Television's Influence On Presidential Elections

The advent of television has engrossed many with its ability to transmit and receive messages ranging from entertainment to information across the world. Television has created a new medium to transmit anything, however, many think that its influence may reach farther than what most people are aware of. Information and entertainment are the most prominent forms of expression on the medium but some people seem to agree that the melding of these two ideas may influence important decisions in television spectators, with one of the ideas being politics. Many distinguished people in the government believe that television allows direct contact between election candidates and the people, while others would argue that the presence of television influences …show more content…
Sometimes things can be taken too seriously; even just a little joke because the viewers just want seriousness considering it’s politics, more precisely the elections and there should be no jokes or inappropriate speech. If it’s on television, they can be influenced to say something more pleasing rather than truthfully, making them totally disregard their integrity. As mentioned in Source B, “Presidents are losing their distinctiveness as social actors and hence are often judged by standards formerly used to assess rock singers and movie stars.” Since it is viewed on television, people seemingly think they are celebrities and hearing things about them though they might be false, they kinda just come to conclusion that they know them as people and “hence no longer feel the need for party guidance.” Politicians running for elections are not taken as seriously as they should; they are looked upon as celebrities than politicians. They should judge them towards their ideas and opinions and their improvements on the country they will bring. People running for elections are taken childishly but they should be concerned because that person running might actually win and it will affect you; considering celebrities are constantly taken out of context and people think they know them off of …show more content…
For instance, a candidate can say something that drastically affects the voting outtake. Most people will look at that than the overall policy as the politician states. People tend to judge politicians by looking at what the media talks about them. The media can change many perspectives of people. “The advent of television in the late 1940s gave rise to the belief that a new era was opening in a public communication.” (Source A) Politicians take into consideration that public communication needs to be strong when there’s debates going on. They need to be in touch with the audience because their votes are the ones that count for them. The little facts that the media takes and makes a big deal out of provoke the public to judge the politician even more. ‘“Our national politics has become a competition for images or between images, rather than between ideals,” [one commentator] concluded. “An effective President must be every year more concerned with projecting images of himself.”’ (Source C) Politicians have to worry over little things about themselves because people look at that then the policy they have as a whole. The public seem to care more about the characteristic traits rather than the characteristic point of views. People seem to view that the judgement they make towards politicians are more effective than actually taking their ideas into contemplation. The public views television