The Major Role of News Media in American Politics

The news media plays a huge role in politics, By performing three functions — signaling, common-carrier, or watchdog, the media is able to keep the public informed about as much as possible, The signaling function alerts the public about important developments as soon as possible after it has happened. This function is used mostly by traditional media, but social media has been known to use it at times as well. The common-carrier function serves as a conduit for political leaders to communicate with the public.

Leaders need news coverage in order to get public attention and support The watchdog function is when the press exposes incompetent, hypocritical, and corrupt officials when they violate accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards I believe that the signaling function is the most important because it is the public’s right to know everything that is taking place in the country.

It is also the most informing because it also has a little bit of the other two functions in it as well considering that politics is one of the most important things for the people to have knowledge about Because we take so much pride in the freedom that our government is meant to provide us, it is only fair and right that everything is reported to the public so that they can always be informed the best they can be, especially when it comes to the leaders that represent our country, This function doesn’t focus solely on politics, which is another reason that I think it is so important.

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It keeps the public updated with major events happening across the country and even around the world. The things that one sees on the internet hugely influences them, especially the way that they see them, The internet is able to quickly spread news and although this is good because it informs the public as soon as possible, it has had a negative effect on the voters in my opinion. On the internet, most of the information that is seen more often than the rest are the negative things about the candidates.

I have rarely seen any praise about Donald Trump that I can actually agree with; on the other hand, Hillary Clinton has had a little bit more positive things posted about her. However, whenever i read or see anything on the internet or social media about the election and the candidates, it is all negative information and news. I think that the internet tends to focus and publicize the negative things more than the positive things because not only do those things catch more attention, but they are seen and read more than the positive things. Another factor is that people freely express their opinions about the candidates and the election and those perspectives and posts are more likely to be seen online then they would be heard in person, on the news channel, or in a newspaper. Unlike the professional news media, social media and the internet are allowed to have and share biased opinions and posts.

Today, the news is so easily accessible through so many different platforms and sources Although it is so easy to access, it is also just as easy to avoid. The information divide is becoming more prominent because of this. This divide has to do with a widening “information gap” between young adults and the older adults. A majority of the young adults do not know nearly as much about politics as older adults. If one is not interested in news, it is just as easy to find something else that is actually interesting to them, The topic of disinterest also affects the partisan divide. This divide has to do with the fact that the public is relies more and more on sources that share and support their own beliefs, Outlets that provide a partisan point of view are becoming more popular, especially among young adults. These outlets praise their side while tearing down the other, ultimately contributing to the widening divide in the attitudes of the liberals and the conservatives.