New Century New Media



When you think of media, you think of social platforms to post pictures, blogs that provide tips on fashion and skincare, and video platforms that provide DIY projects for home renovations or how to workout correctly. When you think about politics, you think of democrats and republicans, laws being enacted and retracted, and late night talk shows. But putting the two together, you get a relationship that evolves every few years. Mass Media is a system that facilitates data and information, which is then shared on small and large outlets that are able to reach the public and generate opinions.Media has come a long way from newspapers and grayscale televisions to multiple news outlets, social media platforms, and full color HD televisions. This new evolution has given politics a broader platform to share with the nation. Politics is the actions of the government and all the people who work for, serve, or challenge it.


Politics is able to reach individuals in areas that are not considered popular or the most populated. We are able to see lawmakers in actions when voting in/out legislation. We hear from reporting corresponding sharing highlighted points, we as the public, probably missed. You see, the media is the way politics is spread. Modern society relies heavily on the media. Most people are on social media platforms or find time to watch television news and youtube. You no longer hear about political candidates or laws by ear but by sharing a link. 


America’s democratic political system has evolved since its founding. The democratic political system has been both praised and criticized by scholars from different parts of the world. Alexis de Tocqueville was a minor French aristocrat, who wrote, “Democracy in America” while observing American local politics. He came to the conclusion that, “People can therefore draw two great political consequences from the same social state; these consequences differ prodigiously, but they both arise from the same fact (Tocqueville 1835).” American democracy tends to lean towards social conformity and intellectual mediocrity to please the majority. American political parties pride themselves on topics and issues they know citizens feel strongly about. If the majority of citizens feel strongly about a certain topic or issue that is causing problems, political parties study and emphasize that concern. This is where mass media comes into play. In cultivating these concerns, the political aspect is able to produce ads, campaign videos, flyers, vision and mission statements to the public. This brings awareness to media participants for them to share the message and generate support.


Media is politics and Politics is media. You can not separate these two entities because they provide support to each other. Without the media, many of us would not know what is going on in our country. And without politics, there would be no foundation of America’s “democratic” system to stand on. One thing can be said, each is beneficial to the other.


De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America, 1835.

Rom C. Mark, Masaki Hidaka, and Rachel B. Walker. “Introduction to Political Science.” OpenSax. Houston, Texas. May 18, 2022. https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/1-1-defining-politics-who-gets-what-when-where-how-and-why


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freedom of the Press - Definition, Measurement, and a Global Assessment

Image
  Freedom of the press is the provision to share an opinion, idea, value, and/or perspective with others without restrictions. This is an important concept to consider because in order for society to grow, you need assistance by words. Press is a form of speech and anyone with a voice deserves the space to speak freely. Freedom house released a 2019 report on media freedom being a downward spiral. The study lasted for five years and expanded over sixteen countries (Freedom House 2019). They rated each country on a scale from zero to four. Zero being the worst and four being the best. The article touched on different subjects such as implications of democratic governance and media freedom globally and achieving media dominance. Implications of democracy focused on floating transparency and the need to increase transparency with the public (Freedom House 2019). Media dominance focused on squelching critical outlets and bolstering loyal outlets by using economic, legal, and extra lega...
Read more

The Media and the Government - The Struggle for Control

Image
  The media personales aim to acquire more means and viewers to their platforms. They seek to build on their stock and revenue to continue building their companies. The media is able to influence people based on algorithms. The government seeks to build on public image and promotion. Politicians have an image to upkeep in order to keep support for elections time. The people within these two institutions, aka the journalist, just want to report the truth. What motivates or is the common denominator is attention. They want the public’s attention. These institutions and individuals cannot function without the public. They have to find effective ways of gaining and keeping their attention. They share posts, messages, and readings that can be deemed important or not. Some examples are (1) In Norway, the media is seen operating in favor of the political environment (Reporters Without Borders 2024). The reason why it's viewed as favorable is because Norwegian politicians, parliamentarians...
Read more

Descriptive Representation in the News

Image
  Representation is everything. This earth is full of people from all walks of life. Cultures and languages that differ from region to region. I want to focus on two groups: the rich and the poor. Everyone might be different from different places but we all have in common the wealth gap. When you watch a video, pertaining to those who come from wealth, you see fancy cars and big houses. When you watch a video, pertaining to those who do not come from wealth, you see small houses and rarely any vehicles. Individuals walk or use old bikes to get around. No personal drivers. I want to make a point as it pertains to the difference in presentation to the world. On television Africa was depicted as this poor continent riddled with war and lack of food and water. You saw children starving and parents who were unable to make ends meet. No sign of wealth or development to grow the country. It's under-represented to the world. But what society has failed to realize is the strive Africa has m...
Read more