How Mass Media Affects Political Behavior

How

Mass

Media

How Mass Media

Affects

Political Behavior

The Influence of Mass Media

About Mass Media & Its Use

.: Citizens cannot witness every event that is happening on the national scene, and less at the level of world events. They do not really know what is happening, and even if they did they would need guidance as to how to interpret the information.

.: In order to acquire this knowledge, citizens depend on printed, electronic, and broadcasting mediums such as newspaper, radio, or television as sources of news information.

.: Political influence extends far beyond newspaper reports or television programs connected with current affairs. In a much more subtle way, they can change people's thought patterns through "heartwarming" stories, entertainment with popular culture, or educational programs.

.: All of these types of information form human values, concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, sense and nonsense, what is "fashionable" and "unfashionable," and what is "acceptable" and "unacceptable".

.: These human value systems will mold a person's attitude to political issues, influence how they vote, and therefore determine who holds political power.

Political

Socialization

Political Socialization

Political

Behavior

• A lifelong process by which people form their ideas about politics and acquire political values.

Early Influential factors

Later Influential Factors

• Family
• School
• Community
• Peers

• Education
• Income
• Region
• Race and Ethnicity
• Religion
• Gender
• Mass Media

How Mass Media Influences Political Socialization

Mass Media Influences

• Most of our of our political information comes from the mass media: newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the Internet.

• The amount of time the average American family watches TV makes it the most dominant information source.

• Not only does television help shape public opinion by providing news and analysis, but its entertainment programming addresses important contemporary issues that are in the political area, such as drug use, abortion, crime and social issues, that can influence people's opinions.

People are developing their political identities

online as they learn about the differences

between candidates and political parties

and acquire information about issues and political events.

• The growth of the Internet is also significant; not only do essentially all-news outlets have their own Web sites, but online bloggers present a broad range of political opinion, information, and analysis.

• The media reinforces values instilled by other socialization agents.
• Youth exposure to mass media leads to political discussions.
• Increased media consumption leads to political knowledge.

>> Therefore, the exposure of media will influence political socialization.

Current U.S Example -

Obamacare.

How Mass Media Sets

the Political Agenda

This issue is all over the news - Obamacare shows up in newspapers, magazines, on television, and even on the internet.

Since there are problems with signing up, Obamacare is receiving more negative attention than before (as it did not have much support in the first place), which is causing the government to rush to solve the problem.

Mass Media sets the political agenda by bringing forth problems to the government that the public has, and pointing out problems that the government has to the public.

The media selects what information is most "important", and covers the information so the government will handle the problems in order of importance issued by the media.

2005 - Katrina took the world by surprise, especially when the government said that they had it under control, but was revealed by Chris Wallace of Fox Five News that it was worse than what it was.

The mass media's effect on public opinion is vague; when people are not provided with enough information, they lack better judgement and become more oblivious to the event or news story, resulting in the media to have a stronger influence on them.

How Mass Media Influences Public Opinion

Affects Political Behavior

.: Public opinion is the feelings and opinions of the people of an issue or question.

9 out of 10 Americans believe that mass media has a huge impact on the way they think about their choices. The viewers would believe the first thing they see because they are not well informed. Reality of the media hits, and you find yourself lost in the conflicting world between liberal, conservative, and moderates, causing confusion on where to turn for the truth. If people were to be more informed about politics, government, and general topics, then they would know how to feel because they would, not only know what is going on, but they would be able to react to the correct information.

Setting The

Political Agenda

Influencing Public Opinion