The Influence of the Media Agenda on Political Issues - Research Paper Example

? Authentic assessment performance task-Political media Authentic assessment performance task-Political media Information gotten from the media impact many people’s thoughts and opinion. This is because media is one of the main ways through which people are able to access information. Sometimes, the media people may be bias and give bias information about a certain subject or person. When dealing with public figures; especially the authoritative ones, the press are governed by its norm of objectivity. The norm of objectivity states that the journalist, or reporter, must quote whatever she or he is saying, if it is addressing an issue of an authoritative figure in the society ( Hewes & Planalp,1987). We shall discuss on a recent topic which is drawing remarkable attention in political media. We are then going to relate it to the norms of objectivity in media reporting as well as intersubjectivity. Herman Cain is one of the prominent business men, venturing into the political arena. He is running for presidency of his country. He has been hitting the headlines over the last few weeks. His political career is at risk owing to some information about his past life; when he was the CEO of an association heading the restaurants in his country. He is charged with harassing women sexually during his former carrier. He will soon suffer a sheer splurge in the opinion polls as a result of sexually harassing several evident women. The women have reported to New Times and other media houses of the alleged claims. During Herman’s term as the leader of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, female employees complained to coworkers and senior officials about inappropriate conduct by Cain. This led to the two employees quitting the job. The women complained of the inappropriate sexual behavior directed to them by Cain. The two ladies got angry and uncomfortable, eventually decided to leave the association. Before leaving the association, they signed an agreement with the restaurant group which had given them financial payment and barred them from talking about the reasons for their departure ( Drash & Wayne, 2001). In a report, issued to the associated press, Cain’s campaign characterized the politico allegation as ’dredging up thinly obtained allegations’ from his term at the trade group. J.D. Gordon who is Cain’s spokesman dismissed the claim and termed it as a personal attack. He pointed out that the press was molding accusations on his character and spreading gossips that lacked facts. During an interview with Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, Gordon asserted that the accusations were purely rumors and had no basis. He further emphasized that the allegations were politically stirred and were only meant to destroy Cain’s political career (Drash &Wayne, 2001). This information can be considered objective since the politician’s spokesman is well quoted. However, it can also be considered non-objective, as the speaker does not have any tangible evidence, that what he is saying is the truth on the ground. According to the norms of objectivity, the information should be quoted. Some of the presses have struggled to observe this, to make this information valid. Some of the women have come out, to give firsthand information to the media, on how they were harassed sexually, by the man. Intersubjectivity of the information given by the sources can help in identifying whether the press is bias, or whether the subject is just another political weapon against the politician (Hallowell, 2011) Intersubjectivity is shared understanding amongst more than one person. Intersubjectivity comes up when the subjects have common experience, shared knowledge or social interaction. Intersubjectivity varies by degrees. Intersubjectivity can be attained to a point that the subjects focus on the same information, they interpret it in a similar manner, and make similar inferences. Intersubjectivity can be attained to a point that the subjects make similar inferences and store and retrieve the inferences in an analogous manner. The subjects select and apply their ensuing messages in a similar manner. When total intersubjectivity is attained, then we can claim that the information is from a reliable source. We shall look at the intersubjectivity of the different sources that the press used to pass information about the vying politician. There are many challenges that face attaining of intersubjectivity; in the current political environment. To begin with, the world is very corrupt. Most politicians are selfish and self-seeking. They can go to a point of paying people to pose, in order to ruin their opponent’s reputation. They can even bribe the press, to produce fake evidence about a certain topic. Corruption is one of the greatest weapons, which is used by politicians to gain their political victory. In simple terms, despite the fact that the information given by the subjects could be having perfect intersubjectivity, it is still liable to some bias. Another thing that can interfere with intersubjectivity is the wrong interpretation of information by the subject. Similar information could be passed to the subjects, but then they choose to interpret it in a manner that is favorable to them, and so end up interfering with the intersubjectivity. Another challenge facing intersubjectivity is the art of omission. The media may omit or add some words in order to meet some aimed purpose. They may be influenced by a desire to spice up their story, or be under some political influence. This ends up in giving bias information to the society. As a politician, one has to look for a way of capturing the attention of his or her voters. In the recent years, a numerous number off politicians are aping Obama’s strategy of gaining political glamour. They are going for use of SNS as a political tool. SNS refers to social networking systems. They make use of internet and create a social platform. Research by Prlmutter (2008) proved that Obama’s utilization of the SNS played a vital role in the success of his political journey. Another research by Ancu and Cozma (2009) proved that more than half of the youths in America are members of the SNS. They also proved that at least 10% of the general population utilizes SNS to gather information. They also proved that at least 40% of the SNS users felt connected to their politicians when they interacted with them via the internet. It is seen that the SNS contain some common demographics data. These include age, race, sex, political association and education. Given a chance to review the characters of the SNS, there are certain characters that I would love the SNS to include. This is the availability of the individual during the voting duration. This is because we are living in times when people are too busy to avail themselves during the voting period. While others are migrants, others are just lazy to exercise their political rights. Having in mind that these sites play an important role in the politics, then it is important to include this information. This would enable people to influence each other, to exercise their political rights. Most of the users of SNS join it with the purpose of interacting with other voters who have a similar opinion, rather than interact with the politicians themselves. Some other reasons for joining this include collecting data, and entertainment. Research by (IMHO), pointed out that there was also some negative effects of using SNS for political purposes.it was seen that the more politically qualified voters were, the less they were likely to use political SNS for the sake of social connection. This is suggestive that most people, who are politically mature U.S.A, do not use the SNS. This means that Use of SNS may not be the most effective way of ferrying