The Media and its Effects on Public Opinion
Media is the channel by which news and messages reach the public. There are different forms of Media. They include Print media, which comprises newspapers, magazines, and journals; broadcast media, which consist of TV, and radio, outdoor media, and the Internet. Internet, which is the core of social media, has proven to be most potent. A research conducted by Pew Research center (2017), has shown how the Americans are adopting the use of the Internet to access other news and political news. In America, Media has played a vital role in American politics, especially in the setting of manifestos and in structuring the public beliefs and concepts on the nature of the political agendas. Media has played a key role in influencing public opinion on many contemporary issues in America.
The American media has undergone far-reaching changes over the years. The Internet and digital sources have been in the frontline as a news outlet in the U.S, thus pushing the traditional media forms to the edge. “Today, 93 percent of adults have read the news online. This picture is very different from the early 2000s, when most Americans said that after television, print newspapers were their main source for news, and less than 20 percent read the news online” (Ginsberg et al., 2017). In the past, the print media and broadcasting have been the leading news outlets in the United States, but digital sources have been a big game-changer. The Internet has markedly shifted the media from traditional forms to digital.
The media influences public opinions in the United States significantly, especially when it comes to political issues. The influence of the Media is in its ability to structure the problems Americans contemplate, and the beliefs Americans embrace these issues. It does this through “agenda-setting, framing, and priming” (Ginsberg et al., 2017). The agenda-setting captures the public’s attention to a certain problem while framing determines how the audience interprets the different occasions and strategies. Media priming involves “calling attention to some matters while ignoring others” (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). Priming enables the public to put more effort into some news while disregarding other news. Although the Media plays a significant role in influencing public beliefs, other factors also contribute to this, for example, politicians and interest groups.
In the 2016 elections in the United States, there were concerns about Hillary Clinton’s usage of private emails while serving as the Secretary of State. The issue led to Donald Trump’s framing Clinton of exposing government secrets, and as a result, FBI investigation was revived on Hillary’s private emails, which received extensive media coverage. The incident leads to Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy campaign to take a different course as the operation responded to the issue publicly. Donald Trump’s framing leads to the formation of opinions that will influence the publics’ perspective about Hillary Clinton. This was evident in Trump’s victory due to the extensive media coverage that his campaigns received, although several conspiracies are behind his success.
In conclusion, the Media is a handy tool in influencing the public beliefs of many Americans, particularly on issues about politics. The media has changed drastically over time, thus leading to a marked shift towards the use of the Internet by many Americans to access news on different issues, including politics. The Internet has proved to be the most potent form of media in influencing public opinion. Media coverage influences general beliefs through agenda setting, framing, and priming. Media coverage had also proven vital in changing the public beliefs as it is evident in the event when Donald Trump made allegations that Hillary Clinton’s actions of using private emails were an illegal act.
References
Ginsberg, B., Lowi, J. T., Tolbert, J. C., Weir, M., & Campbell, A. (2018).We the people (12th. Ed).