by Joyce V Harrison

Created on: August 31, 2009   Last Updated: January 09, 2010

If you sit on a jury in the U.S., you are not allowed exposure to the media during a trial because you need to weigh the facts presented in court and not be influenced by headlines and reporting.

That alone is evidence of the impact of media. But the influence is not without bias. Some media spokespersons, whether on the networks, in print or on the Internet, are defined as left; some are called right. The labels may be conservative, liberal, moderate or independent, with many subcategories under those main headings.

Those viewpoints color our politics. As a personal example, you may be for or against healthcare reform. Either way, unless you live in another galaxy, you have to factor in the media influence that makes you lean even more pro or more con.

Election Coverage

A major example of political influence is the election of any president. Millions are spent on getting out the “message.” Unless you have the rare opportunity for a face-to-face, media is the only way for the majority of voters to get to know individuals on the national stage.

President Obama’s team used all the media brilliantly, particularly the Internet, to gather support. Your decision to vote for him or not was likely based on speeches and debates, televised and played on the web, as well as by the extensive news coverage that presented both negatives and positives, slanted of course by the viewpoint of the source. You likely formed your opinion of the other candidates - Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Sarah Palin - by what you saw or read.

You can go back in time to other presidents whose actions were the subject of headlines: President Nixon and President Clinton for example. Media coverage was instrumental in leading to consequences for both men.

War Reporting

After no weapons of mass destruction were found, the media was faulted for not investigating the validity of the government’s invasion of Iraq. (Or you may be in the camp that called it a liberation.) The media was held responsible for informing the American public of the real story and, according to their critics, failed in that responsibility.

Even the war reporting presented a “white washed” version, never showing the brutality, not even the coffins of soldiers until a change in administration. Those pictures, as the ones from Abu Graib did, might have spurred an earlier outrage. 

Sometimes, the media’s message does fall on deaf ears. Surveys continue to show that a shocking number of U.S. citizens still believe that Saddam Hussein was connected to Al-Qaeda.

Public Issues

On the positive side, look at the civil rights movement. The country and the government were spurred to action because the media helped bring the issue into the national public eye. Currently, gay rights, immigration and other issues dominate the news and lead us to opinions and often action for or against the government’s position. The reporting influences us. But ultimately, we make our decisions alone, in the voting booth.

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