The Influence of the Media on Politics

When the public's views are affected, the voting polls are too. In turn, when votes are changed, different public officials are elected. The government officials are the men and women who make the laws and generally run the country. The mass media is at the beginning of a long chain, but nonetheless, the media has a powerful effect on politics in the United States. Works Cited Cirino, Robert.

Media has a unique influence on public opinion and elections which leads them to have a profound impact on setting the country’s agenda. The country direction is determined by what the media say and the interest of the public. This country runs on a democracy government in order to give what the people want. But since most of the people get their political knowledge through media, their actually give the government what the media wants. Abraham Lincoln once stated “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.” But once you take a step back and look the amount of influence of the media has on the citizen of the US.

The media serves as the messenger to the general public and reports back to the public about all that occurs in government. While the media can at times sway public opinion, it works more effectively by placing a spotlight on certain issues it feels the public should be concerned with. By selecting the events that are covered, the media influences what the public perceives as being important. The government, specifically the House of Representatives is responsible for formulation of legislation and attending to the wants of its constituents. Moreover, the media can help set the political agenda by focusing on specific issues and influencing what issues the public and government should be concerned with.

However, on occasion within its own discretion, the media investigates and tries to inform us by the televised news, major newspapers and (large) radio personalities of cover-ups, conspiracies and or wrong doings by our so-called leaders. Are we always told the truth by the mass media? By the government? By the media speaking for or as directed by the government? Or has the line between truth and lies been so badly blurred in politics that we will never know what truly goes on in our political system?

The Media has a “ very powerful and justifiable role” (Fullerton-1) to play in presidential elections and can actually dictate a campaign agenda. “It is the media’s job to sort of be the watchdog (Fullerton-1).” Their job is basically to ferret out the truth and sniff out the falsehoods. To view the media as one large entity is misleading. It’s actually a huge community that includes mainstream media which is the major newspapers and major television networks. Then there is the alternative media, talk radio and tabloid shows which play up the most sensational in politics The majority of Americans get their political information from the media, the most of which comes from television.

Let 's first take a look at the media 's most obvious role. We all use the media to inform us. Here, the media report news and information to the general public. This is the most significant role of the media in a democracy because citizens play a crucial role in the political process and must be informed in order to make educated political choices. The media, therefore, must do a thorough and impartial job when informing the public on all government activities and political events.

It is argued that the contents also influenced by several parties such as political and economic sector. Politicians and corporates are said making use of mass media to reach a larger number of people to spread information about their political ideas and products. However, the society did not aware

It is interesting to comprehend the relation between media content and political power. What biases do the media experience in producing news in relation to government interests? Media, according to Herman and Chomsky, has a tendency toward elites’ political interests; media tend to follow official’s agendas. Herman and Chomsky proved this generalization through the use of terminologies and the way they place such kind of news (a foreign country’s election or attitudes toward countries) in US’ newspapers (with regards to number of news, editorial page, and front page of newspapers). Herman and Chomsky could be true when we relate their idea with Gan’s notion that (people behind) media tend to have ethnocentrism, and even possessed with patriotic spirit when there are political conflicts between the country where media is originally produced and its foreign countries as their perceived enemies.

They educate, formulate and organize public opinions. They also help raising political consciousness of the public, who cannot understand current political issues otherwise. Political parties approach people by organizing public rallies and press conferences on important matters and state their views clear. Through these meetings, the common citizens get to know about the social, economic, and political condition of the country. They are made aware of their voting rights.

How Media Influences Public Opinion 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. But how much influence does the mass media poses on our opinion? Guaranteed by the First Amendment in American Constitution, the media will always be there to inform us about the different events or issues they feel are important for the public. The media constantly bombards us with news, advertisements, etc, wher... ... middle of paper ... ...r attention on selected issues on which the public will form opinions on (McCombs).