...The Media Influence in Politics: an essay INTRODUCTION The news media, television in particular, affect and influence the political arena in Canada. The media ownership, the few elites and their political connections play a huge role in this topic of influence. The major differences between the French media and English media will be seen. The interpretation done by media and its impacts to the public will be discussed, as well as polling and voting. The aim of this essay is to argue that the news media, television in particular, influence the political arena in Canada. This will be accomplished through the sub-headings and their corresponding paragraphs in the Discussion. DISCUSSION The media and political influences With the media owned by a few firms, the supposed objectivity and neutrality are being compromised which in turn contribute to the detriment of the public. Most of the people rely on television media for news, information, weather, and so on. With the increase in viewers, the media run the risk of political influences. Politicians establish relationships with the media, so that when the right time comes, politicians can expect a return on elections. An example is when the media indirectly in some way or form cleverly "endorse" the political party to the voting public. Fraudulent connection between media and politics In a perfect world, the media ideally should serve and safeguard the public and its interests. To do this, the media should...
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...In the 2010 general elections the Conservative Party gained the most votes but not the majority to form a government, therefore a coalition was formed between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats Party. I will be discussing two short term factors and two long term factors in my essay. The short term factors which I will be discussing are; the influence of the media and the election campaigns. The long term factors I will be discussing are; social class and the location of where the person lives. I believe that the influence on the media is the most important factor because the media influence so much of our lives nowadays and it is so easy to access all parts of the media through our phone. Therefore when a major newspaper is bias towards one they get more media coverage and the therefore it sways people’s opinions as all the positives about that political party are shown. Firstly, the influence of the media. The media nowadays comes in all different forms for example; newspapers, magazines, television and radio. The media is where people can form their opinions on the ability of political leaders and whether the government is doing a good job or not. The media determines what people see and what people hear, if they want to cover something up then they have the ability to do so as they decide what goes in to the public eye. In the dominant ideology model of voting behaviour its argued that the mass media has traditionally been supportive of the conservative party...
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...“Our reality is never our own but is influenced by others.” FLAPC: In this expository essay, I aim to discuss how our reality can be our own although it’s often influenced by others. Our reality can be influenced by several external sources; the media, government, values, beliefs and perceptions. I’m aiming to connect to my audience of VCE students as they will have a better understanding of ‘Whose Reality?’ and the context, ‘Wag the Dog’ (a 1997 film directed by Barry Levinson). I aim to get my readers to recognise the large role that media play in influencing our realities along with how dangerous the collaboration of the media and the government truly is. In order to put forth my opinion I’ll write in a cynical tone to portray that the motives of particular people are bad, I’ll use factual (gun crimes in the US) and fictional (‘Wag the Dog’ and ‘Leaky Boat’) evidence and I’ll use proper terminology to add sophistication and credit to my piece. In this piece, I draw on examples from ‘Wag the Dog’ (1997 film directed by Barry Levinson), ‘Leaky Boat’ (2011 ABC documentary) and gun crimes in the US in order to illustrate the idea that people are easily influenced by external sources, especially when they have authority. ESSAY: Stephan Lewandowsky’s study shows that “weighing the plausibility of a message is cognitively more difficult than simply accepting that the message is true – it requires additional motivational and cognitive resources.” This shows why peoples realities...
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...Introduction The purpose of this interview was to examine the role of media in the electoral process, or during elections to be precise. The activities of the media are various, so this perhaps was just by noting and classifying some of the things the media do in elections. The interview was quite entertaining and there were no conflicting views or controversial opinions. The interview was conducted via cell phone while the interviewee was in the comfort of her home. This set a casual and comfortable tone for the interview. The topic for the essay which stood out after the interview was “ELECTIONS AND THE NEWS MEDIA.” Below is a summary of the interview: What is Media? Most journalists define media as a channel of communication through which news, entertainment, education, data or promotional messages are disseminated. Broadcasting, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, telephone, fax and internet are all considered media. Who are the News Media? News media are those elements of the mass media. Generally focus on delivering news to the public or target public. Print media such as newspapers and news magazines are part of news media. Broadcast news such as radio and television, Internet such as online newspapers and news blogs are all news media. So what is a newsreel? (follow-up question) Newsreel was a documentary film common in the first half of the 20th Century. This released a public presentation place containing filmed news stories on a regular basis...
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...their reasons on exterior factors and not on the individual itself, and argues that several features of social conduct add to the living and expanding of society and its organizations. Symbolic Interaction perspective: Positions that to understand society its necessary to understand the connotation of people’s actions and beliefs. At the moment of discussing society and its organizations, despite the sociological perspective used there are interconnected factors to be considered: Technology, politics, economy, values and beliefs. (Ray 2007) In the critical essay The Crisis of Public Values in the Age of the New Media, Henry A. Giroux’s discourse on the control of large corporations over the economy and how this affects the values of democracy, having as a result an individualistic attitude of the American people towards important factors that affect them as a society. Giroux explores the different uses of new media and its relation to the economical crisis and the essence of a democracy under a neoliberal setting, arguing that public education has to be the main instrument for a better...
