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Media as a factor influencing public perception
Roles of media in democratic society
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Throughout history, popular media has occupied a significant role in the dissemination of knowledge amongst the masses. Noteworthy advances in technology, such as the television, have increasingly helped to sate the “popular demand for knowledge about the problems that torment modern man” (Schlesinger 343). More recently, the Internet has been identified not only for the availability of greater media choice, but also for the potential ease of individuals to consume selective or partisan media options (Davis 273). Now, researchers examine the extent to which media in general has played a part in one ongoing American progress: political polarization. While the number of consistent American liberals or conservatives has doubled since in the last two decades, and political center has also shrunk significantly from 49% to 39% of Americans between 1994 and 2004, the exact causes of these trends are complex (Doherty). One such factor, popular media, plays a unique role in the polarization of American politics, consisting of a cycle of real and perceived influence, which has grown lopsidedly among different groups with …show more content…
News sources in particular can use selective coverage of current or historical events to theoretically slant individuals’ perceptions of them. This type of partisan media also authorizes distinguished members of the favored group to gain increased coverage that helps to spread party preferences to the masses (Davis 277). Additionally, this coverage often includes clear directions to audiences about how to get involved in local politics (Kim 660-661). However, the effects of these directives and partisan cues are limited to individuals with like-minded political beliefs, as people “tend to accept positive perceptions of the favored candidate and negative perceptions of the opposed candidate when they are exposed to congenial media coverage” (Kim
Media concentration allows news reporters to fall victim to source bias, commercial impulse, and pack journalism. Together, all three of the aforementioned factors become known as horse race journalism, a cause for great concern in campaign media. In complying with horse race journalism, media outlets exclude third party candidates, reinforce the idea that politics is merely a game, and dismiss issues that directly affect voters and their day to day lives. Through horse race journalism, the media is mobilized in impeding an active form of the democratic debate in American politics. Even across the wide range of human values and beliefs, it is easy to see that campaign media coverage must be changed, if not for us, then for our children. It is imperative that we discern the flaws of the media and follow our civic duty to demand better media
There is no question that the 21st century is experiencing increasingly high levels of political polarization but how did American politics become so polarized? Have Americans’ values and beliefs changed and therefore, they are taking more extreme positions? No. Rather, the answer lays on the emergence of a more partisan news media that has contributed greatly to political polarization and has caused Americans to support more partisan policies and candidates. Partisan news media revolves around careful selection of news and it utilizes “shrinking Presidential sound bites” and news leaks to fuel the political polarization in American politics today.
In United States politics, it is evident that media helps persuade or dissuade peoples’ perceptions of those who run for public offices. Traditionally, news media cohere to a baseline ideology or platform and cover news, politics, and stories by the beliefs of the chosen ideology. For instance, a very liberal news outlet could characterize a story about Bernie Sanders in a very appealing fashion while a very conservative news outlet could cover the same information negatively. Framing is how media and other groups organize and perceive events in daily society. Framing is an important tool that is used to bring people to a common similarity and ideology. Liberal and conservative news stations use framing to daily, either promoting the candidate
398).It is also stated that news divisions reduced their costs, and raised the entertainment factor of the broadcasts put on air. (p. 400). Secondly, the media determines its sources for stories by putting the best journalists on the case and assign them to areas where news worthy stories just emanates. (p.400). Third, the media decides how to present the news by taking the most controversial or relevant events and compressing them into 30 second sound-bites. (p.402). finally, the authors also explain how the media affects the general public. The authors’ state “The effect of one news story on public opinion may be trivial but the cumulative effect of dozens of news stories may be important. This shows a direct correlation between public opinions and what the media may find “relevant”. (Edwards, Wattenberg, Lineberry, 2015, p.
Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.
