In everyday life, television is everywhere. It can be in your house, in a shop, or somewhere you’ve never been to. However, have you ever wonder if television affects presidential elections? Have you wonder if televisions had a positive or negative feedback on presidential elections? Well, anyway, television has both, positive and negative effects on presidential elections, but there is more downside to it than positive. The 2 main negative effects that television has had on presidential election is by moving candidates from pursuing issues to pursuing image and shortening informations released to viewers. Therefore, television has had a negative impact on presidential elections by moving candidates from pursuing issues to pursuing image and …show more content…
In Source A, Campbell states, “‘The people have once more become the nation, as they have not been since the days when we were small enough each to know his elected representative. As we grew, we lost this feeling of direct contact—television has now restored it’”(Source A). From reading this part of Source A, readers can tell that televisions allowed citizens to have direct contact with presidents. With this many people who didn’t care about politics started to vote presidents based off of their physical structures instead of political or real facts. By selecting presidents based off of their physical traits can cause the country or state to be in consequence since not all presidents who knows politics are good looking. Selecting president base off of their physical trait is like picking a girl that has very good physical traits, but bad attitude, or picking a girl that doesn’t look very good, however, has a good attitude. In brief, televisions allowed citizens to have direct contact with presidents and gave citizens the option to choose their president base off of their physical …show more content…
In Source B, Hart states, “because of television’s celebrity system, Presidents are losing their distinctiveness as social actors and hence are often judged by standards formerly used to assess rock singers and movie stars” (Source B). From reading this part of Source B, readers can tell that presidents will basically lose their place if they don’t take care of their physical appearances since everyone is voting the best looking president. One example in this case would be the debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. In Source C, Menand states, “He also believed that Kennedy’s ‘victory’ in the debates was largely a triumph of image over content. People who listened to the debates on the radio, White pointed out, scored it a draw; people who watched it thought that, except in the third debate, Kennedy had crushed [Richard M.] Nixon.… White thought that Kennedy benefited because his image on television was ‘crisp’; Nixon’s—light-colored suit, wrong makeup, bad posture—was ‘fuzzed.’ ‘In 1960 television had won the nation away from sound to images,’ he concluded, ‘and that was that’” (Source C). From reading this part of Source C, readers can infer that television has impacted the result of the debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Instead of actually grading their debate on politics, image was also graded. Richard M. Nixon has no idea about this so he would
The intended effect of “American History” was to entertain and show how TV news and news in general affects people. In contrast the intended effect of “Tv Coverage…” was to inform readers how John F. Kennedy's assassination affected the news.
Donald Trump is the victim of many jokes because of his orange fake tan and wispy hair. Teddy was known for his glasses and for his distinct teeth. These matchless characteristics are easily identified in any political cartoon because they are extremely exaggerated to prove a point. Not only do they stand out for their psychical appearances, their personalities are quite unique as well. Both are known for their harsh, passionate temperaments towards ineffective government. Both played on populist beliefs and placed the average man against the government while realizing the potential for media influence. Roosevelt was one of the first to utilize media like newspapers and magazines in attempt to sway public opinion. Trump does the same but with modern technologies. He operates his own twitter account, often voicing his blunt opinions in a sometimes controversial way. Regardless, he gets his point across to millions in a matter of seconds. Today’s society allows for quicker spreading of news, but Roosevelt still expressed his views
...y and others used to be treated like Kings. Kennedy would bring in movie stars to the White House and cheat on his wife, and the journalists and news would just look away saying that the people do not need or want to know this. However today, Presidents are constantly being checked on and having trials. In the Clinton trials journalists did not just turn their heads, they tried to get the American People the whole story.
