they will not. Their reporting has a vitalconnection to what the public comes to believe are the important issues in the country. Ifthe press repeatedly covers the gun control issue, then the nation itself comes to believethat it is significant. What The New York Times run on their front cover today is whatconstituents across the nation begin to feel is important. Because the nation deems itimportant, than it is introduced into legislature tomorrow. The press possesses thecapability to create the impression that certain problems are of greater urgency thanothers. Given the fact that both time and space are money to the press, those certainproblems are usually about political strategy, political infighting, political scandal and theprivate lives of politicians. These tend to over take the less entertaining, but moresubstantial stories because they do not make money.One of the most ironic ways the media influences public opinion is by bringing thecandidates personally to each constituent through the use of television and radio. Couldone honestly say that Abraham Lincoln could be elected if he were running today? Lincoln was not a very attractive man and did not have a very refined voice. How wouldLincoln have looked and sounded on television and radio? The public may be stubborn toadmit it, but it is true; the nation judges possible candidates upon appearances andperformances. If a presidential candidate could not speak in front of large groups, hecould never be elected in todays society. It would not matter that his or her policies werebetter than their running mates.Guaranteed by the first amendment, the media will always be there to inform thepublic and to decide what issues are important. Americans rely more and more on thismedia to judge how our leaders campaign, govern, shape public policy, and communicatetheir ideas. Being an independent check on all three branches of government, the mediaserves as a fourth branch of...