Although, in recent years it is seen that consumers are less likely to subscribe to newspapers and/or watch the daily news. This is due to the fact that they are typically bias in their opinions, and are seen to lack the whole story when presented. Rise in polarization in the media is due to a new found competition between news networks, which was not present sixty years ago. Wilson says, “the news we get is not only more omnipresent, it is also more competitive and hence often more adversarial”. The media outlets are fighting for views, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get them. Which leads to them configuring the stories to what people want to here. Thus making their viewer ratings higher. It is known that certain news stations get more views depending on the political party. “Those who watch CNN are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans; the reverse is emphatically true of Fox”. The media has more outlets to reach their viewers to maximize the effectiveness of their biased
Many people believe that liberal media bias is very relevant in this day in age, but really it is just a myth. Conservatives, also known as republicans, tend to forget that most of the American media is influenced heavily by corporate business owners(Schaller 49). Topics such as issues of war and peace, taxes and spending, and government regulation are heavily favorable to the conservatives. A study done by Media Matter for America shows that over sixty percent of U.S. daily newspapers publish conservative journalists rather than liberal(Schaller 49). On the other hand, it is obvious that some hot topics in the news are liberally skewed.
Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structure, have always dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally will exploit the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality. One way in which government achieves this objective, is by its ability to misuse the media’s ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, media is in fact an enormous hegemony. In fact, separate independent news organizations relatively do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of there own, generally lesser smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media functions in adherence to the characteristics of a hierarchy. This simply means that media is structured in a way that it operates functioning from top to bottom. This is also identical to the hierarchical nature of the human body, in that from the commands of the brain transferred through the central nervous system, the body responds accordingly. In order for the U.S. government to control and determine the public’s popular perception of reality, the government must shape and oversee the information that the media reports to the existing populous. This particular process of democracy is known and referred to by political scientists as cognitive socialization. However, many of us, who do not adhere to the cushioning of political correctness, refer to it as the propaganda machine. Numerous political scientists consider cognitive socialization to be the most effective form of political socialization. According to theory, cognitive socialization is doctored up information, which is strategically fragmented in such a manipulative manner, that the probability of its rationalization is highly predictable. The manipulative properties of cognitive socialization are so diabolical and Machiavellian in nature, that I consider it to be the ultimate perversion of the democratic process. In all seriousness, numerous intellectuals, and gentleman held in good stature agree, that cognitive socialization is the product of an evil genius.
Stromback, J. and Esser, F. (2009) Shaping Politics: Mediatization and Media Interventionism, in Lundby, K (eds) Mediatization: Concept, changes, consequences. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc, pp. 205-223.
In the US, mass media plays a significant role in politics. One of the key roles mass media plays in politics includes the airing of the platforms of various politicians. The media influences the view of people on politics and politicians. As the opinion of individuals is affected, the results of the votes are consequently changed (Holden, 2016).
How mass media is using both Ideology and Popular Culture to develop societal expectations and social identities. This essay will look at how Ideology, Hegemony, and Popular Cultural Theory shape common values and expectations of society and media’s influence and compare and contrast differing approaches to understanding the relationship between media and society. The discussion will be contextualized through the use of gender roles and expectations, and how these theories develop and affect the female social identity.
The media is sometimes called the “Fourth Estate” because of its influence in shaping the course of politics and public opinion. Some people are influenced by what they read or hear and others are not. There is a well-known psychological process called selective attention. Wilson, Dilulio, and Bose define it as “paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees.” (290)
As Americans we take pride in our liberating government. But, it is essential to ask how much we, the general public, know about our democracy. Because of the representative structure of our government, it is in our best interest to remain as knowledgeable as possible about political affairs so that we can play an active role in our democracy by voting for candidates and issues. The media, which includes print, television, and the internet, is our primary link to political events and issues. (For the purposes of this essay only print and television will be considered.) Therefore, in order to assess the success of our democracy it is necessary to assess the soundness of our media. We are lucky enough to have a media, in theory, free from government influences because of our rights to freedom of press and freedom of speech, but we are still subject to the media’s interpretation and presentation of politics, as is the danger when depending on any source for information. So, we must address how the media informs us; how successful it is at doing so; and how we should respond to it.
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 make them appear more salient. Similarly, priming works by repeatedly exposing certain issues to public. As the issues get more exposure, the individual will be more likely to recall or retain the information in their minds. This paper will discuss these three factors played out systemically by media and how our opinions are constantly being influence and shape by them.
Prior, Markus. "News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout." American Journal of Political Science. 49.3 (2005): 577-592. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.