets are seeking economic gain instead of seeking the truth. Daniel Sutter illustrates this point in his research, showing how the media is focused on generating revenue (402). Consequently, the media is encouraging bias in order to attract and maintain a loyal following and source of revenue. In fact, through the use of the internet, alternative news sources are able to produce news that is usually “not fact-checked or is simply false” (The President and the Press 21). In order to stay competitive many mainstream sources are then forced to publish more biased articles. This increase in the publication of biased articles among mainstream sources is now allowing the media to clarify the facts and then formulate the facts into opinions. All in all, this is greatly affecting politics by forcing citizens to rely on the media to form their opinions (Perse 82). For example, Gregory Martin and Ali Yurukoglu reveal how the increase of bias in the media creates a polarization in the political parties (37). As noted by Martin and Yurukoglu, “the increase in polarization depends critically on the existence of both a persuasive effect and a taste for like-minded news” (4). They also observed that by watching certain news sources like “FNC increases the probability of voting Republican in presidential elections” (Martin and Yurukoglu 37). Beyond that there are several examples of the media affecting political decisions. In particular the birther issue of Obama’s 2008 election showed how a blatant lie spread by the press caused many voters to reconsider their decision (Lewandowsky 118). In brief, the media is seeking greater success and therefore misinforming many…
--Role of media in political life: Media mediates, informs the public about political news, sometimes biased.…
Agenda Setting: the media helps determine which political part becomes part of the public debate.…
The media can make or break a speaker. If a speaker or politician is surrounded by followers, the media will show him or her to be a popular, civic person. If the speaker is controversial, regardless of the truth, he or she will be blasted by the media in one way or another. The media is where the general population gets the majority of its information, so it goes without saying that the media has large influence.…
Media has the power to sway the opinion of the people according to what the politicians desire.…
The effect that the media has on voters can be extremely diverse. From entirely formulating an opinion to strengthening an existing one, the media has the ability to do both but not to every type of individual. In order to understand how various citizens are influenced by media messages, Philip Converse et al. (1966) separated voters into three distinct groups: those with the highest levels of political awareness and understanding, those with the lowest levels and those of moderate understanding. In alignment with this, Graber (1984) theorised that a voter’s predispositions are the vital determinant when examining how effectively the media’s messages can sway opinions. It is therefore voters’ prior knowledge and understanding of political happenings that formulates the foundation for their decisions and thus their naivety of such happenings that allows them to be swayed by media messages.…
Not only is the media biased in sports, but the bias seems to be more recognizable in politics. A rule of thumb, never debate religion and politics. Both topics will most likely end with some form of physical or verbal altercation. After working for the same company for the last decade, our breakrooms always show the Fox News channel. They seem to be bias with anything related to politics. No matter if the situation is good or bad, they always are in favor of Republican Party. The Democratic Party could find a way end world hunger and Fox News will be one of the first news channels to make mockery the Democratic Party for winning the battle of world hunger.…
In previous elections throughout the years the media has found so many ways to impact each election. With the many advances of technology continues to have there will only be more opportunities for the media to influence the people. Especially with so many people having easy access to television whether it be from their mobile phones to the television in the living room. With the recent election, our 45th president it is crucial for the people to know where the influence comes from. The media is the main influence during elections. Television specifically has impacted presidential elections negatively.…
There has been much discussion about how mass media presents and can determine the outcome of presidential elections. The media has been accused of focusing on subjects such as the politician's personal life and their characteristics rather than looking at the political issues of the election. The voter's views can also be altered by political advertisements that do not focus on issues. This can cause the voters to believe that certain issues are important when in reality they are trivial concerns. Elections often become popularity contests because of the polling that is done by newspapers and TV news programs prior to the actual voting. Politicians then can have a difficult time guiding voter's opinions on their concerns.…
We all agree that a well-informed public leads to a more open, just and civic-minded society.…
Today, more than ever the media plays a pivotal role in the ways in which Americans think and what they believe. Media can influence the masses in a number of different ways. Without the media it would be virtually impossible for the typical American citizens to be informed of today's events. But information is not always the media's goal. In fact, it rarely is. Many Americans feel that they can form opinions on there own. But, unknowingly opinion's are formed simply by what paper gets delivered to your door or what channel you watch. The views of the president are greatly affected by the media due to the overwhelming amount of coverage by every form of media.…
The media can have profound impacts on the decisions we make every day. Take, for example, the media coverage surrounding the 2008 elections. The information received regarding election developments depended on which news station one was watching. CNN is traditionally associated with liberalism, while FOX News is associated with conservatism. Voters could have been swayed by the views expressed on either of these news channels and could have voted accordingly.…
In the theory of media politics, John Zaller said that the media is a system politics. In this case, media correlated with another political system such as bureaucratic, legislative, judicial and even political parties (Zaller, 1999). In the respective domain, one can identify the key roles, diverse interests, and stable patterns of interaction that determines the characteristic shape of the political endeavor. The goal of media for politicians is to use mass communication to mobilize the public support they need to win an election and to get their programs enacted.…
(Submitted towards partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Pass Course), as the curriculum of Semester V 2012)…