Media Influence On American Politics

Words: 1385
Pages: 6

In 1983, about fifty companies comprised 90% of America’s media. In 2011, that number dropped down to six companies, and as of June last year, there’s only fifteen distinct billionaires that own all these companies. Though it’s all more likely that these executives are just chasing ad revenue rather than intentionally dividing the American people, it should still make you wonder what these people would want Americans to focus on or not to focus on. And that I think is very important in the ways you participate in politics. My perception on the performance of current media landscape in America is negative, in a way it’s preventing people from participating effectively in politics. Because what is happening with the abundance of media today, is that we are becoming more and more negligent about how destructive it is to the concept of constructive disagreement. And media does it wonderfully, from the way a news is framed, presented and received by the major outlets. As media remains an …show more content…
More so is the fact that Americans are being overloaded with information and cannot possibly take into account every piece of information when they evaluate potential candidates. When media prepares public to take a particular view of the issue, often through the amount of coverage it gives, which is called a priming, people rely on this information because they are most accessible in their memory and comes to mind quickly and easily. The problem with this is that most people think they are taking in enough information that they consider themselves adequately informed and make their decisions on this basis, but what really happens is that they are exposed to a very limited information, especially when it comes to making political