Greed and Mass Media

1187 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of the media in politics

In today’s society, more people use mass media sources such as Facebook, Twitter, (Internet users—21%) and major news corporations like Fox, CBS, and NBC, etc. (Television viewers—55%) for their information on politics and government (Saad). People have this information twenty-four hours a day, right at their fingertips. While these are quick and seemingly easy sources, they are not always the best choices because media companies are not always giving out information with the public’s best interest at heart. There are a large number of companies that focus on how much money they will bring in. The media, therefore, has an essential duty to always be truthful but also a duty not to betray the trust put into it by society. The media’s need for consistent viewers to bring in a profit is a prime example as to why this honestly is so important. This is where the issue of greed comes in. Media companies, while taking a stand on one side of an argument, are obligated to tell the truth so the public is well informed, but greed to get in the way: this greed results in lies and can have an impact on voters.
Although some companies may not see it this way, they all should have an obligation to the public first and their profit second. Companies need to “give voice to a variety of opinions and not to be a propaganda organ for one particular political party. Also, they have particular obligations to provide civic education, as well as to provide a platform for the different political parties” ("Different Obligations of Public and Private Media"). Mass media companies should produce truthful facts and stories for the public so well-educated political decisions can be made. By providing the public with dishonest information, people are often...

... middle of paper ...

...le.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/articles/media01.htm>.
Berry, Jeffrey, Jerry Goldman, Kenneth Janda, and Deborah Schildkraut. The Challenge of Democracy. 12th Ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
"Different Obligations of Public and Private Media." ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. N.p.. Web. 12 Nov 2013.
Lloyd, Mark. "On Media Bias." Center for American Progress. N.p., 15 Jun 2005. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
Saad, Lydia. "TV Is Americans Main Source of News." Gallup Politics. Gallup, Inc., 08 Jun 2013. Web. 11 Nov 2013.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Media.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • American Civil Liberties: Do Americans Have Enough Protections for Civil Liberties, or Not?

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schiller, W. J., Geer, J. G., & Segal, J. A. (2013). Gateways to democracy: introduction to American government, the essentials. (2nd ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;.

    Read More

  • The Inefficiency of the U.S. Constitution

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).

    Read More

  • Reasoning Behind The 19th Amendment

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    Janda, Kenneth. Berry, Jeffrey. Goldman, Jerry (2008). The Challenge of Democracy (9th ed.). Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Read More

  • The Second Challenge: Imperial Judiciary

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America's Future. Washington, DC: CQ, 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • Public Broadcast and Democracy

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gerken H., Fraga L.R., Fung A., Issacharoff S., Karlan P.S., Keyssar A., Overton S. (2006, September/October). Six ways to reform democracy. Retrieved from http:// http://bostonreview.net/BR31.5/gerken.php

    Read More

  • U.s. Democracy Thriving : A Look Inside American Democracy

    2525 Words  | 6 Pages

    The United States is run by a democracy. There are many pieces to democracy that must be in good health in order for democracy to be effective and work. In this essay I will critique some of the most important parts of democracy in America and go deeper. I will first focus on the strengths of United States democracy and then I will dive into categories of democracy that I believe to not be thriving. I believe that the current conditions of United States democracy are becoming a hindrance to this nation, because the opinions and freedoms the public possess are being stripped away through poor media, education, and economy.

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future – Fourth Edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004.

    Read More

  • By George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, And Robert L. Lineberry

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sheila Gribben Liaugminas How The Media Twist The News Bias

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The old argument that the networks and other ‘media elites’ have a liberal bias is so blatantly true that it’s hardly worth discussing anymore…No we don’t sit around in dark corners and plan strategies on how we’re going to slant the news. We don’t have to. It comes naturally to most reporters.” (Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News) This example is tremendously important in the author’s discussion because it proves that news stories do manipulate people through bias. Popular news networks are viewed by thousands of people every single day, thus making it have a huge impact on the public since they believe what they see. When news reporters present their news segments, it is natural for them to give their insights due to human nature being instinctively biased. “The news media is [sic] only objective if they report something you agree with… Then they’re objective. Otherwise they’re biased if you don’t agree, you know.” (CNN’s American Morning) In this quote, the readers are presented to current panelists agreeing that news consumers have a very hard time separating their own view of the news from the perspective of the news reporters because they are presenting their own opinions throughout their segments. This problem exists once again because of the bias that is contained in media

    Read More

  • The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    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 do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of their 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.

