Detrimental Effect of Television on American Politics

Image is everything. In the modern world of sleek cars, towering glass buildings, carefully designed websites and carefully designed women on the front of magazines, this comes as no surprise. What does come as a surprise, what should come as a surprise, is that this fascination with image, this obsession with physical appearance, has seeped into the one area it least belongs. Politicians, the men and women who are supposed to be leading our nation, now have to be just as careful of their image as any supermodel or screen star. Much of the blame for this image-addiction can be placed on the age of television, that wonderful little machine that brings every important event, whether that is a football championship game or the speech of a political candidate, to any American that desires it. Although this ability to allow all Americans personal access to political campaigns does serve a purpose, it has also reduced the serious business of being chosen to run the country into a contest of showmanship.

Television has done one thing right, at the very least. By providing a “new, direct, and sensitive link between Washington and the people,” as one Dr. Stanton eloquently states it, the broadcast of political debates and speeches has allowed the people of America to become intimately involved in the politics of the country (Campbell). And involving more people in the politics of a country that relies on elected officials to act on the will of the people, in their best interest, seems to be undeniably a good thing. And as ratings and viewership of the Presidential debates rose from the advent of this new technology in 1960 to the debates in 1980, it seemed it was doing its job. However, in more recent years, both ratings and the number of...

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...of people. It clouds judgment, blinds a clear eye with its sparkles and flash, it lets emotion and familiarity hide the logic and rationality which must be present when deciding who the man is that should lead our country. In spite of television’s misuse of it, emotion does have its place. Charisma and charm are important, useful to a leader. However, it is when these qualities begin to replace and crowd out other, arguably more important ones, such as intelligence and fair-mindedness, that television goes too far. Unless presidential candidates refuse to submit to the flash and glitter that is television campaigning today, unless voters refuse to be spoken down to, refuse to be led away from the true issues with dumbed down debates and esclusive personal interviews with the candidate’s dog, television will continue to have a detrimental effect on American politics.