...to make an impact that for agenda setting. Frames are also more likely to have an impact on those who are less knowledgeable. These effects are important when trying to understand the interaction between politics and media. Framing is a tool used to influence how voters think about issues. Framing also helps us begin to understand why voters think about issues the way they do or why media covers issues in a certain way. Agenda setting and priming help us understand certain issues are considered important by media and voters and how voters evaluate political leaders. The conditions that impact the ability of these effects to take hold are also interesting in our current political and media environments. Particularly, the idea that more exposure is needed for framing effects to occur. With 24-hour news networks such as Fox News and the always available Internet, there are many more opportunities for voters to be reached with these messages. Bernie Sanders Can’t Win: Why the Press Loves to Hate Underdogs by Steve Hendricks In this article, Hendricks describes how the media treated Bernie Sanders and similar past “underdogs.” As evidence, Hendricks points to the burying of Sanders’ announcement in the Times and “caricature” like coverage. One reason he offers for the media’s treatment of Sanders is the candidate’s platform which would be in opposition to the interests of corporate media. Hillary Clinton’s platform, on the other hand, would be more favorable to their interests...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...Political Science 201 June 7, 2012 Media’s Negative Effect in Politics The media plays a heavy negative role in American politics. During the past few years, society’s judgment has been based on what was given to it through the media. People rarely specifically research on candidates or propositions anymore. Much of the mass media is biased by trying to persuade viewers into believing what they want them to believe are true. Media is created for consumption by a large number of people watching it. The media has a remarkable impact on politics, which is not always good or beneficial. The data collected from the media can either be used for or against a politician. If a politician is favored by a certain network, such as CNN, NBC, or FOX, then the network can help his or her career reach new heights; however, if a politician is disliked then the network is capable of destroying the politician’s career. The media has the desire to make decisions for itself and in return try to convince people of its rightness and distort its viewers’ perspectives. There are many different types of media that can have a different influence on society’s political view. The four biggest forms of media are radio stations, newspapers, the internet, and television. People could tune into radio stations or talk radios to listen to political candidates being interviewed. An example would be in 1992 when "President George H. Bush interviewed with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh" (Curl). Non-political...
Words: 2554 - Pages: 11
...states whose governments continue to resist a more open and participatory form of governance, such as North Korea, Burma or Zimbabwe, the idea of democracy is a powerful force that inspires people to take on a more active role in public life. However, many of the newly emerging democracies seem to fall short of some, often many, of the basic standards that define democratic rule, with irregular voting procedures, corruption, inefficiency and autocratic styles of government being but a few of the maladies. In addition, as many of the newly emerging democracies belong to the developing world, inequality and poverty remain severe obstacles to full self‐determination of the people. The experiences of the past decades have shown that democracy is not a one‐way road and that a viable democracy requires more than the implementation of the key institutions of government. Rather, an accountable and efficient government is embedded in a complex web of interdependent conditions that require considerable time and effort to develop. In the context of the apparent problems and frequent setbacks, scholars and policymakers alike have become aware of the crucial role of the media in processes of democratization and consolidation. However, like political institutions, the media in many new democracies often seem to lack the qualities that would qualify...
Words: 10604 - Pages: 43
..." "Hollywood Likes to Point to The... - Miss Representation | Facebook. BBC, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. "Jane's Quotes in Miss Representation." Missrepresentation.org, 2011. Web. American females have been struggled a constant combat for inclusive equality in a culture that maintains an accommodation for men. Despite the fact that remarkable paces have been created for women, until our present day we are still known as victims of distortion and social prejudice. Miss Representation film demonstrates the humiliating interpretations of females' association in media through the lack of women's power in culture. Miss representation is an intuitive documentary film directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and Kimberlee Acquaro. It disputes the restrictive and hideous realities of female's image in American media, demonstrating the overall impact on women and girls' self assurance and their healthy body, while supplying to the largely depression of women in modern culture. Assemble from the principle, the medium of film forces the media producers to be more ethical through employing affirmative female role models. The message of the film clearly illustrates how observers are been overwhelmed by over-sexualized media representations of females in divergence with pictures of enormous matter and leadership roles of females. Although the media are considered dispensable and is brainwashing our minds from concentrating on important aspects of life in terms of education, family relations,...
