Title: The Role of the Media in Politics - Ethics Sage
Headings: The Role of the Media in Politics
The Role of the Media in Politics
Responsible Behavior Shoved Aside for Biased Reporting
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Content: According to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, 16 percent of registered American voters used social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to get political information and follow election news during the 2014 U.S. midterm elections, more than doubling the number of registered voters who used social media for the same purpose in 2010. In many ways, the rise of the Internet and the social web has made things a lot better when it comes to being informed about the world. But in other ways—as with so many other things the Internet touches—it has made them much worse. And our trusted relationship with media (to the extent that we ever had one) has taken the brunt of the damage. The click economy has driven even traditional, mainstream media outlets to focus on quick hits and “viral” stories, even if they have little truth to them. And even if those stories are later corrected, only a tiny number of people will see or share the correction. In any case, opinions have already been formed, biases established, and alliances strengthened. Trust in the media is at an historic low. There are a number of reasons, but one of the most obvious ones is that today’s media landscape looks nothing like what U.S. news consumers took for granted in 1972, or 1982, or 1992, or even 2002. These days, politicians often complain about bias in the media, usually a liberal bias against the views of conservative politicians.