Media Illiteracy In The United States

Journalists play an important part in the democratic process. Traditionally, the roles of the news media are to provide a forum for debate, represent opposing perspectives on the day’s issues and hold public officials accountable while serving their constituents. However, in recent decades, media has given way to biased forms of news— partisan media. In Matthew Levendusky’s “How Partisan Media Polarize America,” he explores if these partisan media influences viewers. The book’s second chapter, “What Do Partisan Media Actually Say?” concludes that partisan media promotes a larger agenda separately to Democrats and Republicans, attack the opposing side while denouncing compromise, and usually side with their candidate of choice during

Susan Page offers powerful support in the form of ethological appeal, logical appeal, and the use of imagery to convey readers the separation of political parties in her article, Divided We Now Stand. The rhetorical strategies Page uses help achieve her purpose of demonstrating the American people are to blame for the divided line between our citizens. Page chose these detailed and affirmative strategies to show American citizens that blaming the government for the country’s separation in wrong.

Humans are known to make mistakes but do these mistakes define who we are? According to Susan Page in, "divided We Now Stand," these mistakes in our political lives we do. In Page's article she tackles the idea that it is the voters who are polarizing politics leading to division. This claim however touching, it is lacking the right evidence that supports his argument making it weak and ineffective. This is due to the heavy reliance on others work, inability to connect to the audience, and lack of her personal ideas and how to fix this problem.

In this paper I argue that the US electorate is not polarized or deeply divided, instead, the electorate is forced to choose between two extremes making it appear as if they are divided when in reality they have many similar views on many issues. I base my argument on Table 1 and 2 in Alan Abramowitz’s essay that shows how the US electorate have to choose between two parties although they may not feel as strong about the topic like the candidate. Tables 5 and 7 in Morris Fiorina’s essay convince me that the US electorate is not polarized, in fact there are many idealogical similarities, however, parties push agenda’s that are highly divided and polarized therefore people have to choose between the two, that is closest to their views, either religious or cultural, although they may not completely agree with them.

Disconnected is essentially a book in two parts. The first is an extensive compendium of data in support of the claim that there is indeed a widening disconnect between a largely moderate voting public and an ideological polarized political class. The second part is the story of how that disconnect came about. Fiorina argues in “Disconnect” that America’s social evolution has increased the homogeneity within the parties and widened the differences between them, a dynamic that encourages politicians to “construct electoral coalitions out of group building blocks

The election of 2016 was an event that brought out the worst in Americans. Joanne B. Freeman describes that the constant arguing between voters and the persistent burlesquing between candidates in the most recent election is not all that different than the 1800 election. Both elections also used forms of media of the time to gain votes. The media of 1800 were newspapers, rather than instagram posts and tweets. I agree with these notions and that the election of 1800 is not a “stepping-stone to modern party politics”. I think this way as well. The two elections are extremely different because the recent election was majority focused on the two-party system, while the 1800 election came down to two candidates of the same, democratic-republican,

In the 2012 Presidential election, the majority of outside spending was a result of the Citizens United decision1. The unique increase of money translated into an increase in television ads, radio ads, and direct mailings. Unfortunately, the large increase in political rhetoric caused a move to political extremes rivaling those at the end of the Civil War2. It explains that micro-targeting of advertising allowed corporations and Super PACS to create echo chambers, where only points of view in agreement with the audience were expressed. Polarization was an issue before the Citizens United ruling, but the unique increase in rhetoric caused the “worst polarization in 120 years.

The polarization visible throughout the 2016- election was not, however, a new phenomenon. For years, Congressional representatives had been growing steadily more segregated along party lines. And for years, prominent political scientists had been identifying an ever-widening ideological divide between Democrats and Republicans. Recently, a study issued by the independent Pew Research Center exposed in clear terms the extent of political polarization in America, illustrating in hard data the schism that’s opened up between

America is currently divided. Politics from the recent elections have left this nation sore and torn apart by the conflicting political opinions of it's citizens. Politics nowadays are extremely polarized, so much so that we are at a 20 year high with the end nowhere near in sight. This has led to people firmly distrusting and even hating each other, seen by the fact that 27% of Democrats and 36% of Republicans believe that the opposing party is a threat to the nation’s well being. Political polarization must be put to the end, and there seems to be one major culprit, political parties.

Mass media is communication that reaches a large audience. This includes television, advertisement, the Internet, newspapers, and so on. Mass media is a significant effect in modern culture in America. It creates ideas and sustained within society not only send ideological messages out to the public but to advertise this ideas which are tend to manipulate our mantalities.

The negative impact on presidential elections which television has caused can be explained in 3 words, “image over content”(C). This has led to representatives of their respective parties to

Throughout the history of these great United States of America, the country has always possessed something truly unique: the fundamental principle of being for and by the people. This dynamic has lasted throughout the 241 year history of the United States being an independent nation. Whether it was the American Revolution led by George Washington, the Louisiana Purchase of Thomas Jefferson, the freeing of the slaves by Abraham Lincoln, or even through the grimmer times of the Great Depression, we have always remained strong due to great leadership (“The history of the United States,” 2016). However, as time has passed, both major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, have become increasingly polarized in their conquest for power. This remains true to this day, as the United States is in the midst of its current presidential election cycle, with the ultimate goal of a strong 45th President of the United States of America.

Back in the 1920s people had receive news and entertainment through the radio, which then in turn out-shined newspapers and magazines. Now day’s social media sites have become the most popular form to get the news and information. The biggest tool in the media that generates revenue by the millions every day, is advertising. The media has its way of showing us constructive information when it comes to news channels, travel and other educational shows. Kids benefit from watching these, since it can boost self-esteem, heighten interest levels in a particular subject, or encourage them to ask relevant questions.

Media is known as the “king maker” for many reasons, such as shaping candidates in audience’s perspective. Television has been a big influence in shaping voters choice and labeling political parties, even though some believe media information can be scant in regards to candidates. Media can be anything from television to social media networks and how many people think that media is a great influence, some also think it can be a problem. “It only takes 140 characters to damage a political campaign” in which Smith is referring to social media as being a problem. (Smith, K. 2011. Pg. 9) At the state and local levels party affiliation remains the most important. “In television age, journalist became the chief influence in the selection of candidates

In sharp contrast to past elections when candidates campaigned in-person, the 2016 election has been significantly mediated through mass media. With such a large influence on voters, the media not only determines which issues and events are salient in voters’ minds, but also how voters evaluate candidates. Moreover, media coverage, depending on its content, can influence whether voters think about candidates in terms of campaign issues or candidate attributes.