With improvements to broadcasting technologies and greater access by more families, television was now in more homes in the 1960’s, bringing news, advertising, and family comedy shows to the nation. Moreover, the influence on social aspects of people’s live was apparent when it came to depicting women and their gender roles through acting. Consequently, television played another role regarding social dynamics thus, showing the realities of civil rights and the horrors of war. Additionally, television brought the political candidates to the forefront and had a strong influence on the American people’s political ideologies, as the first ever presidential debate aired on television. Finally, television aided the economy by waging advertising campaigns that convinced consumers to purchase their products. Coupled with consumer’s extra income contributing to a strong economy, despite the slightly high unemployment rates. As can be seen, television played a key role in the social, political, and economic culture in the 1950’s and
I am in agreement with Neil Postman when he states television is having an overall negative effect on our society; it promotes short attention spans. For this argument, Postman uses the example of the seven famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Postman explains, audiences would "cheerfully accommodate themselves to seven hours of oratory" (Postman, 1985, p. 44). I don’t believe this concept to be entirely true in today's society.
“ Television often provides politicians with more attention turning them into more celebrity than politician” (Hart). This holds some truths in some situations television does over publicize some politicians , but this always is not a bad thing. The modern day politician is suppose to receive a plethora of attention due to their important public figure. Some television networks do sway towards parties , but not all of them. If anything a viewer can watch the network that reports exclusively on his or her interest rather than the interests of the people from another political party. When placed under this public spotlight the true character of the politician is revealed , and the public can get to know them in depth. “Politicians have the choice to abuse their public figure to derive attention or use it for acts of good” (Bazalgette) . This ultimately comes down to the morals of who we chose to represent us. Television plays an important part but at the end of the day if a politician is gonna mislead the public he will do it. Television acts as a checker to make sure the public cannot be fooled so easily. Above all television has helped propel our modern day society into realms that were before thought to be impossible to
The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between the mass media, specifically television, and presidential elections. This paper will focus on the function of television in presidential elections through three main areas: exit polls, presidential debates, and spots. The focus is on television for three reasons. First, television reaches more voters than any other medium. Second, television attracts the greatest part of presidential campaign budgets. Third, television provides the candidates a good opportunity to contact the people directly. A second main theme of this paper is the role of television in presidential elections in terms of representative democracy in the United States.
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.
It is quite often oblivious to all of us, the effect that media has on us. However, where ever we look the effects of media have altered the coarse of living. The clothes we wear, the sports we play, the music we listen to and our political opinions, are all aspects that are influenced by the media.
Breakthroughs in technology throughout the twentieth century similarly morphed the institution of the American presidency. Embracing and adjusting to changing technology is a key attribute of the modern presidency, for the use proper use of technology makes the presidency appear strong. While mass media was an available medium during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, it was not effectively used until the Roosevelt administration (Thompson, 9/11/2014). The use of technology has enabled presidents to effectively address the nation, developing the modern presidency’s paternalistic role, in both times of crisis as well as presidential elections. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s use of the radio to address the nation during the Great Depression and World War II demonstrates the paternalistic use of media in the modern presidency, creating a stronger connection to the American people. The 1960 Presidential Election further demonstrates the importance of the modern presidency adapting to technological advancements. The televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy shows the importance of technology to the presidency; for Americans who watched the debate and those who listened to the debate had different perception of who won (Thompson, 9/18/2014). Incorporating technology is a major element of the modern presidency, the use of mass media has greatly strengthened presidential administrations as well as the image of presidential candidates
But they were not always able to meet everyone, which hindered their process of achieving support for their campaign. With the invention of television, direct contact between the candidates and the public has been restored. The airing of presidential debates on television is another very crucial part of the election process today. They are a chance for the public to see the candidates speak about vital current issues and their stance on political issues. They are also a major deciding factor for voters.
Media also influences the thinking of people and society in general through entertainment as well as advertising and marketing campaigns. It is the creative ideas and boost to the imagination that people get once they watch a television show, movie, commercial or listen to a certain song. The impact any of these forms of media can have on an individual’s thinking can change in that most of them view the various stars in the movies, TV or the music industry as role models and as a result, they start imitating them. This type of influence oftentimes will influence the way someone views a political
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,
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.
Mass media has come a long way since 1960. President Nixon first used the media to present himself to the United States citizens. The history channel stated, “The Kennedy-Nixon debates not only had a major impact on the election’s outcome, but ushered in a new era in which crafting a public image and taking advantage of media exposure became essential ingredients of a successful political campaign.” (A&E Television Networks, LLC)