Television's Influence On Presidential Elections

In previous elections throughout the years the media has found so many ways to impact each election. With the many advances of technology continues to have there will only be more opportunities for the media to influence the people. Especially with so many people having easy access to television whether it be from their mobile phones to the television in the living room. With the recent election, our 45th president it is crucial for the people to know where the influence comes from. The media is the main influence during elections. Television specifically has impacted presidential elections negatively. Television cheats the voters of their participation in elections. Before television man people had to go to debates and speeches in person to get the know their candidates. Now as Hart and Triece say, “Because of television’s sense of intimacy the American people feel they know their presidents as person and hence no longer feel the need for party guidance” (par.1). This proves voters fell they do not need to go anywhere else or read anything else on the candidates since they feel they know the candidates as people. This can eventually lead to even more important problems because they voters should know the candidates as leaders they
want running the country not just an everyday person. Television is cheating the viewers of important information that may skew their judgement. So many people have conformed to the ways of television likewise Menand says, “holding a presidential election today without a television debate would seem almost undemocratic, as though voters were being cheated by the omission of some relevant tests” (par.1). From this we can see how much the voters have conformed to now television being a need when it comes to elections or it is not democratic. Television makes parts of elections such as speeches and debates seem pointless. According to Koppel, “we were able to pull the best three or four minutes out of the ninety-minute event” (par.4). This proves that debates and speeches are redundant if a simple five-minute broadcast can cover the same exact important topics. All of this shows how viewers have adapted to television which is causing them to be cheated. In addition to television cheating viewers of important content. The television also affects elections negatively because the stories purposely want to alter the judgement of the voters towards candidates in a bad way. Hart and Triece write, “Presidents are losing their distinctiveness as social actors and hence are often judged by standards formerly used to assess rock singers and movie stars” (par.1). In other words, Hart and Triece are saying the presidential candidates are lowered to being judged at the same level as a movie star or famous singer. The presidential candidates should not ever be judged on the same scale to any singers or movie stars because they are the ones who could possibly run our country. The reporters for different news channels on television purposely alter questions to catch candidates off guard to see how they respond. Similarly, Menand claims, “that television had dumbed down the issues by forcing the candidates to respond to questions instantaneously” (par.2). From this we can see the reports are setting candidates up to fail which makes them look bad to the public. This alters the public's judgement about the candidate because they can seem unprepared. When there is an election an important aspect to television is the number of views. The reports of different channels do whatever is possible to obtain viewers even if the information is redundant. This information can cause candidates to look even worse and change the voter’s perspective from something stupid like their favorite color instead of important news such as their policy changes. According to Koppel, “We deliberately aim for the lowest common denominator, thereby assuring ourselves of the larges possible audience… producing nothing but cotton candy for the mind” (par.1). In other words, Koppel is saying the reports purposely strive to broadcast news on television they know may not be important but is “cotton candy” for people’s minds. This is Koppel’s way of saying they report what people find interesting and memorable will give them lots of views. This is negatively affecting voters because they keep hearing unimportant information that eventually depicts their opinion about each candidate. Television will continue to influence the voter’s judgement.
Television can also have a negative impact on elections because of the bias and distortions it shows to viewers. Many television channels may appear to favor a candidate. Similarly, Menand says “Kennedy benefited because his image on television was “crisp”,” (par.2). From this we can conclude that Kennedy was favored and possibly had lots of television appearances to obtain a great “crisp” image on television especially since most television broadcasts try to make candidates look bad. This can be negative because the people don’t really have someone else’s image to compare and through television the people view candidates as normal people not really leaders. Viewing candidates as movie stars or famous people instead of a leader makes a joke out of many traditional election procedures such as debates and elections. According to Koppel, “it is a joke to call and event like the one that transpired tonight a debate” (par.3). This shows a distorting effect of television that can confuse voters because usually one would think the news would want more debates so they can cover the m and have more stories but, this is the exact opposite. Koppel is stating that debates are a joke through the eyes of television. Through televisions distorting eyes many people have strayed away from focusing on policy. Likewise, Hart and Triece claim, “those who watch politics on television are increasingly turning away from the policy sphere” (par. 1). This proves that television can cause people to astray from policy during a presidential election. Television has many distorting views that alter how viewers think and what they focus on.
There are different ways television has a negative effect on elections.
Television cheats voters from important content, it alters the voter’s judgement of candidates, and has bias and distorting aspects. It is important that the people knows about the effects television has on presidential elections. This is important because the president is not just some famous person, they are the leaders of the country who are crucial to the success or failure of America. Knowing this information people should try to go to debates in person and get to know the candidates through another source other than just television, because the different negative influences television has on elections alter the results more than most people may
know.