Watchdog Journalism Essay

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In the United States of America, one of the most populous nations worldwide, there are multiple media outlets that report news, current events, and happenings within the country and even within the world. Citizens rely on these sources to keep them informed by providing factual, unbiased news. (cite?) However, the media heavily impacts the way that individuals view stories, and even how they view their government. Through agenda setting, gatekeeping, media bias, and the common-carrier role, the media is constantly affecting government and politics of the nation. Even before the invention of newspapers, people found a way to spread news in the United States. However, it wasn’t until this invention that it reached as large of an audience. Due …show more content…
Objective journalism, which exists purely on facts and nonpartisanship, and watchdog journalism, which is mostly unbiased and correctly informs the public. Watchdog journalism “informs the public about what is happening in institutions and society, especially in circumstances where a significant portion of the public would demand changes in response.” Watchdog journalism acknowledges the necessity that media is today in informing citizens of what is going on in the world, which directly links to the affect that media has on the United States’ government and …show more content…
“The gatekeeper’s choices are a complex web of influences, preferences, motives, and common values.” (cite) However, gatekeeping is not always a bad thing. Although a gatekeeper controls what knowledge the public has of news, they filter out news that is unimportant, irrelevant, etc. This [gatekeeping] is extremely important in the media’s influence of America’s government and politics because gatekeepers have the power to regulate the flow of political information. Certain media outlets will prioritize specific subjects in order for them to become national political issues. This means that it is ultimately the media that decides what issues American citizens prioritize as well, rather than politicians or the citizens themselves. This can be dangerous and lead to an abuse of power as the media has the potential to filter out important

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