Media in Political Science

Although I don’t know exactly what I want to major in, I am really interested in Political Science. I’ve always had a love for politics, and at this point in time, I have been able to gain information about politics easier than ever thanks to different media sources. There are many different forms of media when it comes to politics, including newspapers, television, magazines and social media. People are now able to learn about politics using so many different forms of media that pretty much everyone with access to these forms of media has more political knowledge than before. One problem with political media is the biased information that comes from them, which leads to inaccuracies and in some cases mild forms of brainwashing. It is impossible to turn on the TV and watch a news station that is not biased, and because of that people tend to view stations that reinforce their views, which further closes people’s opinions to the other side, or people get frustrated and stop watching the news altogether.This problem also occurs in social media because of the algorithms that different forms of social media companies use. If someone is conservative, their Newsfeed on Facebook is going to be full of conservative opinions, news stations, and advertisements, because of algorithms, but also because of the power of the person with the account to follow or unfollow certain people depending on their views. Even though there are many negative things about political media, there are also many positive things that come out of it, for example educating Americans on what is going on in our country and other countries. If Americans are more educated about politics, they will feel more inclined to vote and taking advantage of our Democratic system.

One thought on “Media in Political Science”

  1. Even beyond media bias, we may be entering an era of out-and-out fake news, much of it spread just to gain clicks for advertising, but some of it possibly politically motivated. Do we have the political and educational tools to help control misinformation and propaganda without hindering freedom of expression? Scary stuff.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html

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