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...Joseph Carr POL 205 Lanahan Essay #3 Low voter turnout is a direct danger to our democratic practices and the result of the elite pushing their special interests over the interests of the common man. Essay numbers sixty-six through seventy all deal with voting issues, showing the expanding flaws of American democracy in our modern world. First discussing the Exhibition season and the importance of the New Hampshire primary in grass roots politics, Dante Scala in Stormy Weather asserts that the first presidential primaries either give or take away a candidate’s momentum with the influence of the media fishbowl. Reading number sixty-seven No Place for Amateurs by Dennis Johnson focuses on the effect of political consultants on a candidate’s campaign for election. Discussing negative campaigning, reading sixty-eight Going Dirty by David Mark gives detail on political marketing, 527 groups and the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform of 2002. Reading number sixty-nine Why we vote by David Campbell highlights the different reasons why people vote. Finally, reading number seventy How Barack Obama Won by Chuck Todd and Sheldon Gawiser discusses the landmarks leading up to the 2008 election and the possibility of an alignment of the democrats. In Stormy Weather by Dante Scala the author describes the first stage of the election process as the exhibition season and the second stage as the media fishbowl. Scala describes the exhibition season as “the period that extends from the...
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...To what extent does social class influence voting behaviour? It is often said that social class is the key determinant in voting behaviour. When the next Government elections come up is it true that the middle and upper classes will vote for the Conservative Party and the working class vote for the Labour Party? Or is voter behaviour more complex than that? This essay explores how the impact of social class on voting behaviour has changed over the years. Social class was the main determinant of voting behaviour back in the 1960s because in the 1960s Britain was a country in which social class was much more apparent and easy to define. Broadly speaking, people were ‘categorised’ as the Upper Class, the Middle Class and the Working Class. The class based system influenced many people’s attitudes and actions, this included voting. This led to a stability of voting patterns, which meant that voting habits seemed to be consistent and predictable. Also at the time there was a level of class alignment. This relates to the strong association of membership of a social class with support for a political party. This meant that people in social classes A to C1 would tend to vote for the Conservative Party and those in social classes C2 to E would vote for the Labour Party. This is known as the “Marsh Theory”. The “Marsh Theory” suggests that there were two main dominant parties, Labour and Conservative in which people voted accordingly to their Social Class. However, this led to a Middle...
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...November 3rd, 2014 Harrold US History John Adams vs Alexander Hamilton Born October 30, 1735 in Quincy, Massachusetts. John Adams our 2nd president of the United States, grew up with a father who was a farmer, deacon, and town councilman. Adams was a federalist one of his famous attributes was the argument about the stamp act of 1765. He wrote a response to the act called “Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law” in which he argued that: ‘the stamp act deprived American colonist of their rights to be taxed by consent and to be tried by a jury of their peers.’ He also made it clear that the act was null and void in a speech he sent out to the governor of Massachusetts along with his council. In 1796, Adams was elected as the federalist nominee for president. Thomas Jefferson led opposition. During his presidency France and Britain began a war, which started a political uproar for the United States causing Adams administration to focus on diplomatic efforts for France, when France denied the United States and later after the war died down Adams lost his favoritism from the public and lost his re-election to once opposed Thomas Jefferson. Alexander Hamilton born January 11, 1755 on the island of Nevis in the British West indies. Hamilton was part of George Washington’s administration, and one of the leading figures. Hamilton was also a nationalist, who stood for the “wealthy elite” meaning he believed the government should protect the wealthy. Hamilton’s goal in politics was...
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...nominating B. Organization at the National Level 1. convention 2. chairperson C. State and Local Organization 1. election, caucuses 2. wards Prereading and Vocabulary 2 1. should cut back on expensive government programs Sample definition: Conservatives believe in cutting costs and government programs. 2. came to vote Sample definition: The electorate is the group of people who are allowed to vote. 3. voted at the polling place, elementary school Sample definition: A precinct is a small area from which all the residents report to vote at one location. 4. wards 5. bipartisan 6. nominate 7. Liberals 8. resign CHAPTER 5 Section 1 Reading Comprehension 3 1. Answers for rankings will vary. Historical basis: The two-party system is rooted in the beginnings of the U.S., when the ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the first two parties. Tradition: Most Americans accept the idea of a two-party system simply because there has always been one. Electoral system: Since only one winner per office comes out of each election, voters have only two viable choices—the candidate of the party holding office or the candidate with the best chance of replacing the current officeholder. Voters tend to think of a vote for a minor party candidate as a wasted vote. Republicans and Democrats work together in a bipartisan way to write election laws to make it hard for a minor party or independent candidate to win elective office. Ideological consensus:...
