The Mass Media and the Political Agenda Q&A
Since the media is a business, it seems unreasonable for political candidates to not have to pay for their coverage. It is the same thing as asking, should the political candidates receive free food if they go to McDonalds. The answer is no. If the Networks chose to give the candidates free airtime that is their choice, but in no way should the networks be forced to grant free airtime. The only time that airtime should be considered to be free is if and only if the president of the United States requests it and he or she has a state of emergency message to deliver. If every network gives free airtime, then that is taking about from normal viewing which brings in a great amount of profit. In Countries like Canada, the media is owned by the government. If this was the case in the United States, then it would be ok to give free airtime. But TV in America is not governmentally owned. It is a business.
2. Describe the ways that bias exist in the mass media
It has been said but not ultimately proven that there is a liberal bias in the media. Some limited evidence, including polls shows that there are more liberal reporters and investigators. A survey of 1400 Journalists in 1992 found that 44 percent were democrats, and only 14 percent were republicans. However, the news cast contains very little bias. And weather a reporter is democratic or republican does not show the way someone reports. Also, if there was a bias, it would make the network lose its viewers. That is why most stories are presented in a “point/counterpoint” format which is when 2 opposing points of view (such as liberal vs. conservative) are presented. From these 2 opposing points, the audience can draw their own conclusion.
3. How does profit-motive play a role in how journalist report the news
Since the media in America is owned privately there is a bigger challenge to keep the networks up because the profit is what will keep the network running. Journalists now try to have news that is more entertaining or less irrelevant to world issues. This keeps the viewers watching which brings much profit from the advertising that is put on the networks. Studies show that ABC, NBC, and CBS broadcasted only 1,382 minutes of foreign news in 2000 compared to 4,032 minutes in 1989. The reason that less world news was reported is because the cost to send journalists over sees was too expensive. This shows that the first priority of the networks is to make very big profits, and the latent function seems to be delivering the news that is sometimes inaccurate or extraneous.
4. Has the American media become too influential on politics? Explain
The American media has become too influential on politics, because most of the information that someone gets comes from the television. There are televised debates, commercials, and the news which effects the way people think. Newspapers like Time, Newsweek, and the U.S. News deliver weekly newspapers about political situations. Every day there is a newspaper that comes out and it has a lot of information about the politicians running. The media seems like it has taken over peoples minds when it comes to political opinion. Now people will decide who to vote for based on what they see and hear on TV. Most of the information given however is not good enough to make a decision because a lot of what is on the news and in the papers is lies.
5. How does the mass media influence political thought and at the same time create an informed citizenry.
The mass media influences political thought because of all the news on the TV and in newspapers. Strategies like sending good reporters to beats, doing live interviews, leaking international news as trial balloons, and including sound bites all influence how the voter thinks. With all the trouble in getting airtime though, the Broadcast media influencing less and less people. I do not believe that the media creates an informed citizenry. It is true that Americans are the least informed about politics. The information age is here, but an informed citizenry has not been created yet, because America has one of the lowest voting percentages. It has been proven that the more newspapers someone reads, the more informed they are about politics. With the TV around us all the time, nobody wants to read anymore and therefore the people are less informed.
6. Which news source is better, traditional media or the internet? Why?
There is no better media. It is whatever a person prefers. However, the Internet has the capabilities of giving information that you specifically want or need. When it comes to traditional media, there is only a broad source of information you are given. When A person goes on the internet, he can get the information that he is actually looking for in great detail. I personally prefer the Internet because it has all the information that you can ever need. It is sort of like doing your own narrowcasting and getting the information that is needed. The Internet however has the biggest amount of false and misleading information and therefore may not be as true the traditional media. If a person uses a little bit of both, then he or she will be one step closer to be a more informed citizen
