Media Effects on Political Issues in Saudi Arabia and America - Term Paper Example

Media Effects on Political Issues in Saudi Arabia and America Media Effects on Political Issues in Saudi Arabia and America Introduction The media has evolved into a rough, turbulent, and ever-changing ocean of information. It is a tidal wave that swallows and defines a country’s political landscape. The modern day media surpasses the traditional media in regard to political strategies, systems, decision making, and campaigns. The surge of urgency for politicians to garner votes through the digital wave has caused the greatest change in political scenes across the world. With the technology evolving at a fast pace, the political world is constantly evolving as well. Political campaigns that once relied on the word of mouth and print media have been redefined with the emergence radios, television, and the electronic media that enable politicians reach large numbers of prospective voters than ever before in less time. The modern media allows appearance and image to play a critical role in political campaigns. Impact of media on politics in America In America, the media contributes significantly to public information about elections, campaigns, and politics. There exists a cyclical link between the public, the government, and the media. Even though the media occasionally share public opinion, it plays a critical role in shaping the public opinion since it communicates the most significant political issues, and consequently, influence and convince the public on what to think about those concerns. The media affects the political scenes significantly by creating attention, either through their choice of covering a candidate or through negative campaigning (Gainous & Wagner, 2014). Consequently, American politicians control and influence the public opinion on particular issues of interest through the media. This has become a common practice in the recent years, particularly on social media. Thus, the media influences the public opinion on certain issues and candidates through political advertisements, supplementing articles, and news reporting creating potentially memorable image and reputation of a candidate or political party (Dennis & Merrill, 2006). The media plays a weighty role in the American political system. In the past few decades, the American society’s political decisions have been founded on what is fed to it through the media. The voters scarcely research on propositions or the candidates anymore. Nevertheless, much of the mainstream media is biased by making efforts to convince the public to believe what they want them to consider is correct. Thus the influential impact of the media on politics is not always beneficial or good to the American society. The data generated through the media could be used either for or against a particular candidate. If a political candidate is favoured by a particular network such as FOX, CNN, ABC, or NBC, among others, then they are likely to reach new heights in their political careers (Gainous & Wagner, 2014). However, if such networks are against a particular politician, then their political careers could suffer immensely by distorting the public’s perspectives. There are several types of media that have varying influence on the public’s political view. The four leading forms in America are television, the internet, newspapers, and radio stations. The voters tune into television and radio station shows to listen to politicians being interrogated. The hosts gain significant political insights and achieve a political position by interrogating the political candidates on issues of interest. On the other hand, the print media, particularly the newspapers, tend to lean more towards a particular candidate than the other. The law allows the print media to print what they feel is true. The internet offers more flexibility since the public is able to search for political information, mobilize other voters, as well as express political opinions (Lachapelle & Maarek, 2015). The television has the highest political influence as it allows candidates and parties to reach massive audiences faster than other forms of media. However, some television stations may depict a particular politician or political party in the light that they feel the society should see them. They aim at persuading the public to pick one candidate over the other. However, the media does not violate any laws in doing so, since the freedom of expression and speech of the press is guaranteed in the First Amendment. Thus, the media can depict what it prefers so as to boost its ratings and attract more viewers. With the increased adoption of new communication technology, the media has become more influential throughout the American political arena. The voters tend to believe the media since it is their main source of information. The media plays a connecting role between the public, the politicians, and the government. The American culture has developed more trust in the news media in the past decades. The news media and the mass media as a whole have a critical role in providing news, educational programs, and entertainment. The media has both positive and negative impact on the American culture, particularly the political field. It creates the image of an ideal political leader (Gainous & Wagner, 2014). Therefore, most individuals cast their vote for the candidates who match the ideal leader as depicted by the media. Hence, the media has