The Media and Political Campaigns Essay

“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 in today’s world is vital for more than one type of situation. These situations can be an addition to entertainment, news, as well as politics. This combination, though, can have its faults as well as benefits. Television channels are owned by different brands of people such as democrats, republicans, and more. Media in politics can become biased based on the channels being viewed, or the commercials being distributed into the public. Due to this, television has made the presidential elections more unfair than just. As television introduces the image of the presidential candidates rather than their told plans and goals, we can gain a better understanding on their personal image rather than the principal of their reason for presidency.

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.

Presidential candidates have power over how they’re shown in TV, whereas before TV they didn’t have much choice but to show up and campaign to just be the best leader they can persuade others that they’ll be. Source A explains the immediate contact the media can give, it can penetrate people’s mind and get viewers like never before, but just because that’s available doesn’t mean it’s the best option on how to portray our presidential elections. If anything, maybe television made the viewers feel closer a few decades ago, but now it’s nearly a barrier we can’t get past, so instead the television‘s impact on showing presidential elections has given the elections a negative impact. No one wants to watch short answered arguments where quality of imagine does better than the impact of your real words and actions. All the TV has done is go for someone’s image, quick answers, and the unfocused aspect of what truly matters, if your president is who will make your world a better place or

As with most electoral races, the media takes on the role of portraying images of candidates to the public. The motives behind these conscious, deliberate decisions vary greatly, but the results are always interesting to dissect. Starting with the June 20, 2016 issue of The New Yorker, we see a depiction of Secretary Clinton mid-fight, sitting in the corner of a boxing ring (appropriate following the death of Muhammad Ali), sporting her confident, signature grin despite all the

The negative impact on presidential elections which television has caused can be explained in 3 words, “image over content”(C). This has led to representatives of their respective parties to

For much of the 2000 campaign for the Presidency, Vice President Al Gore has been seen the candidate who will win this year’s Presidential Election. The polls show Gore as leading, political analysts have been saying “Gore all the way,” and most of the general public seem to be in agreement that Gore will succeed President Bill Clinton. But recently, the past two Presidential debates have seemed to abolish the idea that Vice President Al Gore will easily be elected President over Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Advertisements surround every American; whether it be a TV commercial for car, or a billboard for a resort “10 miles ahead.” American society has adapted to a society that sends messages to gain trust in products based on how it is advertised. Similar to U.S.’ capitalist society, the political system has become dependent on advertisements to instill trust in the people for candidates. President Franklin D. Roosevelt built his presidency on informing the public on his political strategies through the use of public radio (Walsh). In the 1952 presidential race, Dwight Eisenhower promoted his campaign by creating political advertisements on TV (Fowler, Franz, Ridout). Since then, not only have radio and TV advertisements been a defining aspect of presidential elections, but also, social media, a more modern avenue for politicians. This has become one of the most effective campaigning strategies in modern day elections. President Obama’s 2008 presidential race is one of the most significant examples. Obama made history by taking advantage of the social media outlet and successfully reaching audiences who previously were not targeted by the previous standard tactics. Historically, Presidential candidates have gained dependence on using advertisements and social media to promote their platform and qualifications of becoming president. Today, there is an increasing necessity to master these campaign strategies in order to communicate effectively with the American citizens.

In lieu of the recent election, wherein Republican candidate Donald Trump ran against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, it is wholly irrefutable to deny the significance of television and media in propelling the elections into a precedent of informal undertones, as the election itself marked uncharacterized, incomprehensibly belligerent rhetoric. In the eyes of public scrutiny, the election proved holistically to be that which Americans chose between the “lesser evil”--Trump: the demagogue, known to bolster a corrupt financial agenda along with bigoted convictions versus Clinton: the liar who wrongfully used a private email server to handle official emails while Secretary of State and allegedly perjured under oath, yet who so easily evaded punitive ramifications.

Chun-Fang Chiang and Brian Knight discuss the significance that media bias has on voters in America. They conducted a study in which subjects select a candidate to vote for after reading a biased newspaper article. After the research is conducted, they determine that media is influential in determining who people will vote for, but there are different degrees of influence. For example, people are more willing to be influenced when their source is more credible and when the voters tend to be more moderate.

While other forms of media have gained more influence in recent years, television continues to be a key source of political information for the American public. According to a 2008 Pew Research survey, about 72 percent of Americans claim television as their "primary source for news about political campaigns" (Polsby 79). In response to this large pool of potential voters, prominent campaigns like those of presidential candidates often use television as their main vehicle for publicizing their political views and shaping their political image. As a result, generally, presidential candidates with more television exposure tend to be elected more often.

The invention of the television has had an impact on all aspects of American's lives. It has affected how we work, interact with others, and our foreign relations. One part of American society that it has especially affected is presidential elections. Television has impacted who is elected and why they were elected. Since the 1960's television has served as a link between the American public and presidential elections that allows the candidate to appear more human and accountable for their actions; consequently this has made television a positive influence on presidential elections. But it has also had a negative affect on elections, making presidential candidates seem like celebrities at times and making it easier to publicize mistakes

"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,

The effects of mass media and social media have changed the way people have experienced presidential campaigns in many ways. With the development of new technologies through the last hundred years many different ways of experiencing the campaigns have taken place. Newspapers, radio, television, internet and social media websites have changed the ways we all have experienced elections.