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The role of the media in politics
The role the media plays in election essay
The role of the media in politics
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Larry Sabato’s Feeding Frenzy discusses the press’s rising role in the political world. He discusses the changing phenomenon in journalism which is making reporters key components in the political campaign process. Journalists now have the ability to influence the outcome of campaigns by running sensationalized headlines or transmitting rumors and gossip about different aspects of a candidate’s life. Furthermore, with the large part the media plays in coverage, they have the ability to prevent certain people from gaining any major traction through reportage. However, the media’s tendency to focus on unfounded and scandalous information is not a new inclination. Since introduction of yellow journalism and muckraking, the news has been laden
At the start of the 20th century, journalists had begun to play an important role in exposing wrongdoings within politics and society. These journalists, often called muckrakers, used their journalism to focus on political flaws and corruption in city governments. Several popular publishers adopted this form of journalism, which became widely popular
This is a story of baseball and how it is a team sport. The book relates with the title by showing how this boy named Sandy Comstock that plays on the Grantville Raiders and has a big game coming up. It was against the Newtown Raptors. He wanted to beat them and become one of the best teams. By the time he knew it he ended up on the Newtown Raptors team and he was going to play is old team. It was kind of like a baseball turnaround.
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
Through manipulation and lies, media manages to modify objective news into biased news in order to convince the public of what the media wants them to believe. The article, “How the Media Twist the News”, by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas discusses the major influence that news has on readers based on their choice of stories and words. “How the Media Twists the News” has borrowed from multiple other texts such as the books like Public Opinion and Liberty and News, news magazine writers such as Ruderman, and news networks like CBS through Bias, A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News and CNN to make her arguments valid and prove that the news is biased and that it does influence readers significantly because of it.
In the short story called "A & P" by John Updike, our main character Sammy is described as being a checkout clerk at the local grocery store. Sammy quits his job for many reasons. Sammy does not want to be referred as a "sheep", someone that follows, instead he wishes to do things on his own.
The thoughts that ran through Sammy’s head questions all of us of what led him to make the changes of his “on track” adult lifestyle. Now a responsible young adult being 19 years old working a cash register and dealing with “Sheep” [customers] doesn’t quite cut it for him. Checking out groceries for people at the A&P local grocery store for quite some time , he decides to step up and be a hero by quitting his job as a reaction for three girls being expostulated, because of their attire clothing, by his boss Lengel. However, was he becoming a “hero” for three girls or a hero for his own self finally taking the opportunity to speak up for something he has been languishing to do so.
In John Updike’s 1959 short story “A&P”, the protagonist, Sammy, makes an abrupt decision to quit his job as a cashier after his boss, Lengel, embarrasses a group of girls for being indecently dressed. Although the decision was unplanned, Updike makes it a point to inform the audience about Sammy’s negative and unpleasant outlook on his occupation. To do this, he illustrates some of the incidents that may have contributed to Sammy quitting his job, most of which are rather ironic and unusual. Sammy quit his job because he did not view it as a permanent occupation, he wanted to make an independent decision without the guidance of his parents, and he wanted to impress the group of girls that had been embarrassed by Lengel due to their immodest
Professional baseball started in 1869 and developed into the game we know today as America?s past time. Baseball was a part of the American identity.
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
The old proverb “the Pen is mightier than the sword” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy) still holds significance in protecting of public rights. Words such as freedom, and liberty engendered the idea for democracy. Such words formed into sentences and paragraphs enlightened the public to take action against tyranny and corruption. Freedom of the press is what ensured the general masses of their public rights. The exemplary case in which the freedom of the press played a role was the endeavors of Woodward and Bernstein to unravel the corrupted politics behind the Watergate Scandal. The movie All the President’s Men depicts the proceedings of the Watergate scandal, the scheme to attack the crux of democracy: “ the open election”. Also how the two journalists of the Washington Post progressed to unveil the relationship between the Watergate Burglary and the White House. On one hand, the movie represents the role of the media in its obligation to convey the truth to the masses. On the other hand, the movie reflects political corruption and conspiracy. The accomplishment of Woodward and Bernstein presents the importance of the interaction between the media, the government, and the general masses of society. The role of the media is not only to intervene between the State and the public, but also to take account of public ideas and to apply those ideas to new policies. Also, the media acts as a safeguard to prevent the corruption of the State. Thus, the Watergate scandal signifies the significance of the media as an intermediary between the government and the public mass.
Dating back to over 100 years ago, when yellow journalism depicted its news as a sensationalist, crude exaggeration of what was true (that actually helped lead to a war) it can be stated that the media has had a constant theme of using different tactics and biases to influence their readers/viewers. Horse race journalism is no different. It depicts an election as a horse race, where the focus is not on the candidate’s policy but rather on how the candidates oppose each other. Media uses this framework to show that “the race—not the winner—is the story. The candidate’s image, personality, staff relations, and strategy are the main foci of reporting. Furthermore, with the horse-race metaphor, journalists can generate interest among viewers” (Broh,
During these difficult economic times sensationalism has become more prevalent in the media. Stories involving sex scandals and child murders have taken over our T.V and internet screens as well as the front pages of our newspapers. The media bias of sensationalism has been used as a sort of escapism for readers. Although it may seem that sensationalism has just started making waves, it has been around for decades. Sensationalism has been influencing viewers and contributing to media bias since the days of the penny press. Sensationalisms long history has been turbulent, self-serving, and influential to today’s reporting practices. With the influence over readers’ sensationalism’s media bias have and will continue to affect media reporting for years to come.
Sabato, Larry J. Feeding Frenzy: Attack Journalism and American Politics. Baltimore: Lanahan Publishers, Inc., 1991.
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.
In trying to attract new audiences, news media have begun to transition from reporting to becoming a form of entertainment. With the meteoric rise of social media’s role as a news source, the fight for an increase of diversity in the media, and the ever-growing desire of immediate content, the future of responsible journalism is more important than ever. Ask yourself, why do I think the way I do? Where do my political views originate? How do I prove them? Most likely, it is due to the biased portrayal of issues in the media and the politicization that accompanies what we consume. Now, compare your views to your preferred news reporting entity. More than likely, they are the same.