votes from voters. This implies that an individual should not over rely on this method, as the sole weapon, in his/her political journey. Media orientation is a very important aspect when using political media. Media applies the gratification approach. It perceives the audience as passive or active. Blumer conceptualizes audience as active. There are three things considered, these are utility, intentionality and selectivity. Utility is the usefulness of media to the individual. Intentionality is the motivation to use media, while selectivity is an individual’s inclination. Before any media acquaintance, one has to plan on the media to use. They also have to decide on when to use the media they have selected. During the use of the media, the individual have gone through an intellectual processing. This involves controlled attention, and selection of only the vital information. After being exposed to the media, an individual has to reflect on the information they have viewed, and discuss with others concerning it. They can finally act on the information. This process is what is referred to as the media orientation. Media orientation have some effects on intersubjectivity. For instance, people, who chose a similar media, at the same, are likely to have a similar experience or thought. The intersubjectivity is likely to be perfect, unless there is interference, during the interpretation of the information. According to Gamson, there is a raising concern about the vitality of political life. His book opens by stating that a celebrities’ life is a debased one “an idiot culture”. Critics warn that there is need to look beyond the cover. There are several meaningful audiences in response to celebrification. These are, the traditionists, the postmodernists, the second order believers and the game players. The traditionists do not look beyond what they see. They believe whatever they hear or see, at face value. Post modernists are extremely insidious, they don’t believe in existence of authenticity. The second order believers believe that there is some level of authenticity, and there for engage in political processes, unlike the post modernists. The game players are same as the postmodernists. However unlike the postmodernists, they engage in political processes for the sake of their own entertainment. The implications of Gamsons audience type for intersubjectivity is that they reduce it. This is because people may receive the same message at the same time, and yet understand it differently, and interpret it differently, depending on their personality. After a research, Garret points out that due to “a fractured media landscape”, there is a rise in interest for selectivity research. Many people select to use reinforcing information, and avoid conflicting information. This is the strategy that Bush’s supporters used; during his years of campaign. They also apply the theory of avoiding challenges posed, while selecting reinforcement . One of the most effective ways that Bushes’ supporters used was seeking information from online sources, rather than solid sources. Garret’s findings give little hopes for intersubjectivity. The hopes is that the clients will choose to avoid the same challenges, and choose to foster similar thoughts. Framing information is an extremely vital element of media communication. Framing influences an opinion by placing emphasis on certain values and actualities, and therefore making them relevant to issues. Any alteration of wording affects the audience’s thinking, on a certain issue. Frames assists in interpretation and attribution of actions and events(Scheufele: , 2000). Herman Cain’s scenario is framed in a manner likely to affect his political career. The media frame this scenario in order to paint Herman as self-centered individual, who only cares about himself. They also paint him as a heartless being, and a womanizer. This is aimed at ruining his reputation to the public. It is also aimed at embarrassing him, and interfering with his self-esteem, as he runs for the presidential seat. It also aims at catching attention of the law, and hence, paralyzing his political power. Post processing and reinforcement on political affairs seem to be bias rather than neutral regarding Herman’s allegations. According to the media, the accusations of sexual harassment seem to gain momentum against Cain’s presidential campaign. Some views appear to perceive this subject as opinionated and not objective. The media polls show a drop in his fame among Republicans from sixty six to fifty seven percent. Perceived biases of the story are shown by various media stations such as CNN, The Daily Show and Fox news. For instance, story bias analysis showed that CNN show story bias on the liberals’ party compared to the conservatives. On the other hand Fox news reported to be more program bias on the liberal party compared to the conservatives. Partisans in the media houses seem to take party sides depending on their preferences rather being neutral during reporting. Thus, the figures on Cain’s polls appear to be bad news to many Republican supporters and them all pointing fingers to the media fraternity. A few blames are thrown to the political rivals, who are allegedly accused of playing cheap politics against their opponents. Cain as an anti-gay activist and this is not good news for many Americans who are gay supports. It is too obvious that they would not like Cain to be declared the Next America’s president. They fear that he will fight against their sexual freedom. Apparently, Cain has vowed to fight against gay rights as seen during Obama’s administration. Although, the influence of the media agenda on political issues can be substancial,it is not the only determinant of people’s decision. Interest groups such as opponents may also have a great impact on people’s point view. Sometimes, this may be termed as misinterpretation based on an individual perception. It is funny on how many allegations seem to come out during elections. As individuals, we should act smarter rather create conclusions based on the media. There are a number of politicians who fund some media houses to campaign against their opponents. The media are business enterprise, and they are often used by politicians to gain popularity against their opponents. They are sometimes paid to taint a bad image on an innocent citizen. Cain seems to have become a victim of media false accusations. As we know, everyone has a right to express their opinions about something. The public can therefore, accept or despise the allegations made against Cain. Cain’s republican opponents also seem to contribute to his down fall. When the Republican aspirants are not self-destructing in mass, they seem to be too busy rescinding each other to create any advancement with the nation’s voters. Human is to error, no man is perfect. The media should stop blowing things out of proportions but focus on serious matters. America has more serious issue to tackle such as the oil scandals, pending debts and insecurity. The public should avoid being influenced by the media mediocrity but rather vote according to one’s free will. References Blumler, J. (1979). The role of theory in uses and gratifications studies. Communication Research. Gamson, J. (1994). Claims to fame: Celebrity in contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hewes, D., and Planalp, S. (1987). The individual’s place in communication science. In C. RBerger & S. H. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science (pp. 146-183). Newbury Park: Sage. Drash and Wayne 2001, Team Cain: A portrait of the candidate’s marriage.U.S.A: NewYork press. Drash and Wayne 2001. Herman Cain’s services as director of federal Bank of Kansas city.U.S.A:Times Publishers. Hallowell.B. 2011. Herman Cain remain s conservative despite his church staunchly learning.U.S.A: L.A Times. Read More