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Media's Impact on Politics Essay

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Here in America, we try to pay close attention to everything that goes on in the government. Whatever decision they make we want to know when, where, why, and how. This is because whatever decision that they make will determine what will happen with this country as a whole in the long run. So what is the best way to find out what’s going on with our government? Why the media of course. The media plays a major part in every aspect of the government including what happens in elections, the reporting of major military operations and how the American people will react to certain political situations or scandals. Here are some the ways that the media affects the way we think when it comes to the government.

The Right to Laugh: Media Satire …show more content…

One recent case where the mass media poked fun at and satirized the government was the year 2000 election. In the time where ballots and votes became confused and the state of Florida became the punch-line to many a water cooler joke, shows such as the ones above took the story and ran with it. From the very beginning the satire of political figures played its role in the election. According to the Washington Post and the Pew Research Center, 47 percent of Americans under the age of 30 receive around 26% of their information about candidates, amongst other political matters, through late night comedy television. This trend has been labeled by many “Infotainment.” The viewers are receiving information about political issues and their government, but through a sarcastic or humorous filter that creates a different culture of informed citizens.

When the poll results in the 2000 election came in, the jokes seemed to last longer than the re-counts. Even now 3 years later the jokes continue to be evoked. Recently at the academy awards, while on stage to receive his academy award for his very humorous gun control documentary “Bowling for Columbine” Michael Moore called George W. Bush “a fictitious president” while following with jokes about the pope and the Dixie chicks.

Indeed, when we live in an entertainment and media saturated culture such as the USA, such comments as

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