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...Chapter 5 Corruption and the watchdog role of the news media Sheila Coronel The notion of the press as watchdog is more than 200 years old. Yet the idea of vigilant media monitoring government and exposing its excesses has gained new traction in many parts of the world. Globalization, the fall of authoritarian and socialist regimes, and the deregulation of the media worldwide have fuelled a renewed interest in ––as well as a surge in efforts by various groups to support–– “watchdogging” by the media. Since the late 17th Century, classical liberal theorists had argued that publicity and openness provide the best protection from the excesses of power. The idea of the press as Fourth Estate, as an institution that exists primarily as a check on those in public office, was based on the premise that powerful states had to be prevented from overstepping their bounds. The press working independently of government, even as its freedoms were guaranteed by the state, was supposed to help ensure that this was so. The 1980s and 1990s saw the revival of this centuries‐old notion and its application especially to “transition societies” then emerging from the ruins of socialist and authoritarian regimes. It had resonance among citizens facing pervasive corruption, weak rule of law, and predatory or incompetent governments unable to deliver basic services. Today even in countries ...
Words: 11805 - Pages: 48
...Chapter 5 Corruption and the watchdog role of the news media Sheila Coronel The notion of the press as watchdog is more than 200 years old. Yet the idea of vigilant media monitoring government and exposing its excesses has gained new traction in many parts of the world. Globalization, the fall of authoritarian and socialist regimes, and the deregulation of the media worldwide have fuelled a renewed interest in ––as well as a surge in efforts by various groups to support–– “watchdogging” by the media. Since the late 17th Century, classical liberal theorists had argued that publicity and openness provide the best protection from the excesses of power. The idea of the press as Fourth Estate, as an institution that exists primarily as a check on those in public office, was based on the premise that powerful states had to be prevented from overstepping their bounds. The press working independently of government, even as its freedoms were guaranteed by the state, was supposed to help ensure that this was so. The 1980s and 1990s saw the revival of this centuries‐old notion and its application especially to “transition societies” then emerging from the ruins of socialist and authoritarian regimes. It had resonance among citizens facing pervasive corruption, weak rule of law, and predatory or incompetent governments unable to deliver basic services. Today even in countries ...
Words: 11805 - Pages: 48
...Aviva Hurvitz 24 November 2015 Feminism and the Media Representation of Women in the 1970’s Major social change happens when enough people strongly believe in it. The media influences public opinion and thus has the ability to support or destroy these social change movements. In the 1970’s, the second wave feminist movement was attempting to create wide spread social change. Its leading organization, the National Organization for Women (NOW), was focused on dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity, and protecting women’s rights, such as stopping domestic violence. They attempted to do this through creating legislation and changing public opinion. The media’s representation of women overall at this time counteracted these goals. By creating a derogatory picture of the “feminist”, the media made her unsympathetic to the public. Rather than creating support for the core goals of the feminist movement, the media focused on more controversial topics, specifically gay rights. This negative media coverage of the women’s movement hurt its ability to implement meaningful legislation, such as the Equal Rights Amendment. The way in which print media degraded women, demonized feminists, and connected feminism to controversial topics damaged the progress of second wave feminism in the 1970’s. The definition of a feminist is a person who believes in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes (Miriam Webster...
Words: 2871 - Pages: 12
...Ewa Wolsztyniak-King Professor Joyce Gelb FIQWS 10048 – Gender and Politics in the United States November 25, 2008 WHY HAS THE UNITED STATES NOT HAD A WOMAN PRESIDENT? Women have held top political positions in many countries around the world. Some of these countries such as Sri Lanka, Turkey and Pakistan are not necessarily considered “pro-woman” or politically progressive. The United States considers itself the most progressive democracy in the world, yet no woman has ever held the top political position of president or vice president Looking at the current climate of women’s issues with politics, it is just a matter of time before a woman will hold the position of president or vice-president in the United States. This is a relatively young country founded on social values passed down from traditional Western European schools of thought where women have been primarily positioned as a wife and mother instead of a respected player in business and politics. While women stayed at home and cared for children, men were developing contacts and gaining political know-how. Moreover, traditional women’s occupations such as teacher and nurse did not introduce women to politically active individuals. Media plays a valuable role in presenting candidates to the American voting public. A media bias against women exists in the United States. The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872. Since that time, fifteen other women have been nominated by their...
Words: 1091 - Pages: 5
...Pros of Social Networking The cell phone buzzed. It’s lights flashed to the nearest wall. What was it? A text? A tweet? A Like or a snap or a follow or a screenshot? It could be anything. By all means, that notification could literally make or break your whole future. In fact, studies show that “72% of the U.S. population own smartphones.” (Drake Baer, Tech Insider) Not to mention, on average, Americans collectively spend 10 billion minutes on Facebook daily. (Lisa Eadiciccio, Time.) Colleges are now looking at Facebook over the 350 million members as part of their recruitment process. (Schiffman, Elizabeth/ “Social Media’s Expanding…”) Furthermore, people are grasping the idea that social media applications can make their lives easier by...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...“The media’s the most powerful entity on Earth, they have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”(Malcolm X) In history, media bias has existed since the nineteenth century , most newspapers were actually linked with their particular political party and the economic interests of their publisher. It is a relatively recent development that reporters should be absolutely, unwaveringly objective in stories involving some possibility of bias. In this analysis, news/media outlets, are taken to mean any news organization, TV news networks, magazines, newspaper, etc. and media bias is the term for these aforementioned news outlets to misrepresent an argument, show...