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...Evaluate the usefulness of the hypodermic syringe model to our understanding of the role of the mass media. By: Amy Rashid The amount of influence the media has on the society has been extensively debated and researcher. The hypodermic syringe model is an analogy between media messages and a drug injected by a hypodermic syringe; which represents the content of media being spread by the medium (television, newspaper, etc.). In this essay, I shall discuss the usefulness of the hypodermic syringe model alongside some other models to our understanding of the role of the mass media. First and foremost, the hypodermic syringe model explains the role of the media in the manipulation of the gullible public and creating moral public. This can be seen from the classic example of the application of the Magic Bullet Theory was illustrated on October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles and the newly formed Mercury Theatre group broadcasted their radio edition of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." On the eve of Halloween, radio programming was interrupted with a "news bulletin" for the first time. What the audience heard was that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in a place called Grover's Mill, New Jersey. It became known as the "Panic Broadcast" and changed broadcast history, social psychology, civil defence and set a standard for provocative entertainment. Approximately 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast and about one million of those actually believed that a serious...
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...The Media in Canadian Politics 1956 words Media has always been a center of interest of different political intellectuals in Canada. They always tend to use media as a powerful platform to convey their message to the all the stakeholders of Canadian politics. Common people, on the other hand, also use media to transmit their concerns and feedback to their political representatives. Be it the print media, broadcast media or social media, they have always played a significant role in Canadian politics. We have seen the active role of media in the longest election campaign of Canada in recent federal elections. Media influence Canadian politics by serving as an intermediary between the government and the common people, by acting as a public representative, and by shaping people’s perception of the political environment around them. As a common carrier of information for both government and common people, media plays a significant role in Canadian politics. The important part of this role of media is that most of the media act independently to provide unbiased information for both government and common people. This, however, is not always the case. We will discuss biased part of media later in this essay. As an intermediary between government and common people, media reports the news, helps determine the critical issues to be discussed, and enables the transparency in the political structure. Reporting the news is most basic and essential function of media. Common people and...
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...With reference to appropriate scholarship, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the news service provided to the UK population by the free-market Sun newspaper and the public service BBC. This essay is going to discuss what a free-market is, what a tabloid is, how the Sun newspaper operates, what is a public service, how the BBC operates and it will compare the advantages and disadvantages of the Sun and the BBC. A free market is a market without economic invention and regulation by government except to enforce ownership and contacts. It is the opposite of a controlled market, where the government regulates how the means of production, goods, services and labor are used, priced, or distributed. When established, the press was organized as a ‘free market’ system, in a private ownership. The theory was that this would be best for democracy and society, a “Free marketplace of ideas”. Anyone can start a newspaper. The market empowers the consumer and fosters freedom. Nowadays, only a small part of the press is concerned with public affairs. 80% of the papers are tabloids, less than 20% of the content of the popular press is “public information”. According to the dictionary a tabloid is a newspaper with pages about half the size of a standard (broadsheet) newspaper. However, in more recent years the word tabloid has become synonymous with words like gossip, scandal and ‘exclusive’. By circulation The Sun is the tenth biggest newspaper in any language in the world...
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...the Britain has entered an era of elective dictatorship; this is when a government that is elected but has won so many votes that it can do what It likes1. In the UK we have a first past the post voting system so theoretically speaking once elected government can do as they please as they have been given the power to do so by the majority of voters who voted them in. The Prime Minister is the head of government and as head of the executive he has powers that can portray him as a dictator not someone representing the ideas of the general population. For example the conservative government introduced ‘the bedroom tax’ if this was David Cameron’s idea he has the power to ensure that his party vote for this law even if they disagree. In this essay I will evaluate evidence on how much the PM dominates the political system in the UK and conclude by giving my opinion on to what extent he controls the political system. The PM is head of the executive and seen as the most important figure of UK politics, with this comes powers and responsibility’s that arguably makes him the most powerful man in the country. The ability to hand pick your cabinet is a key factor on how much the PM controls the political system of, being able to choose who does what job in the country means the PM holds the careers and more importantly the livelihoods of the ministers in his hand because he has the ability to hire and fire ministers. For example after defeat in the vote on action in Syria David Cameron...
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...the candidate explains, as the opponent is a lying, cowardly, two faced cheat and con artist. (Pulitzer Prize winner and Washington Post columnist Meg Greenfield, 1995) Whether through print or television media, advertising affects behaviour. A key tool of political parties, it has been used to win support during critical governmental assessment or change, and engage the susceptible electorate to participate in the political process. Yet, where features such as wit, charisma or aptitude have been emphasized and admired, the intemperance of political campaigning has also drawn out a negative side, one that seeks to cast a damaging shadow on any opposition in order to attain the support of the majority. The types of political message given out by both politicians and the media vary in how they are constructed and what they intend to achieve, and despite widespread criticism surrounding its ethical fragilities, attack politics in particular have become a fundamental component of any political campaign and evidence has shown the electorate to show a greater interest in a more pessimistic tone of politics. This essay intends to address whether negative publicity in the form of attack advertising is an effective tool of electoral manipulation by evaluating its influence in engaging and mobilizing voters. Indeed, where research has shown it to be counterproductive, or to produce unintended consequences, its...
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...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 sources...
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