Impact of the Media to Us Politics

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Impact of the Media to U.S Politics|
Edily Vasquez|


Media has had a big impact in almost everything, including past and current generations. Television, radio and most recently, the internet have been one of the influential factors when it comes to how people obtain information regarding politics, particularly during an election year and as a result it helps shapes the final decisions of the voters. One of the biggest changes in the U.S. electoral politics of the last century is that most voters rely more on television commercials for information about candidates and issues. Internet is also one of the major tools candidates use to attract voters; with the social media and with websites such as “Facebook” is an easy way to create a “fan page” and have the users like the page also write comments and share it with other Facebook friends. Almost 80% of the U.S populations are Internet users, meaning that the majority of the population relies on the Internet to read the news and current events. Even though newspapers are not as popular as they used to be, it is still an instrument that is used to attract voters to find out more information about the candidates. The following pages will explain in further details how much of an impact media has in U.S. politics.

According to Laura Lane from the University of Southern California, “The media helps influence what issues voters should care about in elections and what criteria they should use to evaluate candidates.”Over the years the way politicians advertised themselves involves the mass media, newspapers and magazines, radio, television, the Internet, films, recordings, books, and electronic communications, to reach almost everyone in the United States. The news media are part of the mass media that tells the public what is going on in the country and around the world. The internet has become one of the most important, if not the most important source of news in the United States. The number of people that go online everyday has increased dramatically over the decades and it will continue to increase and become more politically involved as the years come. The Internet allows people to obtain any type of information on any subject at any time of the day or night. The Internet also allows people to communicate and organize rapidly in response to political events. Depending on what is told by the media whether good or bad it will have a big impact to the voters decision. Also, the media helps to dictate what issues voters should be concerned with in elections and what criteria they should use to judge politicians by. It is important to note that during different eras voters have relied on different forms of communication for their personal political decisions. Claire Cain Miller compared similarities between two presidential candidates from different times and described how they were able to influence a large majority of the voters and as a result both became presidents of the United States. Miller pointed out that “one of the many ways that the election of Barack Obama as president has echoed that of John F. Kennedy is his use of a new medium that will forever change politics. For Mr. Kennedy, it was television. For Mr. Obama, it is the Internet.” This is a clear demonstration that political candidates will find attractive and modern ways to ensure their victory. New means of communication will come in the near future and will always continue to help share messages.

Television has changed U.S politics more than any other invention. It relates to different age groups, educational levels, social classes and races. For more than 40 years, Americans have been getting their news primarily from television. Whenever there is a crisis or any type of important event, most people turn first to television for information. The average American watches...
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