The Media and Politics

Paper Summary:

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the topic of the media in politics. Specifically, it discusses why the media pay more attention to national than state and local politics and whether the media fairly portrays the government. It looks at how the media today is a huge conglomerate made up of television news and talk shows, radio news and talk shows, and a vast array of print and online media, which all affect how Americans view and interpret the daily news. As such, the media portray only what is entertaining and will keep the American public interested without changing the channel or turning the page. It shows how it tends to cover more national events, which will hold a wider audience, and tend to portray government and politics in negative and even reactionary terms.

From the Paper:

"Media is so pervasive in our society; it can actually change the perception of the people, and swing the balance of power from one political cause to another. As one political media expert noted, "The press, as Walter Lippmann noted, has power partly because it can act as 'the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one episode and then another out of darkness into vision'" (Seib, 2000, p. 60). For example, at the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the Bush Administration effectively swept the Kurds in Northern Iraq "under the rug," and ignored their situation, which was tenuous with Saddam Hussein's regime. However, after the media continually reported on the Kurd's plight, including live reports from their miserable refugee camps near the Turkish border."

More papers on The Media and Politics:

• Essay # 42084 : "The Media and Politics of Sports"
• Essay # 43389 : "Media And Politics: Strange Bedfellows"
• Argumentative Essay # 139928 : "The Media and Canadian Political Life"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: