Impact of Media on Politics Essay

Consequently, the political sphere is now being colonised by the media, and politics has begun re-orientating itself to satisfy the logic of media organisations (Meyer, 2002, p. 71). Therefore, the media are active participants in the policymaking process and the ability to stimulate change or maintain the status quo depends on their choice of subject or policy issue and how they frame it. Active investigative reporting attempts to shape policy outcomes, but this does not necessarily mean that it always represents the most successful approach for gaining policy changes (Spitzer, 1993, p. 7). In fact, sometimes passive, straight reporting can have a greater influence on policy choices. When this occurs, media independence is largely bypassed, as the news generated depends solely on the information released (as public relations material) from legitimate news sources. For example, in the United States, White House staff routinely make ‘leaks’ - expressively to influence policy decisions (Davis, 1992, p. 143; Robinson, 2001, p. 948). Robinson noted that journalists regard “leaks… as indispensable to their work” and that they are aware of their use by officials in return for scoops (2001, p. 949).

Viewers are starting to realize that media bias is very prominent in the news, especially in today’s political climate. Due to the fact that there is so much bias in the media, viewers easily can tell whether a news channel is conservative or liberal. The viewer should not even know the political stance of a news broadcasting network. Although many look to the news to validate their opinions, many would rather be provided with just facts. Viewers are beginning to become more open minded and are giving their attention to media outlets who are more factual. People are now watching other news outlets rather than watching major networks, who have biased content. Bias and groupthink in the media should be eliminated because viewers are making a shift from biased news outlets to more factual news

Government and politics are greatly affected by many different aspects such as the public, the media, and much more. These aspects affect decisions that may be put into laws or the political opponents and their views. The public and media have major influence over the government and its politics.

Mass media allowed Americans to hear news as it was occurring and to hear news from across the country. “Radio drew the nation together by bringing news, entertainment, and advertisements to more than 10 million households by 1929. Radio blunted regional differences and imposed similar tastes and lifestyles. No other media had the power to create heroes and villains so quickly.” (Digital History). Another aspect of American culture that radios allowed to grow was the rise of celebrities and heroes. People were able to hear about the events that were occurring all over the nation involving famous individuals. It was the first time in American history where the most famous and well-known citizens were not politicians or war heroes. “One way to measure America’s shift away from a hero-oriented stance to an embrace of celebrity was...to survey the biographical articles that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and Collier… after 1922 over half came from the world of entertainment: sports figures like Joe Louis and Babe Ruth, and movie stars such as Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin.” (OAH Magazine of History). Because these rising stars were not famous for their role in politics or war, they inspired Americans to work hard to achieve their dreams. This created a society of hardworking determined

In the article “GOP-Fox Circus Act”, Reed Richardson argues that although both the GOP and Fox have conservative political values, they are ultimately harmful to each other’s agendas because of their differing political goals. Both organizations are lacking popularity in recent years so they are struggling to find new ways to gain an audience. The GOP wants to find a way to get their ideas to a wide variety of people, whereas Fox is promoting more liberal views to increase the ratings of their programs. On one hand, the GOP’s reputation is hurt by the inaccuracy of Fox’s reporting. On the other hand, Fox is tied down by the conservative views of the GOP, thus restraining Fox from gaining a larger audience. Journalist Reed Richardson wrote this article for The National, a liberal newspaper, in 2013, so the events and issues that he is speaking of are still relevant to this day. Due to the differences of political views between the author and the subject matter, there is plenty of room for biased statements and opinions. Does Richardson provide enough evidence of the harmful effects of the Fox and GOP relationship? Richardson clearly and meticulously establishes the problems that both organizations face in the pursuit of their political goals with the use of statistics, reliable sources, and thorough evaluation of events; however Richardson constantly provides the reader with a biased argument when discussing the current state of Fox.

