Politicians and the Media Without

Politicians and the Media

Without a body of voters that have their own opinions, there can be no politics. At its most basic, the art of politics is manipulating these opinions and maneuvering between them in order to attain a specific goal, either of election to office, or the passage of a law, or political/governmental end. Without these opinions, or in situations where these opinions don't matter, the result (or perhaps more often the cause) is a dictatorship, or an oligarchy. The media is only an essential ingredient in the power system of a democratic or republic government then, and there are many ways that politicians in these systems can use the media to their advantage.

The two basic ways a politician can do this are through promoting themselves and their ideas, and through denigrating opposing people and ideas. Specifically, the media provides the essential function of letting the people know what the government is doing. A politician can use this function to inform people of their plan to solve a given problem or change a situation. Though most government activities become a part of the public record almost instantly in this technological age, meaning the information is available without the assistance of the media, most citizens know only what the media tells tem about their government (C-SPAN does not have great ratings). Politicians can use this fact to put forward their own plans and ideas as if they are the most practical and/or advantageous, despite competing plans that might be equally or more beneficial. Likewise, politicians are able to characterize themselves in the public eye by presenting a different image of themselves in the media than the facts and circumstances of their lives and careers support. Less cynically, politicians can also use the media to propagate good and honest reflections of themselves and their ideas, too, which is much more useful for the citizens of a democracy and to the ethical politician.

The media's power can also be used to the politician's disadvantage. Often, this comes in the form of attacks from other politicians, whether on a personal or policy level. Investigative journalism can also expose both original scandals and evidence that disproves or casts doubt on some of the claims and/or attacks made by politicians about themselves/others. Often, the positive and negative forces of the media find themselves in direct opposition from different outlets. Specific examples of all of these types of media power in politics can be found almost daily, especially in this time of political turmoil. One such example occurred last night.