Want to determine the amount of negative impact the media is having in the 2008 election? Be sure to look at both the Short Term and Long Term Arenas.

Short Term-

Communication Grapevine
Promoting spread of misinformation through other forms of communication such as Internet, phone, postal mail and word of mouth

Emotional Hypes
Energizing negative thoughts, ideas, or feelings that lead to quick and wrong judgments

Violence and Crime
Frustrated, Angry or Despaired Citizens take negative actions

Motivation to Vote
Discouraged citizens lose interest in voting

Effectiveness of Candidates Campaigning
Unfair bias, misrepresentation causes candidates to lose ground

Long Term-

Freedom of Speech
Reactions of media coverage today will affect how and if citizens will voice their opinions in the future.

View of other Countries
Reflections of our elections will pass through to other countries and will shape their elections, as well as, the elected officials that will affect our communication and reactions from those countries.

Heritage
Our future generations perception will be affected by the present negative ways that we deal with the elections and passed down to our children and their children's children.

Future Election Campaign Techniques
Negative media impact may change the way candidates of the future promote their campaigns and may cause a shift to more primal techniques.

Reference to Party Affiliation
Electoral and Popular Votes have been challenged in past memorable elections. The first in 1888, when John Quincy Adams was elected President, was a time when the new political caucus system made its debut and the popular vote mattered for the first time. With Four Democratic-Republican candidates running, the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution had to be exercised by the House of Representatives to select a President.
The previous 2000 Presidential Election, again, challenged the Electoral College versus the popular vote and our now current President, George W. Bush was elected.
Media attention favoring a particular party or two prominent parties can affect the party affiliation processes of the future.

Media Agencies should regularly evaluate their negative impact and in doing so, strive to have a positive impact. In reporting truth and facts in a fair manner, without dramatic representation, they will be helping to create the kind of election that candidates and citizens will be proud to be a part of and cast their vote to show their decision and support.

Learn more about this author, Dalley Hughes.
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