significant influence not only on the election of political leaders, but also on the political systems and decisions that the leaders make. Enhanced freedom of the press in America has promoted the influence of the media on politics, and hence its huge impact on the country’s politics and social structures. Impact of media on politics in Saudi Arabia The latest wave of revolutions in the Arab world since 2010 is a revelation of increased political awareness and the growing demand for inclusivity in the current political systems. The media has played a centre-stage role in transforming the political scene in Saudi Arabia in three fundamental ways. They include; improving popular interactions, creating a collective political space, as well as pluralising opinions and ideas (Bardes, Shelley & Schmidt, 2010). The media has, therefore, achieved enhanced civic and political engagement of the public in Saudi Arabia. The regime in Saudi Arabia, however, differs significantly with the American regime. It is a fundamentally durable institution that ideologically promotes unchallenged leadership through regulation of succession. However, over the years, the regimes have increasingly been required to prove their worth to the public. Consequently, legitimacy has become a significant factor within the political and governance contracts with the creation of competing sources of authority and perspectives (Lachapelle & Maarek, 2015). In this context, the media has contributed in political reforms that enhance self-expression values, political liberties, and individual expression contrary to the authoritarian government (Gainous & Wagner, 2014). This development has resulted in the emergence of independent organizations, increasing the civic space in governance. The significance of the media in Saudi Arabia has been to widen the civic space to an autonomous status beyond the conventional state control. As a commonly accessible resource to the public, the media provides a level platform not only to enhance interaction among the people, but also disperse more information to the public. This development encourages the public to adopt more informed decisions and political stances. Rozell and Mayer (2008) describe the significance of the media in Saudi Arabia as a long term tool that will strengthen the public sphere and the civil society in governance. Despite the municipal elections in Saudi Arabia in 2005, and the judicial reforms in 2007, the reforms were inadequately embedded with institutional structures so as to validate the process as evolution. However, the media has gone beyond the stagnation of the political class by providing platforms for collective engagements, expressions, and demand for accountability. Notably, 90 percent of Saudis use the internet while about 40 and 35 percent are active on Facebook and Twitter respectively. Thus, the social media has also contributed significantly in connecting large numbers of people deepening civic engagement and reforms in the political structure of the country that defy the traditional culture of monarchical rule. The public is able to criticize politicians, comment on elections and political decisions, as well as pressurise the government to enhance accountability. Through articulation of views and opinions across political, social, and economic issues, the media is able to convey the demands of the public to the ruling political class. Even as corruption becomes a more significant issue in Saudi Arabia, there is need for the media to play a greater role in demanding accountability among the political leaders, and cultivating the virtues of integrity and good governance. By facilitating mass engagement with effective structures in place, the media have a more substantial political effect on Saudi Arabia’s political structure and initiation of change. The emergence of social media has also allowed the public to easily join hands in petitioning their leaders to review their interests or political decisions. The media is deemed as a critical player in articulation of issues that impact democratic constitutional governance with the aim of the people’s aspirations to promote progress. In the past years, Saudi Arabia has recorded substantial political reforms with dialogue for change taking the centre stage. The kingdom that was founded on an agglomeration of contending narratives as well as social-cultural diversities within the country have recently depicted resilience of political-economic alliances that are bound to enhance change (Al-Rasheed, 2008). A flashback of Saudi Arabia’s mid-2000s demonstrates a dysfunctional equilibrium that facilitated superficial concessions in the leading political class. Even with the establishment of municipal elections and judicial reforms, the weakened arms of government remained inferior to the tyrannical executive. The media contributes significantly in representing an influential mobilisation of the civil society in favour of rule-based, accountable, and formalised systems of governance (Noor & Hendricks, 2012). Even though Saudi Arabia remains a relatively less politically popularised, there exists a vital responsiveness within the governing agencies that aims at alleviating challenges to its legitimacy. For instance, in 2003, the coalition of middle class groups of the public presented their preferred political manifestoes outlining a wide range of economic, political, and religious frustrations to the ruling government. In response, the government