FREE Media Effects On Politics Essay (original) (raw)

Media Effects on Governing The mass media has played a major role in American politics since the formation of our country. So much so that it has been called by many, "the fourth branch of government." Originally, media power was only vested in the papers, but today radio and television are the more prominent forms of news. Since the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, presidents have used the media to spread their views to their constituents. FDR brought us the fireside chats in one of which he requested the American people to put their money back into the banks and get our economy moving again. The media informed the nation of Richard Nixon's less then honorable means of governing and the media brought the Vietnam war to our living rooms every evening. There are even those who believe that the media chooses our presidents by deciding whether to air the good or bad things they dig up on the presidential candidates. There are two major ways the mass media effects the public. These are agenda setting and priming. Agenda setting is the way the media dictates the salience of contemporary issues. An experiment performed by Iyengar et al in 1980 showed that media does effect how important an issue is to the public. In this experiment, Iyengar showed three different groups news clippings weighted on the side of specific issues, then showed a fourth control group undoctored news. He tested these subjects before and after the showings and found that in all but one issue, the subjects had moved in the hypothesized direction. This last issue was inflation and he concluded that people just could not think this issue was more important then they already did. Agenda setting effect is important to the government, especially the president, because it leads to priming. Priming is the use of salient issues by the public to evaluate a public figure. When is comes to voting on a president, priming is second only to partisanship in importance.

1. Media And Politics

Mass Media and Politics The mass media possesses a great deal of influence in society and politics in the United States. ... The advancing technologies in today's world help the media to portray their political views. ... The technological aspect of the media has other effects too. ... This has both positive and negative effects. ... The influence of the mass media affects politics in the United States greatly. ...

2. The Role of the media

This cartoon depicts how the media works during a primary election on in just about any important political affair. ... The media keeps close coverage in the candidate's actions. Media exposure of one sort or another determines which candidates will be able to reach the most potential voters, which will be selected by the major political parties, and, to a significant extent, which will eventually lead them to be elected President of the United States. ... The effects of media on politics are not really obvious. ... The mass media have become dominant in many presidential elections and ot...

3. Media

Mass Media and the Effects on Public Perspective Over the past century, mass media has evolved from informational for the public to a monopolistic situation where the public has lost its say in what is aired. ... This paper will investigate the changes in the media, focusing on newspapers, magazines, and television, and the effects upon public perspective it has had. ... Effects and Changes in Mass Media A description of mass media in the United States can help to explain much of why they do what they do. ... Nearly all daily papers in the U.S. had become politically ind...

4. Consumer information

What he means is that politics is a competition for attention. ... In the discipline of Political Science, many scholars have attempted to quantify and explain the "rules" of political agendas. ... In political debate, it is often the case that media and policy elites dominate the agenda. ... Many scholars have studied professional mediation, and its effects on the ideals of democracy. ... News media tend to lean toward political and advertising appeasement rather than informing the public. ...

5. The Effects of Social Media on Identity

Although social media is a big part of human life, it its effects are ultimately harmful to a fundamental human identity. ... Social media, in today's environment can come in many different forms. ... What is the role of social media in our lives? ... Social media lends itself for this purpose. ... On one hand, the media keeps us rapidly updated on current and political events, which help Americans form more educated decisions. ...

6. Where does Media Power reside

Articles that are regarded as too politically sensitive or posing a potential threat to the press" commercial interests would be taken out from the newspaper we read. ... Under such circumstance, political or social authorities become part of the media production. Political authorities, by providing the media with their "official" version of information and messages, can efficiently convey a desirable message or image to the public. ... Altheide (1985:16-17) made an excellent rebuttal on Nardi's assumption, I should note...audience members are aware that the medium of TV permits "camera t...

7. The Corruption of Social Media

But I don't want to bring your complete attention to just cyber bullying there are other areas in social media that are corrupt, such as politics. Expanding the political knowledge to almost anyone from anywhere. ... "Today some still wonder how the Obama campaign mobilized so many people on the Web, but those who hopped on the social media bandwagon hoping to replicate its success found that they would need to offer more than rehearsed political rhetoric to gain supporters.... From that point on, it should have been a given that all future political candidates put full utilization o...

8. Political Campaigns

The media effects the political process enormously. ... However the media good also have a very positive influence on the public. ... While other voters use the media because they are interested in politics, voters that have not decided refer to media sources for information about parties, candidates, and issues. In some political campaigns, even the lack of debates can have significance. Both of the major U.S. political parties have used such strategies, considered to be departures from ethical behavior. ...

9. Agenda Setting In The Media Today

This idea of agenda setting, though not dealing directly with the media controlling the minds of the people, does look at the media's ability to control what we think about. ... While this idea of agenda setting is very interesting by itself, it becomes even more interesting when viewed as how it effects the media that Americans now encounter today. ... In the book, The Emergence of American Political Issues, looks at this controlling idea of media... Algers book The Media and Politics, he talks about the power of agenda setting in the media in regards to politics, yet in a way supports...

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