Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics media media There is probably no greater influence on society than the television. It has become arguably the greatest invention of the past century. With it, we have witnessed countless historical events: Inaugurations of presidents; man’s first steps on the moon; the assassination of John F. Kennedy; even disasters as they happen. Americans watch TV in the morning to receive the daily news. They eat chips and drink soda watching it. They watch it before they go to bed. But as television has saturated our lives, has it always resulted toward our betterment, or has it possibly led to the deprivation of American society? In our nation today, most citizens cast their vote on what they see on the news. The media primarily controls people’s opinions on political issues. Unfortunately the world’s most developed nations don't have time to carefully pick their leaders in any level. While vast opportunity of research is available to the American citizen to carefully pick their candidates; they choose to go along with what the media is telling them to do. The media depends on the public being stupid, and use this theory to influence our opinion. The media realizes that people will not watch what is hard for them to understand. For example, we all love to watch movies because they deal with broad enough topics that everyone can understand and enjoy. It can safely be said that politics is a type of a theatrical performance. In our modern world winning an election is based on image and performance, the best performer usually wins. People who have difficulty watching and understanding this political movie will easily become influenced by the media’s opinion. The media is not afraid to call a candidate a “bleeding heart liberal,” which causes many people to not vote for him even though they do not really know what a “liberal” is. Or, the media can focus on showing certain political issues over and over so the public figures they should be at the top of the agenda. It is the media that controls the nation, it is the media that selects the agenda, and it is the media that selects our government officials. When it comes to keeping up with news, I usually tune to several different sources such as PBS and ABC. I choose to watch PBS and ABC because these sources generally give the cold facts first, then allow journalists to give their opinion on certain issues. This is helpful because when the viewer knows the facts, they can relate their opinions to the opinions of the journalist rather than learning from the journalist’s opinions. There are times when the media gets carried away with information; they allow their opinion to drive the fact, instead of the facts driving the opinion. This happens too often, and is many times done on purpose by slanting. An example was experienced in the case between President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. The journalist's opinions, not facts drove the nation’s opinion on the issue. Everyone was in one way or another certain about what happened because they heard something from the media. Not until President Clinton testified in front of Mr. Starr did we learn what we know now to be “the facts.” The media's job is to inform. I'm not against media's quest to make a profit, but I'm against it when media, the informer, gives slanted broadcasts to change public opinion or catch ratings. In a nation that is so dependent on the media for our information; we will believe what they tell us, and often it is not the whole truth. Even if the media does not intentionally slant a broadcast, they report stories minutes after they happen and it is difficult to obtain the whole truth so quickly. There are other ways to gain ratings; misinforming the public should not be an option. If people start casting opinions by watching one media source, they lack the other side of the story. We have different media sources, so one can have a well-rounded opinion on particular issues. The facts might be the same, but the journalist’s opinions may not be; and that is what is important because it structures the broadcast. Different journalists have different opinions. If a person absorbs the different opinions, he or she might be well informed on a certain issue. The media often takes control over our nation. The majority of Americans rely heavily on the media to bring them the stories and issues; therefore our opinions and our stand on issues are likely to be parallel to the ones in the media. The media controls the nation by influencing public opinion to set the agenda, and even elect public officials. Bibliography: Word Count: 783
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