Robert J. Samuelson’s essay, “Picking Sides for the News,” details the problem of citizens only hearing the news that they want to hear through statistics. Samuelson begins his essay by giving the reader the opinion of Americans in regards to news being reported. He goes on to say that Americans are increasingly choosing to listen to news based on “partisanship,” meaning conservatives listen to Republican news and liberals listen to Democratic news. Samuelson highlights the fact that most Americans are starting to not believe what they hear in the news, partisan growth resulting because of the distrust. Samuelson concludes his essay by describing why the reader should care. He believes the reader should care because the media’s bias’ are shaping

In 1992, Bill Clinton became the Democratic nominee and during his campaign, he became the first candidate to use popular TV shows to reach black and younger voters. (Toner, 1992)17 Clinton appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, popular among African-Americans, where he played his saxophone. With months left until the I1994 election, Clinton appeared on MTV’s Rock the Vote special. His appearances helped him win support in the African-American community and among young voters between the ages of 18-to 29. Clinton’s success came from the personal approach and engagement he used to reach voters during the election year of 1992 and 1996. Clinton entered the environment of his targeted audience, and in 1996 according to the New York Times, it helped Clinton win the African-American (83%) and young (43%) vote (New York Times, 2008)18 (see Figure 1.2). In the end, Clinton’s appearances made him appear as a normal, trendy, and cool

Currently, the office of the United States Presidency is one of the most powerful positions in the world. The President has the power to influence Congress, the nation and the free world. However, the US Media, which is also the freest and most powerful press, has had control over the presidency. The advent of CNN, ABC, NBC and others has had the effect of being able to sway the population of the United States, either garnering support for a president or destroying his credibility. The media has permitted the spread of information, allowing the people to take a more active role in politics making the general will better known, but it has also made politicians and the public hostage to the

According to the book Celebrity Politics, approximately 10 percent of Americans get national political news from nightly entertainment shows such as the Tonight Show. For Americans under 30, the number is nearly five times as many (Orman and West 100). Citizens are looking to be entertained rather than simply educated by the nightly news. As David Schultz aptly put it, “ The new media cover politics, but only politics as it entertains, in part, because the audience the new media attract is a less politically interested audience than traditional news audiences” (20). The fact is that this American audience is less interested in hard news and more interested in

Here in America, we try to pay close attention to everything that goes on in the government. Whatever decision they make we want to know when, where, why, and how. This is because whatever decision that they make will determine what will happen with this country as a whole in the long run. So what is the best way to find out what’s going on with our government? Why the media of course. The media plays a major part in every aspect of the government including what happens in elections, the reporting of major military operations and how the American people will react to certain political situations or scandals. Here are some the ways that the media affects the way we think when it comes to the government.

In our democratic society, mass media is the driving force of public opinion. Media sources such as Internet, newspaper, news-broadcasts, etc, play significant roles in shaping a person’s understanding and perception about the events occurred in our daily lives. As long as the newspapers, internet, network television, etc, continued to be easily accessible to the public, the media will continue to have an influence in shaping its opinions. Factors such as agenda-setting, framing and priming help shape the public opinions. Agenda-setting is when the media focuses their attention on selected issues on which the public will form opinion on, whereas framing allows the media to select certain aspects about the problem and then

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which

In campaigning, media coverage plays a large role for candidates. They use the media to make their name heard and image seen. “Nearly everything a candidate does is geared toward the media, especially television” (Stuckey, 1999, p. 99) Candidates make appearances on talk shows,

When the White House felt a retraction was not enough because so much harm had already been done, the media got extremely upset with the White House, due to the pressure they were putting on the publication (52-53). Begala agrees with Hewitt that the media has a bias, but argues that it is a liberal bias. He cites the media's obsession with the Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal and how, "Even when Clinton was leaving office, he was hounded and pounded by the press" (199). He argues the news coverage was unfair, brutal and unethical in the way both Bill and Hillary Clinton were treated during the scandal (200). Begala also says Al Gore was treated very poorly by the press during the election, by being misquoted. Gore made major contributions during the early phases of the internet and made a comment on CNN saying he "took the initiative in creating the Internet." Begala argues this was blown out of proportion and more than a thousand articles have been written quoting Gore saying he said he "invented the internet" (202). The people's perception that certain publications are bias can have a negative affect on journalists as a whole. While the public demands that the press question politicians, Robinson says there is public discontent when bad news is reported due to the publics distrust in news and a "kill the messenger syndrome." At times, the public will assume all media is the same and when one publication is guilty of inaccurate or bias

Thousands of our nation's men and women were fighting for their country, yet the media limited the amount of information that they chose to pass on to the public. Each day the media is faced with the choice of making decisions of what news to pass on, when that news could make a significant difference in someone's life, or in the fate of our nation.