PO264 Chapter 12: THE MEDIA
Document Summary
The media: a medium of mass communication. The media: print media (newspapers, magazines, broadcast media (tv, film, radio, electronic/digital media (the internet, social media, podcasts, digital versions of print media) Its central goals are almost non-political: to generate revenue, to entertain, to inform. Internet has been incorporated into many parties" and candidates" election campaigns. News leaks are sometimes necessary because today"s politicians usually lack the time to respond to a problem: the timing and selective distribution of information (news management) can be manipulative about what kind of information is passed on. Media handlers and spin doctors try to put the best spin on any event. Public opinion polls: sometimes used to imply that all members of the public hold a unanimous, informed view on a particular issue. In actuality, many opinions are held on any issue and are not well informed: public opinion is very difficult to gauge, many methods are unreliable, the importance of polls in elections.
