Premium Essay

Social Media's Influence On Politics In The United States

Submitted By
Words 641
Pages 3
Everyone who watches the news, goes on social media, reads the newspaper, or indulges in any form of media has their political views changed subconsciously. We the people of the United States of America have a lot of freedoms; we can live our lives and make thousands of choices that will influence how our lives play out. One of the choices we make multiple times in our lives is electing government officials, whether it be as small as a state representative or as big as electing the president we have the right to make those choices once we hit eighteen. We learn a lot about politics before we hit eighteen, whether it be through family, friends, or TV by the time we hit eighteen we usually have our opinions on politics. But with the new age driving towards technology, the media has many outlets to reach out to people and force their agenda upon them. …show more content…
When the presidential election rolls around they make their decisions on who they are going to cover and in what light they will cover them in, regardless of what happens during their campaign. For those not covered by the media, it is essentially a deathblow to their campaign, if people don’t even know who they are or anything about them then how are they supposed to vote for them? For those covered in a negative light, you only hear bad things about them which makes you assume that there is nothing good about them or their campaign. The Media locks chains of ignorance on you and your brain, The Media gives you tunnel vision because they need to promote their bias, The Media exploits you to make you tune in so you can make them money. A former reporter for a liberal station the NPR reveals that some of the “facts” that they tell you do not even come from legitimate

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Factors That Influence Justice in America

...There are several factors that can influence justice in America. I find that you can read and work up information all day on justice in America as far back as history goes. The constitution of the United States Supreme Court helps set careers and regulations of factors that do influence America. Some of them can vary in topics from your race, crime, prisons, policing, and courts. Organized crime may be defined as systematically unlawful activity for profit on city guide interstate and even international scale. Crime organized keeps their illegal operations percent and members confer by word of mouth. Gangs sometimes become sufficiently symptomatic to the call organized. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structural group in referred in the United States as racketeering. The criminal organization depends on the part of support from the society in which it extends. It is frequently expedient for it to compromise some of society’s upright memories, especially people in the judiciary, police forces, legislature, and cultivation of mutually dependent relationships with legitimate business. The five factors that influence a justice decision are Constitution, Precedent, Judicial Philosophy, Intent, and Public Opinion. According to an article I read in a book from David O. Carpenter the Constitution states, “We, the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote...

Words: 2156 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Male Domestic Abuse

...April2015 The marginalization of male domestic abuse victims through the media (Final) “Whenever I speak of male abuse I am met by disbelief and even worse laughter. I notice in talking with other shelter staff throughout the state that this attitude prevails in other shelters, too- men are the perpetrators women are the victims.” The above quote from Jan Dimmitt executive director of Kelso’s emergency support shelter in Longview Washington, United states reveals an all too common attitude towards male domestic abuse. Such a discriminatory attitude is not simply limited to the United States however it is also seen here in the Caribbean, a region with a history of domestic abuse and even more concerning is realization that the media helps to proliferate such a view. Media of all kinds can influence and even distort the perception of persons’ opinions on topics such as physical attractiveness and politics. Similar problems arise when applied to the issue of domestic abuse and the media has a responsibility to ensure that it does not misrepresent men by offering only one view of the issue. The media has a prospective responsibility to ensure that they portray the reality of domestic abuse to avoid stereotyping men as aggressors. The media in all outlets whether social or otherwise is the major provider of information on various issues and therefore has a prospective responsibility to provide information without bias. Prospective responsibility according to Garrath William’s centers around...

Words: 1292 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Media and Government

...Rather than being an unbiased medium for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequately functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. All known sophisticated social structures have always been dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally will exploit the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. This exploitation ultimately empowers the U.S. government by strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality. One way in which government achieves this objective is by misusing the media’s ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, the media is in fact an enormous power in society. Separate independent news organizations do not exist for the most part. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of their own, smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media has the characteristics of a hierarchical rule. In order for the U.S. government to control and determine the public’s popular perception of reality, the government must shape and oversee the information that the media reports to the people. This particular process of democracy is...

