The Media and the Election

James G., a student in Historical Methods, send these comments:

I have never been into politics before this election year. I never voted before this election either. When I did watch TV. or listen to the radio and hear the media talk about politics, I let them decide how I felt or what I thought without even knowing it. A couple weeks before this year's election, I heard on the news someone say "we depend on the media so much it has become our referee, telling us who and what is wrong or right in the world." This made me think how I have depended on the media when I rarely and briefly pay attention to them, what justifies my thinking and beliefs about certain countries, people, parties, or administrations and mainly if America is doing good or bad in world. Why can't politicians or the administration think the way average citizens think? I guess they have to think differently so that causes a lot of critics. in my opinion the criticism turns a lot of people away from getting involved or listening to politics. The media beats points to death, all the news channels talk about the same thing at the same time. The majority of the people in the United States have given a lot of power to the media, more than we know or want to admit. The media is to tell us what we should think and what to believe. I find it ironic when Dan Rather was in that mess with CBS, it was a time bomb. The media went crazy over it and for what I don't know. I don't care if President Bush flew a plane or whatever happened because I forgot what the fuss was about. This is my point, I got turned away so fast because the media beat the issue to death, I don't even want to know the story because I don't care. If the president was in the Air-force or not, his personal life doesn't matter to me. As long as he can stop an attack on this country or terrorist from killing anyone, that's what I care about. The way I see it, he's not the only president not have military service or the only president to cause drama or personal attention to himself. Remember Bill Clinton or Slick Willy, he didn't get this nick name just in politics. The media as our referee or the lazy way of saying let the talking heads think for me and what ever they say I agree.

Let me add a couple of links that address the issue of the media and the election:

Deford on Politics and Sports
from Morning Edition, Wednesday, November 10, 2004

A sports journalist covers each passing season like a close presidential race. They ask the tough questions to powerful people, challenge authority, and dissect post game interviews like Presidential stump speeches. Commentator Frank Deford thinks that political reporters could learn a thing or two from wide world of sports reporters.

From Freepress.com a series of articles on the media and the 2004 election.

And Robert McChesney, a brilliant historian of the media and journalism, has written an article entitled On Media and the Election.