Media It’s pretty clear that the elections are much different than they used to be, and we can blame our easy access to media for that. The people learn everything they know about politics through things they see on television and the link they just shared on facebook. But is that even real, are they polluting our minds with unnecessary drama? Anything from magazines to the social media on our iphones help influence the opinions of voters, set the behavior of the candidates, and the public agenda.
Since the 1950’s the newspaper has been the number one source of receiving information. But this is no longer the case, sales of newspaper in households have gone down, while the population has gone up. This means that 20% of national papers is now in less than 8% of households (Greenslade. 2011). Whether or not you still read the newspaper, they are usually biased. This traditional source of media is an important ingredient in the public's opinion. The news then shares the public's opinion with other media, including home, school, work and church. But how does the newspaper influence the people on how they vote? There is a similar disconnection between the newspaper and the election outcome, which can be assured in both Canada and the US. This means that the voters basically are voting as the newspaper tells them to. This sounds negative but we shouldn’t underestimate what they say, although newspaper sales are quickly falling, they still retain influence over the media
In chapter 2 of The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser, after discussing how although two newspapers still create the base of almost all news stories that get shared online, newspapers are failing daily. He then explains how news became centered around “public opinion” instead of just information about the outside world. Pariser reminds us that:
Last but not least, the media does not take political elections as seriously as politicians might like. People on social media, horse-race the politicians to see who will win the election. They debate on who will win, rather than the politicians views on topics. Horse-races are where citizens vote on who will win the election and they see the race happen and they determine whether their vote was correct or not. They ‘run’ the politicians, just like how people run horses. “Lost in the media spectacle is any careful coverage of issues and policy proposals, or serious discussion of candidate background.” (bigthink). When the media horse-races politicians, they horse-race them by their party or their major decisions that they have made. Citizens can also race them by protests that they were involved in, in their young adult lives, for example Bernie Sanders and his early protests were covered all over the media.
The 2016 election has been the first election where social media has been a key player to how people got their information. Statistics say “44 percent of American adults said they had learned something new in the past week about the election from social media.” However, with social media such an important influence on the younger generation it is important for all of this information to be legitimate and truthful. Google and Facebook have recently changed their policies to try to stop fake news articles from popping up within their ad space. The spread of fake news articles skews the public's perception of the candidates. The guardian talks about how the American voter is not just one demographic (college educated individuals, white men, minorities etc. ) because of this lack of (straightforward), it's hard to get an accurate prediction on who would have won the election. Additionally, the media affected the election negatively because they did not give the general public enough information to understand the statistics that they were
Media has influence the political system many different ways in the United States. Talking about politics, it is very complicated because there are so many public opinions. Not knowing which candidate is lying or passing a bill and not knowing what is on it. Because most Americans own a smartphone, social media is so enormous and having access to almost anything. While Americans are on the internet, watching television, and listening to the radio or even reading the newspaper, at some point the word politics comes around and we have our own public opinions.
This article will be one of my main sources for my research paper. This article is what has helped me form a more concrete topic and thesis because it is such an interesting concept. Although this article is not as academic as the others I have found, it such has information that can be used as support. This article clearly shows that media bias is affecting the polls and even indoctrinating young
(2006). Does the Media Matter? A Field Experiment Measuring the Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions. Retrieved April 2016, from Social Science Research Network: http://ssrn.com/abstract= 903812
There are three widely accepted options for influence and power to surge from in the election process, as stated above. First and foremost, the media is widely perceived as the top dog in the election process; society as a whole holds the assumption that media sets the agenda and controls the political process. This idea is embellished by the cynics of the world and there have been a number of studies with findings disputing these perceptions. Dalton’s paper tracked over 6000 newspapers articles, during the 1992 presidential election, from a stratified sample of counties across the nation and their research points to a much weaker position being held by the media as a whole, in respect to its influence over elections within the United States (466). The research focused of the viewpoint and time given to either candidate during the election season. Overall the findings showed little to no bias, outside of the editorial section, with in the overall information of each candidate. The argument is summed up in the article stating, “Certainly, some newspapers and journalists have distinct views, but such individual biases appear small and tend to cancel out when aggregated. Moreover, a newspaper’s presidential endorsement had little impact on its news coverage of the issue themes of the campaign” (Dalton, 476). The media seems to play a part in
The topic has been very controversial due to different opinions. Some people believe that the media is influential in framing issues and setting agendas in the political world. Other people believe that the media is an educative tool, and it just informs the public and does not influence their political decisions. Media just tell people what to think about instead of how to think. Each side of the argument has been previously confirmed based on the perception of different researchers to the topic. However, I didn’t find a research that has provided a clear explanation to the issue: If the media decides where the public cast their vote during an election? Therefore, there is a knowledge gap, and this research paper intends to explain the influence
Newspapers provide a fresh and easy way to consume news, popular culture and more. They provide many points of view and topics, whether the reader is interested in politics, economy, cartoons, home repair or information on the hottest trends and gossip. No one can deny the importance of being informed, but with new generations and an evolving audience, readers have the ability to get their information from multitudes of channels.
Newspapers and other forms of news are very vital communication methods in the world today. The goal of news is to sell us their ideas by being biased and talking about how their idea is best. News can give us biased information although, the viewer could do further research on the
The first chapter is very detailed and thorough in contrasting how newspapers and the perceptions surrounding them have shifted substantially. Wattenburg goes supporting several of his arguments by citing examples from across the world, using surveys and statistics, and by comparing the outlook on newspapers from previous to its status as of the current age. Wattenberg presents the decline in newspapers as a decline participation among younger Americans. With this in
After reviewing the State Media Report I discovered some interesting information that I was previously unaware of; specifically, that only 5 percent of U.S. adults rated newspapers as their “most helpful” source in information for the presidential election (2). Though newspapers are dwindling, I still would have thought that adults would turn to newspapers for helpful information. Learning this information, I understand that individuals now deem information from the Internet as “most helpful”.
Newspaper Comparison Today's society is in many respects dominated by the media. Newspapers, books, television, radio and the Internet not only play significant role in an average person's life but are also multi-billion pound industries that, through the public exposure they are subject to, carry great influence. One of the oldest media formats still in use is the newspaper. This old printed format carries great political power and boasts huge readerships, partly due to its cheap price, never exceeding a few pounds an issue, and its portability.
Media is a huge part of people’s lives in today’s society. Through different forms of media people can now obtain vast amounts of information at the slightest touch of a finger. While it is convenient and comforting to have access to so much data, the question arises. How much of this information we receive shapes our lives? Mass media as an agent of socialization can prime and/or skew people’s belief system through mere exposure without the slightest clue of it affects. Mass media as an agent of socialization can structure people’s perception on society as a whole by simply using influence, control, and trust.
Media according to Dictionary.com is defined as “the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people”. While the definition is correct at the same time it fails to recognize another form, which is social media sites on the Internet. An unprecedented amount of technology uses as tools of influence to convince citizens to purchase and consume on a regular basis with a usual pitch that if one does not than life suddenly becomes accustomed. The techniques that are used to draw consumers in are both blatant and subliminal in the messages that are being sent for a variety of reasons. Media is a part of everyday life for us humans now and now this shall be examined using myself with news, consumer products, and social media sites.