Public affairs: the military and the media

Public Affairs: the Military and the Media
“ The media have always played a powerful role in politics,” says Hart. “ Even before radio, we had the penny press. There’d be great wars between various newspapers about politics. So even back then, the media were important.” Throughout the history, the relationship between media and politics has been very extremely sensitive. Both the media and politics have been the major culprit for public opinion. Without a doubt, the media has continued to dramatically impact politics through legislation, information, and impacting voter turnout.
Unquestionably, the media plays a vital role in politics as it impacts legislation through various ways. The media is notorious for picking out flaws or any sort of corruption that has plagued the society. As society has evolved, the media has played a vital role towards reform. All of the American media is owned and run through wealthy individual. Although the media swears to educate the public without any bias, it never fulfills its promise. These wealthy individuals that own the media companies also are linked to big businesses. The media moguls are detrimental to politics since they have to follow a particular revenue making model as well. Many media moguls are against the public interest as they pay hefty contributions to their subsidiaries. Although it may seem that the public interest is at hand, that is not the case. The mass media themselves want strong preferential treatment just like any other corporation
The dynamic aspect of media not only influences change but also has the ability to unite individuals for a certain cause. The information that is presented in media is not always challenged by everyone. For instance, the devastating attacks that were conducted by the terrorists enabled the media to take a piece and constantly use it unite people. Suddenly, the nation became united regardless of race, diversity and religion. Although the media can unite the people, it can also shine a scope on lack of tolerance that people have for each other. The media is also paramount in this issue since it can show the weakness of a nation as it shows the major political divides that have plagued the nation. In essence, the media is quick to label an individual as a “ right hand conservative” to a “ left hand liberal.” These major political divisions are detrimental since they tend to focus in inclination towards a party rather than focusing on the big issue.
The “ icing on the cake” that proves that the media can dramatically impact the political spheres is by voter turnout. One of the most potent tool that the media utilizes in the modern society is the internet. The media has allowed individuals to be more involoved with various channels it possesses. With the advent of the internet, the flow of information along with the pathway to submit opinions and be informed is tremendously easy. Many researches conclude that the internet plays a huge role. Many scholars agree that internet voting will become a true reality in the future. However, the media has the power to influence the voters by either depicting a candidate as a supreme leader or tuning the public against an ordinary incumbent. A primary example of this can be seen during the French presidential elections, where François Bayrou was vastly defamed by the media. Bayrou long accused the media for exploiting these elections. The question remains; was Bayrou correct? A recent study tested this hypothesis as they broadcasted Fox News in various cities. The experiments concluded that Fox News caused an increase in the Republican vote by half a point. Clearly, the media continues to have a strong emphasis in the voter turnout as it can sway the public in either side it prefers. The supreme authority of the media can be challenged only by the few.
Works Cited
Hammond, W. M. (1988). Public affairs: the military and the media, 1962-1968.
Washington, D. C.: Center for Military History, United States Army :
Military strives to understand social media . (n. d.). Medill Reports. Retrieved June 6,
2011, from ” Peter Simpson, ” The War on Terrorism: its Moral Justification and Limits”.” Ethics
Updates Home Page.  Moral theory; relativism; pluralism; religion; egoism;
utilitarianism; deontology; duty; human rights; anti-theory; gender; race;
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