The Relationship between Media and Election

Introduction

When American people were watching television during recent Presidential elections, they were making an attempt to understand the political process more and more. Although some may disagree with this statement, the media played an important role in our understanding of the US Presidential election 2008. The main media source that is used, especially in the United States, is the television. Without the media or television, many people might not have the appropriate knowledge, which is needed to vote, about the candidates. (Politi, Daniel. 06nov08 Media and US elections analysis, Slate Magazine: http://observatoriodemediosuia.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/06nov08-media-and-us-elections-analysis/) Therefore, the media is indeed a major aspect of the political process and is as big a part of the government as anything.

Firstly, the fact is that if the media is biased towards one in particular candidate, then it sometimes rubs off on the people. Certain peoples' understanding of the government and policies are taken from the media. Therefore, if the bias is favoring one candidate, the people tend to take that side and favor the same simply because that is the impression they get. This is not always the case but may very well occur. Basically, because the most popular form of media is television and that is what keeps the common people informed about the political process. The people usually see the candidates how they are presented by the media and this reflects their opinion of a certain person. There is a perfect example of how media is a big part of the political process. It was the coverage of the Barack Obama vs. McCain election. Throughout 2008 election, the media characterized Barack Obama as the democrat for a "new America". He was the young candidate who happened to be good looking, to some, and seemed to catch the eye of many. However, McCain was the older republican, more the less for the "old America".

Overview

According to some media experts, McCain, on paper seemed to be a better and more productive candidate. McCain might have seemed to be a better candidate for the presidency, but it was because of the media that many people favored Barack Obama. The McCain vs. Barack Obama debate was one of the reasons that Barack Obama was victorious over McCain in 2008 election. Barack Obama had that young look which seemed appealing to many and was simply more of a "people person" according to the media. His impression left many people wanting him to lead our country for the following four years. People took that "people person" characterization into consideration and Barack Obama wound up winning the election over McCain, most likely because of the media's input. Basically, the people of this country liked the personality of John F Barack Obama better than McCain and this led him to become the next president of the United States. Therefore, one could propose the question of "Would Barack Obama has won the election if there were no television media interaction?"

Then the next question comes in our ...