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
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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
The author compares the traditional political prank of “the Rhinoceros Party of Canada” to the present day of Calvert’s online hit. The comparison allows the reader to infer that the accessibility of the internet has allowed political satire to grow rapidly, as uploading a video online takes minimal effort in contrast to assembling an illegitimate political party. Despite their distinct techniques on representing their political ideologies, humor entitles the public to think about mainstream politics through their individual
A humorists inference of political happenings can be viewed through political cartoons, late night shows and others of the same nature.
In America, for quite some time now, there has been late night comedy shows. The are strategically aired after all of the “little kiddies” go to bed so the “mature” adults can enjoys advanced humor. This type of advanced humor has reputation of bashing a figure that almost everybody knows or has experienced. For an example, The daily show with Jon Stewart goes Through almost all of the presidential candidates and stretches and magnifies the humor in them. If you watch the show, it has a live audience
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
The role media plays in politics is undeniable. Our soundbite culture with its inherent limited attention span dictates a “McNugget” of information. Unfortunately this often leads to misrepresentations being accepted as fact. A glaring example of this was the Killian documents controversy. In September 2004, the CBS program 60 Minutes Wednesday aired a report critical of President George W. Bush's service in the United States National Guard. The four documents included criticisms of Bush's service in the Guard during the 1970s. These documents were supposedly created by Bush's commander, the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian. It was also reported that the documents were obtained by a CBS News producer
Government and politics are greatly affected by many different aspects such as the public, the media, and much more. These aspects affect decisions that may be put into laws or the political opponents and their views. The public and media have major influence over the government and its politics.
The main goal for a media corporation is similar to any other corporation, to make a profit. Media corporations do so by supplying the type of news people want to see. A channel with more viewers is more valuable to advertisers and in turn gains the media corporation more profit. This affects democracy because media corporations become concerned with trying to display the most sensational news, rather than perhaps the most important news. Politicians are aware of how media corporations report on outrageous news stories and try to use the media as a form of free advertisement to spread their platform (Bond & Smith, 280).
The media has perpetually influenced politics, for example, during the 2016 election, 91 percent of Americans learned information about the election from eleven various media sources. As it is evident that the media increases knowledge about multiple candidates and political parties throughout the country, within those sources, individualistic opinions and biases cloud the accurate information of what occurs. Although the press may be expanding awareness about the government and policy issues, it is not continuously precise. Recently the media has been utilized to manipulate and portray several images about our government and various political matters. The news is known to influence and shape the opinions of American citizens. Any form of
"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which
Mass Media's Political Power There are two main issues regarding media influence in politics 1. Does presentation and coverage affect voting behaviour and choices? 2. Do media have an impact on political struggle and decide nature of debates?
Consequently, the political sphere is now being colonised by the media, and politics has begun re-orientating itself to satisfy the logic of media organisations (Meyer, 2002, p. 71). Therefore, the media are active participants in the policymaking process and the ability to stimulate change or maintain the status quo depends on their choice of subject or policy issue and how they frame it. Active investigative reporting attempts to shape policy outcomes, but this does not necessarily mean that it always represents the most successful approach for gaining policy changes (Spitzer, 1993, p. 7). In fact, sometimes passive, straight reporting can have a greater influence on policy choices. When this occurs, media independence is largely bypassed, as the news generated depends solely on the information released (as public relations material) from legitimate news sources. For example, in the United States, White House staff routinely make ‘leaks’ - expressively to influence policy decisions (Davis, 1992, p. 143; Robinson, 2001, p. 948). Robinson noted that journalists regard “leaks… as indispensable to their work” and that they are aware of their use by officials in return for scoops (2001, p. 949).
Political economy media theory identifies a socially critical approach that focuses primarily on the relationship between the economic structure and political force in media industries and the ideological content of the media outputs. China has a very special situation of the political interference which are much serious than other kinds of countries. In western capitalist countries, the media is defined as a separate news outlet with legally press freedom approval by the government and formal institution that are independent from the state. Thus one of the most obvious characters of the western media is press libertarian. (Reference)However, in China, under the control by the Chinese Communist Party, the media organs are the first and
Can the media really persuade you into thinking a way about a person you have not even meet? The media can make influence you into thinking a certain way about some and also influence a choice that you could have to make about them that could change their life forever. To prove this I have researched into articles that could help me prove that the media can influence these things.
media, when you wake up, one of the first things you will do, and I
Mass media has a very influential part in today’s society. Consisting of radio broadcasting, books, the Internet, and television they allow information and entertainment to travel at a fast pace as well to a vast audience. This vast majority of information can easily manipulate and or persuade people to have certain stereotypes on specific genders. TV commercials are one of the most influential structures in the media. Looking back 20 to 30 years, stereotypes were clearly welcomed on TV and in commercials, but today it’s starting to become a problem.