Media Influences on State and Local Government

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Around 50 million people watch CBS, ABC, or NBC every single night in order to obtain information from the day. Since the amount of people watching a news channel every night is so great, the media has had a great effect on the lives of everyone living in the United States. In our state and local government regions, each and every news channel or newspaper is going to take a certain view and stand-point on what the people say, think, and believe. Media effects are classified as direct or indirect, and the Media itself as well as the people behind the headlines can create positive as well as negative publicity. The media also has ways of going about their business and they even have their own terms for what they do, and how it should be done. Politics have received a lot of bad publicity, and that is why so many Americans say they don't care, and don't feel as though what they say matters, and they do not get involved. "They call it the fifth branch of government. After the Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, and the federal bureaucracy, no institution has an impact on the American government as large as the media. Yet its members are not elected by the people, and its motives are often driven by profit."(Beyond Books, Media and politics) While this statement is true, it is also eye-opening. We as a nation tend to hear the national news before we hear what goes on locally, and also tend to pay more attention to national news. Well if we continue to worry about the nation more than our local news, then many problems will surface. There will be no voices heard if our local community might be in need of help, and we will not know how to respond when something goes horribly wrong because we will claim we did n... ... middle of paper ... ...e everything you hear lightly, and keep your sense of truth. Politics can be a difficult subject to become interested in if you feel as though you don't relate to anything that is being discussed. The only way is to get involved. Media has a strong effect on our world, country, state, city, town, and neighborhood. What you don't know will hurt you more than that you do know. There is a reason the media has gained so much attention, and it's because just about every other American watches or reads it in one form or another. The television news, radio, newspaper, and internet, are all ways to obtain media information. One way or another you can hear what has gone on, day by day, hour by hour, and every breaking minute by breaking minute. Media has shaped our lives today, so enjoy it, and take advantage of the news that is given to you each and every day.

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