How Has Mass Media Shaped American Politics

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How has mass media shaped american politics?

“The importance of the mass media in today's society cannot be overestimated. Especially in the arena of policy-making, the media's influence has helped shape the development of American government. To more fully understand the political decision-making process in this country it is necessary to understand the media's role in the performance of political officials and institutions. “(Oswald, Kristine A) the media plays an important role in today's society in creating structure for our governing policies creating structure to have a very organized stronger formulated governed body.this also helps instute “The importance of the media's power and influence can only be fully appreciated through a …show more content…

This also gives corporations more control over the people in today's society. “Recently, the media has gained more control over what political information is presented to the public. The world of mass media has been shrinking ever since the 1970’s and a handful of companies today have a controlling interest in what news is reported on and how that news is represented. Several media analysts point to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as one of the primary reasons behind the ever strengthening influence the media has over politics and subsequently the public. The act removed long-standing limits on the number of media outlets that any one company could own in any single market. Currently the cap stands at …show more content…

The original intention of the Telecommunications Act was to make it easier to gain access into the telecommunications business by lifting ownership restrictions. The problem with the easing of the sixty-two year long restrictions is that the new guidelines didn’t set out any boundaries for major media corporations.”(Taylor, Michael) in this they have more control over what knowledge we are allowed to have and what we are allowed to know about them and their flaws. Which leads into the freedom of press pushing new boundaries "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today’s society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media’s original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people