Title: The Impact of the Media | American Government
Headings: The Impact of the Media
The Impact of the Media
Learning Objectives
Media Effects and Bias
Coverage Effects on Governance and Campaigns
Coverage Effects on Society
Summary
Practice Questions

Content: Candidate Donald Trump may be the best example of shallower press coverage of a presidential election. Some argue that newspapers and news programs are limiting the space they allot to discussion of the campaigns. [ 5] Others argue that citizens want to see updates on the race and electoral drama, not boring issue positions or substantive reporting. [ 6] It may also be that journalists have tired of the information games played by politicians and have taken back control of the news cycles. [ 7]
All these factors have likely led to the shallow press coverage we see today, sometimes dubbed pack journalism because journalists follow one another rather than digging for their own stories. Television news discusses the strategies and blunders of the election, with colorful examples. Newspapers focus on polls. In an analysis of the 2012 election, Pew Research found that 64 percent of stories and coverage focused on campaign strategy. Only 9 percent covered domestic issue positions; 6 percent covered the candidates’ public records;