Media
partisan and polarization
Four
decades ago, the viewers that needed to watch news had only the option of
choosing from the major broadcast networks and all these presented almost the
same news and had no particular point of view. In the current periods, there is
a much broader array of options, which are inclusive of the cable channels,
which offer a partisan take. The partisan programs are currently gaining a lot
of popularity (Stroud, 176). There are
some arguments that these programs have an effect in polarizing the politics.
However, other arguments dictate that there is only a small portion of the
public that gets to watch these programs and thus the viewers have already
beliefs that are self-driven. The partisan media has ways of polarizing the
viewers either directly or indirectly and this polarization has a way of
affecting a country’s politics.
Viewers
According
to the research on the field of communication, there has been a psychological
underpinning of the societal trend, which has explained the reason why the
partisans view the mainstream coverage as highly biased, but have a perception
of the preferred ideological outlets as being fair and balanced. A long
tradition bases its arguments that a continued exposure to having a diverse set
of viewpoints is highly crucial to good citizenship (Pfau, 39). This is because having to hear various
perspectives will foster tolerance, opinion moderation, respect for the
opposing viewpoints, the willingness to conciliation as well as normatively
desirable outcomes. In a world that has enormous partisan outlets it is easy
for a citizen to tailor the news consumption in order to match the partisan
predispositions.
Normally,
the partisan media programs have a way of intensifying a motivated reasoning
since they have a slanted presentation of the news. Having expanded programming
choices has made the partisan media possible. Today, the Americans are able to
watch not only the partisans’ news but have an option of hundreds of channels
and most of them are not political. If the partisan media has played a role in
generating polarization mostly in congress, it is practically unlikely to have
achieved that through polarization of the mass public. However, probably the
partisan media has done this through an indirect path (Stanyer, 127). Even though the studies on media has provided
that a continued media exposure has had a muted effect on the attitudes,
evidently, an exposure to campaign information has strengthened the preference
of voter’s candidate. Therefore, in this case, exposure to media preferably for
the like-minded media that has reinforced prior beliefs highly strengthens
attitudes. Not only can the media content find a way of reinforcing beliefs,
they are also able to shape them within the same conditions. The only existing
problem is that the viewers mostly self-select into the media sources and,
therefore, it is very difficult to determine whether the media slant will
impact the voters.
Media
Almost
everyone is exposed to media today and according to statistics, almost every
person has had an exposure to media and all its subsequent activities. The wide
range of channels to watch means that almost every viewer has the choice of the
channel to watch. Previously, it had been suggested that the media normally
helps in establishing the order of priorities in the society regarding its
objectives and problems. The partisan media normally have a target influence
regarding a certain aspect. In most cases when the discussion is about
politics, there tends to be a wide variation on the supporting side. There are
many instances when various media houses have different perceptions regarding a
certain political aspect. In such cases, the media houses will work towards
winning the public into supporting the side of the media house. For instance if
one media house supports a certain political party, they will do everything
possible to try to make the public get interest into the party (Sammut, 232).
Therefore,
every activity on this media will be all about that political party and
probably nothing will be discussed about the other parties. On the other hand,
the other media house will also do the same regarding the party to be supported
(Sammut, 232). These media houses then
engage in the biased story selection by reporting a lot heavily on the topics
that will favor their side and highly downplaying the stories that seem to harm
their point of view. This bias existence highly brings conflicts between these
media houses. In most cases, these conflicts might be indirectly transferred to
the public and cause a conflict of opinion.
Politics
There
are many programs that deal with politics in the field of media. In most cases,
however, one might have the temptation of dismissing such programs as being
insignificantly political since mostly the audience is limited or even
partisan. This claim is normally short sighted on various levels. This is
because first, even though these programs reach a limited segment of the
market, it is normally a politically engaged audience and thus, this kind of
audience has a high likelihood of containing a higher fraction of influencing
the public in general. Normally, these happen to be the citizens that have
their voices heard by the officials already elected and thus, even reaching the
small but consequential segment of the market is likely to have very great and
significant consequences (Stroud, 176).
There is a growing personalization in the media sources and this has highly
yielded a world with competing commentators who have few exceptions and stake
out the rigid edge of a piece of political spectrum. The result is an explosion
of the availability of information that has coincided with the historic levels
of political polarization.