Words: 3398 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Enteretainment Media

...world. Culture is influenced by art form. Art imitates life. Entertainment is one of those art forms that drive culture. Media’s role is to communicate culture to the masses. Society has both positive and negative influences from entertainment media that shapes American culture. Media literacy understood by the masses could have a changing affect on the relationship between culture and media. Entertainment has shaped American culture and its values. An enjoyable event or performance partner with products or services helps sales. Popular dances of the day are borrowed for traditional ceremonies like weddings. Media companies use different forms of entertainment to sell products or services and traditional events host advertisement. Most often entertainment is the highlight of cultural events. For example, prom night in American high schools traditional celebrate with a dance. The Macy’s Day Parade sponsored by the retail giant is a merger of products, services, and people united by entertainment. Entertainment has a way of influencing culture by drawing massive audiences. TV themed talent shows like American Idol are shaping culture by interacting with a global audience of millions through a cell phone text voting process. Values are changing in America. Entertainment forums like The Late Show have been used to discuss everything from politics to popular opinion. Entertainers can make poor choices like drug use seem cool and inviting through visual and audio arts...

Words: 637 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Love

...Chapter 6  The media, government accountability, and citizen engagement  Katrin Voltmer  The past two decades or so have seen an unprecedented spread of democracy around the  globe.  With  the  fall  of  the  Berlin  wall  in  1989  and  the  end  of  the  Cold  War,  the  ‘third  wave’  of  democratization,  which  started  in  the  early  seventies,  now  encompasses  countries  in  Asia  and  Africa.1  And  even  in  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 ...

Words: 10604 - Pages: 43

Free Essay

Can the Media Influence Politics? If so, How? If Not, Why Not?

...Introduction The media is the link between the public and politics. However, while media sources are viewed as purveyors of the day's news, they maintain considerable influence on politics. It is important to differentiate the concept of media influence from the concept of media bias. While some media sources will have an undoubted bias in the way they are reporting the news and the issues they select and prioritise, this does not necessarily equate with influence. Influence can be far less obvious or overt than bias, and can lead to changes in opinion in an indirect manner. While United States news outlets such as Fox News or the New York Post may have a more direct political bias, other outlets such as CNN or the New York Times – while appearing less openly biased – will also wield considerable influence. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, while The Daily Mail has an agenda which must be obvious to many who read it, less openly biased newspapers such as The Guardian will still have the potential to influence politics and politicians. In fact, media sources with a less overt bias will have potentially more influence than others, as they could be considered to be more reliable or trustworthy than biased tabloid entertainment news. This paper will assess the issue of media influence on politics, and evaluate the methods and forms this influence can take. Discussion Media Influence The role of the media in influencing politics has been long recognised. Comparative analysis of media...

Words: 1775 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Feminism in the 1970s

...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 Dictionary). While people...

Words: 2871 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Media Influence On Election Essay

...How the media influence gave rise to Donald Trump In this new era of globalization, the media has more power and influence than it has ever had in the history of technology. The role of media over the years has become very important when it comes to political election. There is an interdependent relationship between politics and media, when it comes to the political elections. The media affects political elections and campaigns by communicating the agendas and beliefs of different political parties. The strong influence of media on political election can seal the fate of any electoral candidate or party. That is what happened in the case of Donald Trump, when he won the Republican primary votes. Prior to the Republican primary votes...

Words: 1620 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Obama

...means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely.” (Dictionary). It is an extraordinary power, with the ability to create and bombard its consumers with endless images and opinions. However, attached to the media’s power is its ability to overwhelm and negatively affect its consumers. Detrimental to politics, “...a sense of cynicism, distrust, and suspicion of modern politics and politicians”, otherwise known as “media malaise” (Newton, 1999) can be created by the media. Ultimately, the type, overexposure, content, and stance of the media combined with our own misinterpretations causes “media malaise” (Newton, 1999) and turns us off politics. The type and exposure of media plays a determinant role in the cause of “media malaise” (Newton, 1999). Newton (1999) discovered that while dependent on content, television can be subtly linked to “media malaise” (Newton, 1999). However, Newton (1999) also concluded that “...after controlling for income, education, gender, age, and party politics, reading a broadsheet newspaper is strongly connected with media mobilization...” (p.596). This indicates that the media’s ability to turn us off politics takes place the strongest through television as opposed to other types of media. In 2005, on average, Canadians watched a little over 3 hours of television per day and in the United States it was over 8 hours per day (www.economist.com, 2007). This trend of excessive television...

Words: 1962 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Mass Media Control

...during the limited periods of their television usage and listening to non-secular music. I believe there is direct correlation between adults and children who watch and listen to obsessive amounts of television, movies, news, and popular music and aggressive behavior, stress, dispositions, and sleep and eating habits. The case study observations supported this theory. Keywords: mass media, mass-media control, aggressive behavior, perceptions, adverse misconceptions, psychological adaptation, media nationalism, suggestive media, groupthink nationalism Mass Media Control Mass media can influence opinions, values and beliefs of the general public by controlling the language used to report and communicate information. Our minds, throughout life, become a playing field for the producers to influence the consumers to buy into their various services, trends, politics, and products. It was stated by Abraham Lincoln, during the Gettysburg...

