Media Influence On Elections

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With the increase of modern technology, the affects media has on presidential elections has greatly increased. Television, social media, radio broadcasts and other forms of media are easily accessed by almost every American in the year 2015. After a great amount of research, it is has been concluded that media is biased and influences the decisions made by Americans when voting for the next president. However, even before the increase in modern technology, media has always been a contributing factor when Americans choose who they vote to be the next president. Newspapers, magazines, television talk shows, and radio broadcasts have been around for decades and were all popular in influencing presidential elections. To begin, politicians, including presidential candidates, use media to campaign and get their name out there to the public. Halbrooks states:
Media and politics will always have close ties. Politicians need media to get the exposure they need to win elections. Reporters have no choice but to cover the people chosen
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They are able to easily campaign and gain popularity. To answer the question regarding how and if media influences elections, I would say that media definitely influences how someone votes. Today, Americans receive political information and learn about the policies of potential presidential candidates through the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, they are able to learn about the candidates and what they stand for by watching interviews and debates on television. In conclusion, many sources are biased and therefore place their views onto their viewers. Therefore, media influences elections by impacting how someone will vote. After viewing specific television programs, seeing debates and seeing social media used by politicians, a person forms their own opinion on who to vote

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