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The Role of Free Press in the American Political System
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The Role of Free Press in the American Political System
Freedom of the press is of immense importance in today’s world, and by no means can this freedom enjoyed by press be overestimated. Press has played a pivotal role in designing the policies of the American government. It is imperative to comprehend the role of the free press in the performance of American institutions prior to the understanding of the political decision-making process in the USA. The free press has emerged as one of the greatest powers in Western countries, and more often than not considered more powerful than the other three tiers of the state i.e. legislature, executive and judiciary. The power press holds and the freedom it enjoys provide people with a rational reason to question themselves as to whom the press is accountable ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"GYXtzDpM","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Norris, 2006)","plainCitation":"(Norris, 2006)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":596,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/DKAMN8N3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/DKAMN8N3"],"itemData":{"id":596,"type":"paper-conference","title":"The role of the free press in promoting democratization, good governance, and human development (*)","source":"Semantic Scholar","abstract":"Synopsis: What is the role of the free press in strengthening good governance, democracy and human development? To explore these issues, Part I presents the analytical framework, develops the core testable propositions, and summarizes the previous research literature on the topic. Part II outlines the comparative framework, evidence, and research design. This study utilizes a large-N cross-sectional comparison to analyze the impact of press freedom on multiple indicators of democracy and good governance. Freedom House provides the principle measure of Press Freedom with annual data available from 1992 to 2005. Part III describes the distribution of press freedom and regional trends. Part IV analyzes the impact of these patterns. The regression models control for many factors commonly associated with processes of democratization and good governance, such as wealth, ethnic fractionalization, and colonial histories. The results confirm that the free press does matter for a range of indicators of good governance, and it is integral to the process of democratization. The Conclusion summarizes the key findings and considers their consequences for strengthening political and human development and thereby alleviating poverty.","author":[{"family":"Norris","given":"Pippa"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2006"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Norris, 2006). The influence of the press on the political system has greatly been increased because the focus of political campaigns has been shifted from party to the individual. Candidates in the election are now obsessed with voter’s attention. The full potential of a free press can only be grasped following a thorough comprehension of what the press is and who the press is. This essay will provide the reader with an analysis of the synergetic effects of the press in the American political system.
Discussion
The prime responsibility of the press is to provide us with information and facts following or prior to the occurrence of an event. The information or facts that press present us with, shape our opinions. The rational domain is influenced by the information or facts revealed by the press. The attitude of policymakers towards policy making is also influenced by the press. Press has the power to design government and political decisions in a number of ways . A few ways through which press influence the political system of America are as follows.
Influence on the Political Opinions of Voters
It is no surprise that the press finds it hard to alter the political rationale of people who actively take part in politics. For instance, people who have developed their political affiliations with either of the two major political parties of the US are quite choosy concerning what they want from the press ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"bKR0X91K","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Oswald, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Oswald, n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":592,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/PY84XAH9"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/PY84XAH9"],"itemData":{"id":592,"type":"article-journal","title":"Mass Media and the Transformation of American Politics","container-title":"MARQUETTE LAW REVIEW","page":"31","volume":"77","source":"Zotero","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Oswald","given":"Kristine A"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Oswald, n.d.). Despite that, press achieves its goals by swaying people who have no or little political affiliation with any of the two parties. Surprisingly, election results depend upon the decision of people who are uncommitted so the influence of the press on election results cannot be overestimated.
Influence on the Behavior of Candidates
The success or failure of any politician is determined by the press and if politicians learn how to use press during election campaigns, they can, for sure, succeed. Similarly, following the elections when politicians are elected and assume office, they still can succeed by using press effectively in getting things done in their favor. The two best examples in this regard are president Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Ronald Reagan. Roosevelt used to press and radio in the best possible way to soothe the pain of the great economic depression by communicating with the American population. Ronald Reagan also had good communication skills and communicated with American voters in a very effective manner.
Highlighting Public Issues
Print media is the best source for American people if they want to learn about social problems. Undoubtedly, the focus of the press on certain issues and dissemination of information and facts concerning that issue will influence the government policies towards the issue. It is probably not the policymakers who decide what needs to get done but the press or media. More often than not, press and media are accused of accentuating scandals by putting the more important political problem on the back burner. This will greatly affect the government’s ability to prioritizing the issues and problems.
Biased Ideology
Most of the people are of the view that it is impossible to carry out objective journalism entirely. For it requires journalists and editors to report and disseminate issues completely uninfluenced by values. In addition, the economic interests of media play a pivotal role in the control over the dissemination of information. Such economic interests and concentrations have welcomed negative reactions from the industry and political spheres ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8vc4zH9s","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Levendusky, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Levendusky, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":600,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/NDVDR9UE"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/NDVDR9UE"],"itemData":{"id":600,"type":"article-journal","title":"Why do partisan media polarize viewers?","container-title":"American Journal of Political Science","page":"611–623","volume":"57","issue":"3","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Levendusky","given":"Matthew S."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Levendusky, 2013). Liberalists are of the view that press freedom hinders political diversity, for it promotes commercial or corporate interests. Another argument put forward by the liberalists that press only disseminate information and facts concerning conventional perspectives for it wants to sustain its status quo ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"R2AsCeKT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Oswald, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Oswald, n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":592,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/PY84XAH9"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jsvqEXt1/items/PY84XAH9"],"itemData":{"id":592,"type":"article-journal","title":"Mass Media and the Transformation of American Politics","container-title":"MARQUETTE LAW REVIEW","page":"31","volume":"77","source":"Zotero","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Oswald","given":"Kristine A"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Oswald, n.d.).
Conservatives are of the view that the press favors the liberals’ perception of political issues. The argument can be supported by the words of George W. Bush when he criticized media and labeling it biased against the Republican Party.
National Security and Press Autonomy
The case of Daniel Ellsberg is worth mentioning here. He provided New York Times with classified documents which would later recognize as Pentagon Papers and exposed the facts about US involvement in Vietnam. Pentagon Papers exposed that government lied to the general public regarding the losses they would bear in the war. Pentagon Papers revealed that the public was misled about the degree of U.S. involvement in Vietnam by the administrations of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, J.F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Pentagon Papers created an outrage in the general public and compelled American administration to pull the forces out of Vietnam and save tax money.
Conclusion
The press, undisputedly, enjoys a great deal of power in American politics. Some experts are of the view that such a power enjoyed by media is not a good thing for government owing to the abuse of power by media. For it is the profit motives which drive the media to provide general masses with what they want not with what they require. However, some people laud the freedom enjoyed by print media, for they consider print media pivotal for the system of “checks and balances” in American politics. They argue rather call the print media a watchdog that makes sure that no one from the executive, legislature or judiciary abuses his powers. In addition, the transition has been witnessed in the communication networks owing to technological advancement. Both, the government and media influence each other which influence the public policy as a result. Hence, it can be argued that public policy is being developed in an ad hoc manner. Citizens are required to become active participants in political development because the press or media will not be fair if they enjoy complete freedom.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Bode, L. (2016). Political news in the news feed: Learning politics from social media. Mass Communication and Society, 19(1), 24–48.
Chadwick, A., Dennis, J., & Smith, A. P. (2016). Politics in the age of hybrid media. The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics, 7–22.
Levendusky, M. S. (2013). Why do partisan media polarize viewers? American Journal of Political Science, 57(3), 611–623.
Norris, P. (2006). The role of the free press in promoting democratization, good governance, and human development (*).
Oswald, K. A. (n.d.). Mass Media and the Transformation of American Politics. MARQUETTE LAW REVIEW, 77, 31.
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