Words: 2933 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Mass Medias Affect on Voting Trends

...Running Head: Mass Media in Elections Mass Media’s Affect on Voting Trends Arthur Gibford California State University California In today’s world, the news media reaches and affects every person in the United States. The question now is does mass media such as newspapers, television, and the internet affect the voting trends of the voters? The ownership of the media (Djankov, Nenova, McLiesh, & Shleifer, 2003), targeting specific demographics (Clinton & Lapinski, 2004), the implications of the internet (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, & Robinson, 2003) and how candidates use media (Aarts & Semetko, 2003) are all important aspects in determining whether a potential bias exists (Eveland & Shah, 2003) on the part of the news media. It is hypothesized that when the mass media displays certain biases leaning towards one party over the other, the populace tends to vote in the direction of the media. The following five scholarly literature reviews will attempt to demonstrate and support the hypothesis. According to Eveland and Shah (Eveland & Shah, 2003, p. 101)there is “a large percentage of the public (that) believes that the news media are biased, and the majority of these individuals consider the direction of bias to be against their own viewpoint”. This drives the question this paper attempts to answer. This article looks at media’s credibility and integrity in the eyes of individual people. The author’s give several hypothesis to provide multiple...

Words: 2848 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Importance Of Digital Technology

...Digital Technology and Social Media’s Necessity in Communication Theory Courses Communication is a social process in which individuals imply symbols or behaviors to create meaning in their surroundings (West & Turner, 2018). Communication plays a vital role in society, especially in the present, digital mass media. While communication is often presumed to be face-to-face interaction, due to digital technology social media has altered that assumption. Social networking has a variety of discrete characteristics and trending effects. The use of social media is necessary to study to enhance better communication skills and is important to study in a communication theory course. Social media’s extraordinary prevalence will continue to grow within...

Words: 1157 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Media: Mirror of Society

...Media: Mirror of Society Everywhere in the world, society keeps evolving and changing. The thoughts, mindsets, and ideas of cultures all over the world are constantly changing due to the influences of what they see. The media has always had a role in the construction of an individual’s body image and ideal self. In the article “How does the media influence our thoughts on body image?” Kayhan, Baig, Mehmi and Basra argue that during the early 20th century the ideal, beautiful woman was 5’4 tall and about 140 pounds with a small mid-section; yet, for some if not most women, in order to achieve a small waist they would be put into a Victorian hourglass corset, which shrunk the woman’s waist to a much smaller size, we still see these tactics used by today’s women. This issue isn’t only occurring in the United States, it is a worldwide problem that continues to grow. The media uses the social elite, such as athletes and actresses, to advertise products and goods; the use of these models can have significant outcomes, both negative and positive, on individuals in our society. The positive being that viewers of these magazines that advertise skinny models and fit athletes may be influenced to change their lifestyle from unhealthy to healthy. The negative being that viewer’s want to take the quickest and easiest ways in order to achieve results, which can lead to dangerous side effects and habits. So the question is, is it even worth it to try to look perfect if dangerous methods...

Words: 2036 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Ethical Media

...of devastating or serious events; the media has become a source for anything that interests the nation’s and/or world’s population. The news can be anything from entertainment to sports or politics to environmentalism, there is really no subject that cannot be discussed now and days. A big issue with today’s media world is an ethical one, many of us ask ourselves, “Does the media go a little too far at times?” Now and days it seems like no subject is too risqué to touch up on, but should there be a line which should not be crossed? Are there some ethical perspectives that are being set aside? How far will the media go in order to keep people informed? The media keeps us informed of everything that is going on in the world around us which aids the public into being prepared when any serious event takes or will take place. Media is an extremely competitive field because all the networks want to be the first to present the news to the public. The main responsibilities the media has are to be the representative of society in order to best inform the people, to help the different fragments of society come together by providing them with a source of communication no matter the rift that differentiates them from each other, and to provide its audience with critically analyzed cultural and social issues. Most of the media of today practices the ethical theory of utilitarianism, the reason they provide the public with the most up to date news is for the benefit of its people. The media...

Words: 1089 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Watchdogs

...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  where democracy is a fairly  new experiment or  even  in those, like China, where  democracy  and  a  free press have yet to take root, the notion of the press as watchdogs of power is embedded in the  ...

Words: 11805 - Pages: 48