initiated a national dialogue with the view of enhancing and embracing reforms. Such results are significant achievement s of the media in Saudi Arabia, and have a critical bearing on the development of long-term political reform strategies (Al-Rasheed, 2008). The political leaderships have a strong bearing on development and reforms in any country. While the ruling elites partly reflect widely held opinions, significant change has always been initiated by the media and the public in general. Al-Rasheed (2008), in explaining the reforms in 1990s, describes reforms as ‘gifts from above/ruler’ as it is mainly controlled by the political elites. Nonetheless, he recognizes the role of the media in influencing political reforms through creation of popular pressure that acts as an incentive for change. In the recent past, both the mainstream and social media have been the centre of popular engagement that inverts political influence back onto reforms. The social media, in particular, presents engrained elites with a conventional dilemma. The situation arises from the reduced cost of coordination across the communities creating collective political awareness, and hence highlighting the disparities between popular demands and elite intentions. The digital platforms on social media enable the activists to close the class and geographical divides creating a network that facilitates collective actions. In this regard, the political activists exploit the increasing emphasis on responsive governance and popular legitimacy to endorse reformist policies. The social media also enhances state-society dialogue which indirectly impact decision-making and policy development. Saudi Arabia has recorded a high twitter penetration rate which serves to enable the public focus on political malpractices and contribute more actively in policy development processes. In addition, the Saudi Arabian society experienced revitalisation of the conventional media with fifteen national dailies engaging in significant social and political debates. This growth of the conventional media creates deeper infrastructure crucial for social media to initiate positive political reforms. By highlighting public sector challenges in Saudi Arabia, such as underdeveloped private sector and unemployment, the media drives a political wedge that aims at reforming the country’s political and economic policies. By facilitating mass engagement with the governing elites, the media platforms have had the most powerful impact on the Saudi Arabian society by integrating reformist dialogue with clerical establishment. In particular, the social media has presented an opportunity to express grass-root opinions for political reforms in the country which is more palatable to the clerics than the imposed Western democracy regimes (Lachapelle & Maarek, 2015). Notably, the religious community has demonstrated willingness to engage the public with the three most popular twitter accounts in Saudi Arabia being run by clerics. This platform reconnects the religious and ruling sphere to the popular voice by promoting transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. The kingdom has recorded more significant political progress with the vocal popular base in the recent years. Conclusion The impact of media on the political systems in America and Saudi Arabia has redefined political campaigns, elections, policy development, and decision making processes. The media has provided a broader social infrastructure as well as institutional frameworks that necessitate reforms and uphold popular voice and inclusivity. With the dynamic nature of both the mainstream media and social media, the digital platforms have facilitated improved social interaction as well as empowering popular voice, where socialization of the media has led to a politicized society in both countries, even though at varying levels of success. The emerging solidarity among the public on social media and diffusion of opinion are critical effects of media on modern political systems. The increasing expansion of virtual space for expression of opinion and interaction creates collective consciousness in the public domain that necessitate reforms in political and governance strategies. The media has precipitated irreversible political progress. As new actors and in heightened expectations rise to the fore, the political institutions and players have to liberalise so as to accommodate these progresses or else fracture under the pressure of public discontent. References Al-Rasheed, M. (2008). Kingdom without borders: Saudi political, religious and media frontiers. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Bardes, B. A., Shelley, M. C., & Schmidt, S. W. (2010).American government and politics today: The essentials. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Dennis, E., Merrill, J., (2006). Media debates. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Gainous, J., & Wagner, K. M. (2014). Tweeting to power: The social media revolution in American politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Lachapelle, G., & Maarek, P. (2015). Political parties in the digital age: The Impact of New Technologies in Politics. Berlin, DA: De Gruyter Oldenbourg. Noor, A.-D. H. S., & Hendricks, J. A. (2012). Social media: Usage and impact. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Rozell, M. J., & Mayer, J. D. (2008).Media power, media politics. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Read More