Title: Six ways the media influence elections | School of Journalism and Communication
Headings: Six ways the media influence elections
Six ways the media influence elections
1. To cover or not to cover
2. Bias, scripts and the polarization of America
3. Social media: Echo chamber and direct line to the masses
4. A picture is worth 1,000 words
5. Data journalism: Fact-checking, polls and the self-perpetuating cycle
6. Watchdogs of democracy

Content: The media also perpetuate character-based scripts. “ For example, in 2000, the script for Al Gore was that he was a pompous bore, and the script for George W. Bush was that he wasn’t very smart,” said Lawrence. In this year’s presidential race, the narratives that Clinton is a corrupt politician and Trump is a racist, misogynist outsider have dominated election coverage. 3. Social media: Echo chamber and direct line to the masses
According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 62 percent of Americans get their news via social media platforms. What they might not realize is that the news they see is heavily filtered. “What we see on Facebook is dictated by algorithms that decide what you see based on what you like and dislike, what you comment on and click on,” said SOJC Assistant Professor Nicole Dahmen, who researches and blogs about visual communication and social media in politics. “ Rather than getting a diversity of perspectives that contribute to political discourse, we see an echo chamber .” On the other hand, social media gives users more direct access to candidates than ever before. “