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The Politics Shed- A Free Text Book for all students of Politics.
The various forms of media provide citizens with political information and influence the ways in which they participate politically.
The various forms of media provide citizens with political information and influence the ways in which they participate politically.
Explain the media’s role as a linkage institution.
Traditional news media, new communication technologies, and advances in social media have profoundly influenced how citizens routinely acquire political information, including news events, investigative journalism, election coverage, and political commentary.
The media’s use of polling results to convey popular levels of trust and confidence in government can impact elections by turning such events into “horse races” based more on popularity and factors other than qualifications and platforms of candidates.
If you like politics, you have access to more political information today than ever before. But if you want to avoid politics, it has never been easier. As a result, some people know more about politics, but many now know less.
GATEKEEPER. The media serves as gatekeeper. The emphasis played by a headline or lead story push public discourse. What we talk about everyday is in no small way a by-product of the national and local media coverage. It can be said that mainstream media is an agenda setter.
SCOREKEEPER. The media is characterized by horse-race journalism. Our cultural attention deficit has impacted the way we learn about the news. Media is less likely to cover stories in depth. Rather they take short cuts by simply telling us who the winners and losers are. Analysis may be wanting but we know more quickly the score of our most current campaigns.
WATCHDOG. This role has grown to be the single most important function of the media today. When serving as our watchdog, we count on the media to expose political scandals. The media serves in this role the important function of a check on our elected officials. Today’s media can be described as a junkyard dog. The most salacious of stories now gain the greatest audience. Muckraking has always been a national pastime.
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