The Correlation Between Media And Politics

“Since media are part of the political class and talk mostly to the political class, the myth of popular polarization took root and grew.” (Fiorina, Abrams, Pope, 2005, p. 167). Recently media has played a huge role in the country’s politic; they share information, report events, and frame opinions.

Television has been influential in United States presidential elections since the 1960’s. But just what is this influence, and how has it affected who is elected? Has it made elections fairer and more accessible, or has it moved candidates from pursuing issues to pursuing image? The media only impacts the American Society, especially for the presidential election as it increases the talks in politics and gives the president a higher role to follow. The television race captures more popularity than what a citizen is actually voting for.

Television is one of the most influential technological development of the 20th century that allowed society to be more accessible to information and to be more communicative between people. By the 1960s, television has reached politics in the United States, greatly impacting its presidential elections. Although, it has served as an effective media stimulating political interests of the Americans, it has brought many more negative impacts on American politics; Not only does television distort images of the candidates and legislators, it also, distracts people away from politics. Thus, television, a mere tool that commercialism employs, producing no politics, but “cotton candy for the mind”, has no beneficial , if not degrading effect on America’s presidential elections.

It has put its needs in front of the very people it was born to serve. The common man. It has changed campaigns forever. Candidates now have to worry as much about their appearance as their political ideology and plans for this nation. Outlets were supposed to be as unbiased as possible, but that standard has fallen to the way side and is not present anymore. They have even taken it one step further by delivering stories that have been fabricated to gain attention, even if some of the details have been made up or completely left out. Despite all of these negative impacts the media has caused, it has allowed one positive aspect to shine through. Social media campaigns has shone light on a new future in campaigning. One that allows candidates to focus on what they want to do as president rather than selling their selves for campaign donations. Overall, the media is a huge dark hole with only a few bright lights shining

The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between the mass media, specifically television, and presidential elections. This paper will focus on the function of television in presidential elections through three main areas: exit polls, presidential debates, and spots. The focus is on television for three reasons. First, television reaches more voters than any other medium. Second, television attracts the greatest part of presidential campaign budgets. Third, television provides the candidates a good opportunity to contact the people directly. A second main theme of this paper is the role of television in presidential elections in terms of representative democracy in the United States.

Media is not a novel presence, but its influences are ever evolving and increasing exponentially. Whether through print or television each type of media is vitally important for a politician. Politicians must focus on the message that is to be conveyed and be aware of the influence each media type has. Print ads, radio shows, television interviews, magazine articles and debates all have a degree of effectiveness on a voting demographic. Mastering the media effects on the people that are to be influenced is the key to successful communication of ideas and a successful political career.

The media is a source of information that all U.S. citizens have access to. Either they have a cell phone, a computer, or a television, everyone can get information from the media. Mass media have been considered a powerful agent of political socialization, affecting political attitudes and behaviors of voters and non-voters. Newspaper and television news use significantly predicted internal

When you think of politics today in America, what is the first thing that pops into your head? If you’re like me, your first thought was about Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump. Your second thought might be about the major hot button issues in the United States today, such as Health Care, Immigration Reform, and Gun Control. Whether you’re like me or not, I’ve noticed one thing during this presidential race that cannot be avoided: media biases. The media today is a major part of politics, and often times is who we look to when deciding what candidate we want to vote for. Media biases involving politics, in my opinion, should not exist because it is unethical.

Media is known as the “king maker” for many reasons, such as shaping candidates in audience’s perspective. Television has been a big influence in shaping voters choice and labeling political parties, even though some believe media information can be scant in regards to candidates. Media can be anything from television to social media networks and how many people think that media is a great influence, some also think it can be a problem. “It only takes 140 characters to damage a political campaign” in which Smith is referring to social media as being a problem. (Smith, K. 2011. Pg. 9) At the state and local levels party affiliation remains the most important. “In television age, journalist became the chief influence in the selection of candidates

Mass media can be a powerful tool, but it can also be a hindrance to the public if the facts are not checked. From the invention of the printing press, radio, television, and the internet mass media has revolutionized the way the public gathers information each and every day. Many of the sources we use for gaining knowledge and facts on current events today are controlled by a very small group. This small group controls many of the ideologies that drive our political system in the United States. The major political parties are highly affected by the information that is reported as facts on a daily base. A famous quote by Ronald Reagan comes to mind, “trust, but verify” and this could not be truer today when most of the public depend on mass media for the vast majority of their information.

In the article by Carr he explains the connection between media and politics through. Providing current examples such as the former presidential election. The use of media by the current president during the election, saying offensive things that people would have prevented people from running in the past. He then compares the perfect way that a president used social media to reach out to the masses. Franklin Roosevelt uses of fireside chats to calm the american people during The Great Depression.

Instead, they just skim over politics, taking in a few stories here and there (mostly the more controversial stories that get more media coverage) and make their decision as to who will be president. Despite the accomplishments of television and the media “[…] their news departments tend to operate as [a] show-business.” (Goodman, 1994, n.p.) Just like in show business, anything slow and detailed is boring in television, and so Americans greedily gobble up light dishes of insignificant facts, leaving the heavier business of issue concerns to others. This “[…] condition is chronic and has become painfully evident in the late political season […] A medium that has shown it can bring information and even ideas effectively to millions is reduced every two years to a tool for stirring up emotions and shutting down minds.” (Goodman, 1994, n.p.)

Media and politics are different entities with distinct aim; however, both depend on each other. Politics use media to be known by the public and to advertise their campaigns while media needs politics to inform the public by giving visibility to politics. Media and politics work together and even though they are different, both impact each other . Since politics need media to provide good image and information about them. Media also can use its authority to exploit information on politics; in contrast, politics uses their power to settle barriers on information provided by media. Thus, the role of media can result in bad and good influence in politics.

In the world of today, media has become almost as necessary as food and clothing. It is true that media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain the people. It helps us to know current situation around the world. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. Because of its inherent ability to reach large number of public, it is widely used to convey message to build public opinion and awareness.

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