Whereas
many factors have contributed to this trend, the analysts have a belief that
the ideological media outlets have contributed to the increased hardening of
the battle lines. According to the class dominant theory, the media mostly
reflects and projects the view of the alternative elite which normally controls
it. The people who own as well as control the corporations which produce media
normally have these elite. A lot of assumptions has been imposed that the
partisan news is normally inherently a lot polarizing as compared to the
mainstream news (Pfau, 38). This point brings out the idea that individuals get
to be what they consume. Having a balanced presentation on news normally
moderates the attitudes on politics, whereas the partisan presentations
polarize these attitudes. Individuals are normally motivated to defend a
cherished world views mostly in the realm of politics. It is evident that
individuals are normally capable of cherry picking all the facts that they need
to believe from a balanced presentation. The media news highly affects the
political attitudes of the interested parties.
Government
Generally,
the media tells people what they need to think. In situations when everyone is
thinking similarly they will probably yell out to their political leaders. The
political leaders normally have to do something regarding it or the people that
complained to them will not vote for that person again. The media normally
plays a significant role in government development. This is because it will
give the people the opportunity to choose a political party, how to devise the
attitudes on the government parties as well as the government decisions and how
to manage own interest (Sammut, 232). Further, the media is more effective with
the people who have not yet formed a stable political opinion whether in the
issues or candidates. Studies have shown that the debates and commercials that
are aired right before the day of the election have a substantial effect to the
undecided viewers.
Not
only do the media exercise an extensive authority in the political campaigns
but they also exercise power on the government affairs and officials. The
president and the media need each other; the media requires news for reporting
and on the other hand, the president requires coverage. The public problems
that normally receive the most media coverage are usually considered to be the
most critical ones by the citizens and this gives the media an important role
to the public agenda. The media will provide the government with a better
understanding on the need of the desires of the society (Stanyer, 127).
Generally, the media will present new stories regarding the political
activities. It is impossible to avoid political discussions in the print media.
Therefore, in the long run, the media will remain significant because they are
the main means by which people will obtain the current affairs both nationally
or internationally irrespective of the existing bias.
Recommendation
In
my own perception, media normally has a lot of effects to a wide environment
that surrounds it. It has an effect on the media houses, the viewers, the
politics as well as the government. A lot of information that comes from the
media is normally biased (Stroud, 176). This means that all the information
does not reflect what is true but is for emphasis on what attitude needs to be
created generally. Therefore, from about four decades ago there has been an
increasing variety for the programs in the television channels. This, however,
has not hindered the partisan media polarization on the viewers. An
understanding of the connection between the partisan media exposure and the
resulting polarization calls for an understanding regarding how the humans
process information specifically the political information (Sammut, 232).
Generally the human beings are motivated reasoning kind and even though people
strive to achieving accuracy, the prior beliefs essentially color the way in
which people see the world. This is quite true for the affectively charged topics
like politics where the biases come to the forefront even with an absence of
conscious thought.
Conclusion
Media
normally has a way of getting to communicate its message to the intended
target. Recently, there has been a concern regarding the partisan media and its
effect to the viewers. It is evident that the polarization of the viewers is
high but also dependent on the attitude of the viewers. The partisan media will
drive its intended information to the group that itself chooses to be influenced.
There is currently an increase in polarization to the viewers, the media, and
the political sector and also to the government (Pfau, 39). The rise of the
partisan news media is just like a symptom but not a cause of elite
polarization. It might reinforce the partisan strife, but it is definitely not
the ultimate cause.
Works
cited
Pfau,
Michael, J B. Houston, and Shane M. Semmler. Mediating the Vote: The
Changing Media Landscape in U.s. Presidential Campaigns. Lanham, MD: Rowman
& Littlefield, 2006. Print. 38
Sammut,
Carmen. Media and Maltese Society. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.
Print. 232
Stanyer,
James. Modern Political Communication: Mediated Politics in Uncertain Times.
Cambridge [u.a.: Polity, 2007. Print. 127
Stroud,
Natalie J. Niche News: The Politics of News Choice. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011. Print. 176
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