    Read More

  • The Influence of the Media on Politics

    4123 Words  | 9 Pages

    "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 we choose our leaders. There was once a time when the government used the media as a medium to influence voters, committees, communities etc. Recently, it has been the presidents of major media outlets that have not only exercised power over the public but also made their presences felt in government and in the halls of congress. When the word democracy is thrown about it usually has to do with the rights or original intentions for a group or organization. The first group intended to be influenced by the media was the informed voter. Political parties along with the government used a variety of media resources to persuade the voter or in effect receive a vote for their cause. Returning to the thought of ?democracy? the question is, what was the original intention of the media with relation to the theme of democracy and the informed voter? To analyze this thought thoroughly one must first grasp an understanding of the basic definition of democracy.

    Read More

  • Media Bias

    2488 Words  | 5 Pages

    Media bias is any stereotype set forth by the media that portrays individuals to society in a certain way. Media bias doesn?t even have to be a negative portrayal, but more of an inaccurate portrayal of people that helps aid to the ignorance of individuals in society. In the following paper, I will give specific instances where media biases have occurred as well as show that it is a common occurrence that we may not realize. I will also show you why individuals believe that media bias is not a problem because if you can?t blatantly recognize it, how can it be there. I will also show how stereotypes set forth by the media sometimes mirror stereotypes that are set forth by society, and they only exist to help form the belief and value system of society. I will also offer possible solutions to such problems. Media bias is a large problem, in that its? existence is not blatant nor is it one that many people feel threatened by.

    Read More

  • Media System Dependency Theory

    3057 Words  | 7 Pages

    Jackob, N. G. E. (201). No Alternatives? The Relationship between Perceived Media Dependency, Use of Alternative Information Sources, and General Trust in Mass Media. International Journal of Communication.4(1), 589-606.

    Read More

  • Essay On Role Of Media In Politics

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    The current role of mass media in politics has definitely played a significant role in how view and react to certain events and issues of the nation. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are some of the ways information is passed onto many of the citizens. The World Wide Web is also an information superhighway, but not all of the sources on the Internet are credible. Therefore, I will only focus on the main three types of media: written, viewed, and audible, and how they affect whether or not democracy is being upheld in the land of the free. The media includes several different outlets through which people can receive information on politics, such as radio, television, advertising and mailings. When campaigning, politicians spend large quantities of money on media to reach voters, concentrating on voters who are undecided. Politicians may use television commercials, advertisements or mailings to point out potentially negative qualities in their opponents while extolling their own virtues. The media can also influence politics by deciding what news the public needs to hear. Often, there are more potential news stories available to the media than time or space to devote to them, so the media chooses the stories that are the most important and the most sensational for the public to hear. This choice can often be shaped,

    Read More

  • The Liberal Media Bias

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    Is there a liberal bias in the media? I definitely think there is in all forms of media, television, newspapers, and radio. I collected some information from surveys that support my claim. "Of the 1400 members of the national media who were surveyed in 1992: 44% considered themselves Democrats, 16% considered themselves Republicans, 34% considered themselves Independents, 89% voted for Clinton in 1992, 7% voted for Bush in 1992."1 Another survey showed that, "9 White House correspondents voted for Clinton in 1992, while 2 voted for Bush, 12 voted for Dukakis in 1988-one for Bush, 10 voted for Mondale in 1984- 2 for Reagan, 8 voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980 -- 2 for Reagan."2

    Read More

More about Greed and Mass Media

Open Document