Media Influence On Law-Making

The media are another method used to influence the law making process. Media includes television, social networks, radio, newspapers and journals. Their role is to influence and/or represent public opinion, also, make the government aware of what is happening in the society, promoting issues and causes. Pressure groups also use the media to get their view across, as well as ordinary people. A great influence is carried out by the media towards the government. There are many example of the media being able to influence the government in changing their policies. For example, the ‘News of the World’ ran a campaign in 2000, ‘Name and Shame’ after the murdering of Sarah Payne by a paedophile. This campaign induced the government in reinforcing their law against …show more content…
Its advantages are the fact that the commissioner have legal, but not political knowledge of background, suggesting that they know what to focus on. Also, the fact that the law commissioners are constantly changed, every 5 years, which means that there are more ‘updated’ suggestions as well as the knowledge is higher. Additionally, having a full time members, makes it easier as they only focus on the specific area. Lastly, the use of law commissioners reduces the ministers’ work as the bills are already drafted. However, there are disadvantages to be taken in consideration. The parliament has never taken in consideration the proposals made by the commission, till 1999, and two thirds of them are applied. This is mainly because the government lacks of time to focus on them. The commission does not hold any power, which allows the government to not consult them and introduce their proposals. Lastly, the law commissioners tend to investigate 20 to 30 areas contemporarily, causing investigations to not be as detailed, compared to the ones done by the Royal