Media And The Government

The media can often have a large impact on public opinion. The general community can be swayed based purely upon how the news carries a story. This places a massive responsibility on the media. They must decide what is appropriate and how to address certain topics.

In the cartoon the author was describing the impact the media can have on presidential races. People, in general, like to know the gossip about candidates. They like hearing the dirt, it brings the nominees down to the level of the common man. Since this is what the press knows the people want to hear this is what they publish. The more inside details the news gives the more people will want to buy their product. This cartoonist was showing the extremes that the media will go to in order to sell their product. The producers of all types of media are not stupid though, if a story has gone on to long or no longer interests the American public they will listen to public opinion and change subjects immediately. In the case of presidential campaigns media producers know that it affects all Americans so they can drag out different topics. Voters demand to know as much about candidates as they possibly can so that when they are in the booth they can make the best possible decision. The news has they used polls and realized that people don’t vote because of issues alone. They also vote (or don’t vote) for a candidate because of his personal appearance, attitude, or even actions in the public eye. Since these are all reasons for choosing certain contenders the media can publish stories that have so little relevance to the actual campaign and still sell their merchandise. The author of these cartoons was suggesting that perhaps the media might take things to far at times.

Their are certain characteristics that apply to all forms of media that explain their reasons for writing and exploring the issues that they do. The media has been assigned certain roles by society. One of those roles is that of the gatekeeper. This gatekeeper role means that the media decides what issues make news, and for how long they make news. Also, media is supposed to be a sort of scorekeeper. They decide who is winning and losing in political contests. This is very important because it can sway public opinion greatly.