The Most Powerful People in America
It is estimated that an American sees an average of 5,000
advertisements a day. (NY Times) Everywhere we go there are advertisements all
around us, and we do not even consciously notice the majority of them. Most of
the ads are things like a logo or trademark, but they are everywhere one looks.
These ads are incredibly strong at determining what products we purchase and
brands we support. Good and powerful advertisements can take a product to whole
new levels. The power of advertisement and media goes way beyond the purchasing
of products.
The main source of information in all societies is media.
Newspapers, Internet articles, news on television, and radio shows are the main
ways in which people receive their information and opinions on the world. The
media is arguably the most powerful thing in a society. Like ads, the media
tries to portray themselves as the best source of information for consumers.
Regardless of what happens in the world, it is the media we look to for the information
and they choose what they report on. The media has the power to back
candidates, or cover certain issues more than others. The way in which the
media portrays events influences the way people look and regard issues.
The media is the single most deciding factor in the
Presidential elections. By using simple phrases such as, “the frontrunner” or
“the favorite”, those ill informed viewers are greatly influenced as to whom
they will vote for. The media can choose to report on certain candidates more than
others. By refusing to report on certain candidates, the media can completely
crush candidate’s campaigns. Lets look at Sarah Palin for example. The media
exposed every mistake and flaw she had and after a little while she became the
laughing stock of America. While Sarah Palin was being ridiculed all over the
media, President Obama was getting away with flaws in his past that no one
should ever get away with. One of these was his participation with ACORN, which
was casting false ballots in Florida using names such as Mickey Mouse. Another
example, which does not get brought up, is President Obama's relationship with
Bill Ayers, who bombed federal agencies in the 70’s and is quoted as saying he
wished he would of bombed more. Bill Ayers is a terrorist and self proclaimed
communist. If there were a republican doing these types of things they would
get blown apart and blasted as Newt Gingrich is right now for his previous love
life and as Sarah Palin did for her personal life.
In my opinion it is scary how much power the media has in
our society today. With the majority of the news stations being incredibly left
winged and liberal, there is only one side of the issue reported on. The media
leaves out many important things because they are protecting candidates and are
worried about their own agendas first. Mitt Romney is most likely going to win
the Republican nomination even though he is not the most conservative, or
republican candidate in the running. The media has too much power in America
and they are leading our country in the wrong direction.
That's very intriguing posting! As you guys know, the majority of information we can get in a daily routine is emerged from the media such as newspaper, article on the Internet, news on television, magazines etc. As shown from the reading, meadia has the power on political issues.
ReplyDeleteI'm really worried about the today's situation that media or corporation back certain candidates. It is likely that the corporation or media might support the candidate who can bring them interests. The ill-informed people can be influenced by them. Those things might bring a lack of objectivity to the public. Even though people think they retain objectivity well, they tend to be affected indrectly and/or unconsciously.
I completely agree that the media holds a lot of power in our society. Like Blake said, the media can report more on one candidate than another candidate and people who don’t follow the elections will be greatly misinformed and not know the whole truth. When the media stands behind a certain candidate, they do a very good job of making that candidate look like perfect with no flaws, the next best thing since sliced bread, and completely tear the other candidate apart making them out to be someone who is going to destroy the country. There’re two sides to every story and nobody is perfect. People need to take what they learn from the media with a grain of salt. It’s our responsibility to do the research in order to know the whole story before jumping on the media band wagon and believe everything said from the tv, radio, newspapers, and other sources of media.
ReplyDeleteIt is terrible how much media has an influence on the political campaigns and the like. I believe because of the media, not the full truth about the candidate is found out. If a media station is biased, then only the information they want to report will be televised. Such as Fox or MSNBC, if someone who is watching one of those stations they will only know biased information, which will either be harmful or helpful to the politician. This kind of reporting is not beneficial to the viewer. They will receive “false” information and develop inaccurate and uninformed opinions about a politician. Another thing that upsets me is that the fact that SO much money is spent on advertising on campaigns. That money could be used for so much better uses. However, what is more upsetting thing the wasted money is that the government is looking to pass it where our taxes will pay for advertising. That is the most ridiculous and dumbest idea I have heard in a while, since S.O.P.A. It seems to me government is getting to become more and more unrepresentative of the people.
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