Title: 15.7 Media Influence on Laws and Government – Understanding Media and Culture
Headings: 15.7 Media Influence on Laws and Government
15.7 Media Influence on Laws and Government
Learning Objectives
Politics, Broadcast Media, and the Internet
Radio
Television
Nixon–Kennedy Debates of 1960
War and Television
Political News Programming
Online News and Politics
Key Takeaways
Exercises
End-of-Chapter Assessment
Critical Thinking Questions
Career Connection
References

Content: Suddenly, information that would previously have been available only later in the newspapers was transmitted directly into American living rooms. The public responded positively, wanting to be more involved in U.S. politics. As radio technology developed, “Americans demanded participation in the political and cultural debates shaping their democratic republic (Jenkins).” Radio provided a way to hold these debates in a public forum; it also provided a venue for politicians to speak directly to the public, a phenomenon that had not been possible on a large scale prior to the invention of the radio. This dynamic changed politics. Suddenly, candidates and elected officials had to be able to effectively communicate their messages to a large audience. “ Radio brought politicians into people’s homes, and many politicians went to learn effective public-speaking for radio broadcasts (ThinkQuest).” Television
Today, television remains Americans’ chief source of political news, a relationship that dates back almost to the very beginning of the medium. Political candidates began using TV commercials to speak directly to the public as early as 1952.