Words: 1867 - Pages: 8
...“Hating people because of their color is wrong and it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It’s just wrong.”. Racism in this country has lately been leading towards politics and sadly the color of people's skin. More NFL players are beginning to stand up for their own beliefs by taking a knee when the National Anthem is played. As this protest was started by Colin Kaepernick, who was the first to kneel. This has lead to more media discussion about racism, all for he didn’t feel as equal to others. Specifically, with Colin Kaepernick’s actions, people began to realize that they felt the same way about racism and equality, which has now turned into a huge discussion across the nation and even in the media's views. Although some...
Words: 1453 - Pages: 6
...Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York city and Washington D.C. there has been a growing trend of islamophobia in the U.S. as more and more Americans are beginning to view people who follow the faith of Islam to be either a terrorist themselves or a terrorist sympathizer. In more recent years other acts of terror have grabbed the public’s attention such as the Boston Marathon bombings, as well as the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris France. Some Americans now feel that the U.S. government should start keeping surveillance on Muslim communities. The main driving force behind this growing anti-Muslim way of thinking is the fearmongering, ratings-seeking agendas of 24 hour television news companies. Cable news networks like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, as well as many others have over the years developed a negative bias in the way that they represent the Muslim community. Discrimination of Muslims in T.V. news cycles are harmful because it can cause potential conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans, it projects the idea that Muslim is synonymous with the word terrorist, and can lead to the marginalization of an entire ethnic group. Islamophobia is a term used to describe the close-minded prejudice against Muslims and is also defined as deep hatred of Islam and Muslims. Islamophobia has existed in the United States for decades prior to September 11, 2001, and is believed to go as far back as the 1930s as the more and more Muslims began to emigrate...
Words: 1731 - Pages: 7
...the causes of polarization and how the media impacts people’s views on red and blue states. Chapter three in Culture War? says the political difference between red and blue states in 2000 and 2004 is smaller than assumed because the ideological difference between Democrats and Republicans differs by only 10-20%. (page 34). This is partly due to the media’s influence. Figure 3.9 on page 47 shows that people’s disposition did not change much from 2000 to 2004, where Democrats are common in both red and blue states. Only 1 out of 5 people wished for a unicameral government in the 2000 presidential election, meaning that the people may have similar interests regardless of whether or not a state is considered red or blue....
Words: 413 - Pages: 2
...political climate and scandals affiliated with the Watergate break-in caused a cultural revolution in the United States. Watergate strengthened the the power of the press and media in American society. The Watergate Scandal changed the culture of American civilians. Lastly, the Watergate Scandal forced the political system change its ethical code. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been investigating the Watergate burglary for less than a month, when Nixon ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to shut down the investigation. Despite this being an obstruction of justice and an impeachable crime, the Watergate investigation did not reach much publicity, which is why it was so radical for amateur Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to continue the investigation. With the help of former FBI agent Mark Felt— then known as “Deep Throat”—, Woodward and Bernstein discovered money given to Nixon’s re-election campaign that...
Words: 1699 - Pages: 7
...One standard academic argument is that the media’s influence operates in terms of framing issues and setting the agenda for political discussion. In other words, the media tells us what to think about but not what to think. People form opinions from the information that is available. If that information is limited in some way, those opinions will be affected. Generally, the media have greater influence on undecided voters than on decided ones. They also have a greater influence at times of scandal or crisis, or when there is a highly polarized question driving an election. An example of that is the free trade federal election of 1988. It seems that when voters are undecided and when they are operating from an information deficit they seek out the media. Therefore, when a high proportion of the electorate is undecided, the media play a greater role. The media exerts influence during elections in many ways. The very basics of today’s campaigns are centered on getting media attention. It is exploitation at its best. Candidates, parties, and interest groups exploit the media to get their opinions across and the media exploits these same groups to make money and have something to report on. Framing is a major component of influencing the public. While the media is not telling us what to think it can in fact give subtle clues to suggest how to think about certain issues. For instance, when someone uses the expression “tax reform”, it assumes that taxation is a problem that needs to...
Words: 1787 - Pages: 8
