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The media affecting public opinion
The role of media in political campaigns
Role of media in shaping public policies and public opinion
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How has the Media Impacted the Presidency? Currently, the office of the United States Presidency is one of the most powerful positions in the world. The President has the power to influence Congress, the nation and the free world. However, the US Media, which is also the freest and most powerful press, has had control over the presidency. The advent of CNN, ABC, NBC and others has had the effect of being able to sway the population of the United States, either garnering support for a president or destroying his credibility. The media has permitted the spread of information, allowing the people to take a more active role in politics making the general will better known, but it has also made politicians and the public hostage to the ideas and opinions of reporters, who are often only after a gripping story and a large profit. The media has the power to sway the American public by reporting favorably or with disfavor on a candidate, thus making a presidential candidate the prisoner of entertainment companies. Thus it could be said that the American people lose their ability to truly know a candidate because of the media. Instead they vote according to what they are told by major publications rather than what they believe. In this paper, I will explore whether the Media is a valuable resource or a does it have an undue influence over the President and the American public? The media is a powerful resource for the Presidency and for the people of the United States. Justice Frankfurter, of the Supreme Court, said “A free press is indispensable to the workings of our democratic society.” He says that the American people need the media to be informed about government workings, foreign affairs, and events of importance. Without this... ... middle of paper ... ...tised by the press corp. When that becomes extreme and debates become scripted and rehearsed, ideas, free thought and expression are once again stifled. Thus, the press has a great power, but also a responsibility to use it correctly to inform the public without thought to partisanship, bias or with the idea of swaying the general will. Works Cited - 2004 Debates Contract. Fox News Network. 1 October 2004 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133975,00.html - News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Public Broadcasting Station. 19 September 2004 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec98/presidency_8-13.html - The Media and Politics. Beyond Books. 19 September 2004 http://www.beyondbooks.com/gop00/4.asp - “US Presidency and Television.” Museum Archives Online 2004. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/uspresiden/uspresiden.htm
Media finds its central role in the democratic debate in providing information, analysis, and a diversity of perspectives to the public. In recent years, with what is known as a media revolution, the amount of telecommunication outlets has increased dramatically. Often called “a product of healthy market competition,” the media revolution has theoretically expanded the public’s access to a multitude of facts, opinions, and general information (Miroff, et al. 2015). However, with a
According to the U.S. constitution and thereunder the first amendment, the press is said to be free, and the government cannot legally prohibit this freedom. Overall, the press holds an enormous responsibility. It is the watchdog of the community, the guarder of the government and the public. They provide an unofficial form of checks and balances on the government by informing the public on what the government is doing. Through this, they can persuade the public to view things in from one perspective or another. They have been given the constitutional right to do this.
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.
First, the role of the media is to represent the public and intervene between the public and the government. The media is a mirror, which re...
... made it tough to trust all forms of media, but for the receiving public it also has made it harder to decipher without it. Through the Amerian history of politics, one can see that the press agentry has been proven a great source of communication, however it also has advanced to new heights of anarchy within the news media. The question now: is it now at a point of no return?
From 1890s to 1945, media played an important role to spread news and change Americans’ opinions about different events. I believe that media changed Americans ideas by exaggerating the truth, propaganda and providing information. There are some examples about how media controlled Americans’ thoughts.
Although a cherished right of the people, freedom of the press is different from other liberties of the people in that it is both individual and institutional. It applies not just to a single person's right to publish ideas, but also to the right of print and broadcast media to express political views and to cover and publish news. A free press is, therefore, one of the foundations of a democratic society, and as Walter Lippmann, the 20th-century American columnist, wrote, "A free press is not a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society." Indeed, as society has grown increasingly complex, people rely more and more on newspapers, radio, and television to keep abreast with world news, opinion, and political ideas. One sign of the importance of a free press is that when antidemocratic forces take over a country, their first act is often to muzzle the press.
The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structures, have always been dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally exploits the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality.
In a world where almost all information is at our fingertips, its the media that largely influences and impacts the political agenda even in countries that are less technologically as the United States. Media is used to update people on current events, raise awareness of issues that arise within a society, impacts the public view and way of thinking, and is a primary means in which public information is shared (and manipulated depending on the source). Due to the large involvement of the media in everyday life, when elections arise the media becomes the main sources pushing the limits in being impartial and objective. The role of the media is to education and inform the public and stand a neutral and objective platform that is suppose to be
The purpose of this research is to examine the pros and cons of electronic media used for political press agentry, which may help expose more politicians to the public about the political candidates, themselves and their campaign approaches. This will conceivably enlighten and further the knowledge base of the American citizens on the strategies that are used to create the governmental foundation of democracy. This research also will help further acknowledge the good and bad effects of press agentry within the political process, beginning with some of the earliest forms of politics.
The Power of the Media in Politics The mass media possesses a great deal of influence in society and politics in the United States. Newspapers, radio, magazines and television. are able to use their own judgment when reporting current events. The The power of the mass media is an asset to the government in some instances and a stumbling block in others. Recent technology and regulations related to The media have improved the means by which the public can get information.
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.
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,
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...
The media is so impressive that it can influence who we have as the United States President. That appears to have a huge impact on everyone who has access to social or mass media.