Media Effect On Politics

Research and development has lead to improved technology and an increased use of media. Whether it is the social media consisting of social networking sites or the media that comes under journalism, the whole media category has become an integral part of human life. When it comes to politics here is how media is used in politics:

1. Promotion of Political campaigns

While running for election, all candidates use social media to inform their supporters about their upcoming campaigns and city visits. An example is when Barack Obama took a picture on one of his tours and uploaded it informing supporters about his visit to the city.

2. Hosting Political campaigns

The media including journalists and news channels are always the first in line waiting for the start of political campaigns. They provide back stage and on stage coverage and educate people about the political process while giving live videos of candidates speeches during elections.

3. Reaching out to supporters

Mass media techniques are used to connect with people across the globe. From telephone messages to adverts on social sites, the use of media helps gets the message out there.

Another question that arises is how does media drive politics?

The above mentioned points show how media is directly used to support political purposes. However, there is a whole story behind how media creeps into the mind of its users and forces them to think a certain way. This leads to an indirect way of driving politics. The different media channels are often found to be biased to one party or another. Technically this is against moral ethics as the media is supposed to report both sides of a story. Lets take an example of the television channels. Each news channel secretly supports one candidate. The news coverage will show more of that one particular candidate. The viewers will be forced to think about one particular person via the television channels. This could drive them to vote for the person most popular on television. Similarly, media has full control of choosing which stories to cover. The public gets to learn what the media wants them to learn. This shapes political behavior of the public and effects voting opinions too.

Thus, it can be seen that the media can be used as a powerful weapon or an assistive tool to drive politics and greatly impacts the thought process of the public.