Introduction:
In discussions of presidential elections, one controversial issue has been whether or not television and social media have a positive effect on the elections. On the one hand, some voters and candidates argue that what is said about them over the air and on the media has a beneficial influence. On the other hand, some voters and politicians contend television and social networking have no impression at all. I believe that media can influence how someone votes in an election.
One way that political advertisements have an impact on a citizen’s vote is through negative commercials. Since 2000 there has been a clear increase in negative advertisements and a decrease in positive advertisements. Many voters claimed the result the negativity had on them was just that; negative (Journalist Research). The attacks a politician produces about the candidate they are running against is less helpful toward the politician and more obliging toward the other candidate. Many people claim that they do not want to vote for someone who is mean to another person. They consider making a negative advertisement about the candidate you are running against as mean. Clearly it is more useful to be positive toward the competition than is it to be negative. …show more content…
The media does not equally cover the two candidates. In the 2012 elections, Fox News gave Barack Obama one minute of airtime for every seven minutes Mitt Romney was given. The number totaled up to give Romney nearly 623% more coverage on Fox news than Obama (Chicago Monitor). “If you simply removed Fox News from cable programming during the 2000 election cycle, the average county’s Republican vote share would have decreased by 1% to 2%” (Stanford Business). Certainly Fox News has a large effect on a citizen’s vote. The news should give equal amount of airtime to both politicians to make the elections more
In discussions of presidential elections, one controversial issue has been whether or not television and social media have a positive effect on the elections. On the one hand, some voters and candidates argue that what is said about them over the air and on the media has a beneficial influence. On the other hand, some voters and politicians contend television and social networking have no impression at all. I believe that media can influence how someone votes in an election.
One way that political advertisements have an impact on a citizen’s vote is through negative commercials. Since 2000 there has been a clear increase in negative advertisements and a decrease in positive advertisements. Many voters claimed the result the negativity had on them was just that; negative (Journalist Research). The attacks a politician produces about the candidate they are running against is less helpful toward the politician and more obliging toward the other candidate. Many people claim that they do not want to vote for someone who is mean to another person. They consider making a negative advertisement about the candidate you are running against as mean. Clearly it is more useful to be positive toward the competition than is it to be negative. …show more content…
The media does not equally cover the two candidates. In the 2012 elections, Fox News gave Barack Obama one minute of airtime for every seven minutes Mitt Romney was given. The number totaled up to give Romney nearly 623% more coverage on Fox news than Obama (Chicago Monitor). “If you simply removed Fox News from cable programming during the 2000 election cycle, the average county’s Republican vote share would have decreased by 1% to 2%” (Stanford Business). Certainly Fox News has a large effect on a citizen’s vote. The news should give equal amount of airtime to both politicians to make the elections more