MEDIA AND POLITICS

Media And Politics

Media And Politics

Introduction

The media today play a vital role in politics and possess a vast amount of power with reference to the political process. A role is defined as characteristic and expected social behavior and the function, position or actions taken by a required person or group. Politics as we know it is inconceivable without the media. They are the central forums of political communication in modern liberal democracies and are known today as the 'fourth estate'. This essay will argue the role the media play in politics by examining ideas of political propaganda; dominant ideologies presented in a media, polysemic meanings conveyed, political party campaigns, journalistic bias and their positions as gatekeepers. The media of the United States of USA are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function(Alterman, 2003, p.23-34).

Politics and Media

Governments everywhere are aware of the political importance of the media. Governments therefore have developed philosophies about the political role to be played by the media in their societies and ways to control the impact of the media on government activities. The Latin definition of media is "middle" (O'Shaughnessy, 1999:2) as they are the middle chain of communication from the sender and the receiver of information. In society today, the media are situated in a pluralist model of liberal democracy and are often seen as fulfilling the vitally important role of 'fourth estate' being the guardians of democracy and defenders of the public interest. The media in politics are known as the fourth branch of government in addition to the main three of the President, executive and judiciary branches(Rachlin, 1988, p.45).

Independence of the media has always been viewed with admiration everywhere in the world. The media is a source of learning the issues facing the society, state, and above all, nation. The fact that the media plays a great role in lives is well known, but its role as a political tool is also well rooted in the political systems. The media nowadays chooses which political issues to report and how to report it. To influence the nation and world, the media presents the findings with as bias as possible to ensure that population makes up their minds accordingly. Practically however, media shows the bias most when dealing with the political aspects. The extensive contact of the media allows it to correspond and communicate freely the ideas with the public, apart from the public awareness. The elections of different countries at present are the major instances of the bias the media contains. The way media analyzes the surveys, media releases, and journalist's statement, it is visibly clear that the media in fact is more concerned with the political structure of a nation than the politicians being covered.

Whenever the economy of a country is flourishing the people are more or less very happy with their leader, and even the leader is expecting a reelection. However whenever there is a difference of opinion within the political scene of the governments, the ...