The place and role of the media in the political life of society. Reasons for the growing role of the media in political life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Today, information enjoys unprecedented success, it ex alts high and destroys without the slightest mercy, and who owns it owns the whole world. In recent years, the role of the media in political life has increased immeasurably, the influence on public life from this side is absolutely different from that which existed in all past centuries.

Responsibility

Society is being imposed not only certain opinions, but also behavior patterns that violate all seemingly unshakable principles. Television, radio, magazines, newspapers are now at war, and this information war is much more bloody than any nuclear war, because it directly affects the human consciousness, masterfully operating with half-truths, untruths and outright lies. In the Soviet era, a certain role of the media in political life was also noticeable, when all the facts were carefully checked, they were quite skillfully manipulated. Recall examples of slanderactivities of almost all the general secretaries who left their post.

A huge mass of lies were exaggerated about such institutions as SMERSH, GULAG, as well as about the personalities of Stalin and Beria. There were public debunkings and smaller ones, there were revelations of the illegal activities of officials and politicians, artists and writers. Such information has always been a huge success with readers and was truly disastrous for the heroes of these publications. And vice versa - laudatory essays and programs made all kinds of activists and leaders literally stars of different levels, up to the state. Therefore, the role of the media in political life is difficult to exaggerate. And of course, everyone should be responsible for sharing information.

Media functions in political activity

In public life, the media perform a wide variety of functions and literally in all spheres and institutions. This includes informing about various events in the world and in the country, in almost all areas - politics, he althcare, socialization, education, and so on. This is advertising in all its guises. And the influence of information on society cannot really be overestimated, since it is in every possible way, and the role of the media in political life is especially great, since all the instruments of influence on the implementation of the political process are in the hands of those who own information and know how to manipulate it.

Modern political science in no way detracts from this role, endowing the media with such high-profile titles as"fourth power", "great arbiter" and so on, putting the media on a par with the power of the judiciary, executive and even legislative. However, political scientists are not so wrong, the media have indeed become almost omnipotent. Those who control television also control the country. Not a single politician can do without the press, he needs all its types - the press, and radio, and television. And those grandiose changes that are now observed all over the world, this redistribution of spheres of influence, are the result of the fact that the media play their role in the political life of society with inspiration.

A story full of tragedy

The rampant media is especially dangerous when there are no opposition parties, significant unions or organizations in the country that do not allow the totalitarian system to develop. Under these conditions, the role of the media in the political life of society is simply irreplaceable. Examples right before your eyes. How did everything happen at the end of the immemorial 80s in the Soviet Union, where the population still relaxed believed everything, no matter what the media broadcast?

True, then it was much more interesting to read than actually live. The people are not accustomed to scandals and such massive denunciations that suddenly rained down from everywhere on the perplexed and horrified population. It was the information war unleashed in those years by the media that organized and stimulated the forces that quickly destroyed and then plundered the richest country, it was it that contributed to the defeat of the entire political system, whichoperated in the country for seventy years. The growing role of the media in the political life of society occurs precisely when control over information falls into the hands of unscrupulous people who, through manipulation, create a favorable public opinion.

Meanwhile in America

In the United States, the role of the media in the political life of society began to be closely studied and analyzed at the very beginning of the 60s. What can uncontrolled direct communication with the public lead to, without the participation of institutions such as schools, church, family, party organizations and so on? And what happens if this process is put under control? This is an indispensable tool in the mass support of a particular program. Until the media got television and radio into their arsenal, making do with print media only, things were not so bad, although many newspapers and magazines were originally opened as organs of one political party or another, and very few of them remained outside the political process.

The main tool of any publication is the multidimensionality of information. Even newspapers tied to a certain political platform have always submitted materials of a neutral nature, entertainment or news, that is, people from the very beginning were taught to see themselves as part of the wide world and react in a certain way to events in it. But when TV came along… The first campaign coverage in the US dates back to 1952. Since then, entire schools have been created to train journalists to influence the masses in a way that is beneficial. In the 80s, television began to truly dominate among allmedia.

Debate

The growing role of the media in the political life of society is due to the fact that it became possible to use them to influence and even model political behavior among the masses, which was repeatedly verified by examples of voting in the United States after television debates between presidential candidates. This is how Kennedy won after a televised meeting with political opponent Nixon, and numerous voter polls confirmed that it was this debate that influenced their choice.

In the same way, after the telecast, Reagan not only managed to close the four percent gap between him and Carter, but also gained another five percent of the vote through televised debates. The same thing happened in the Reagan-Mondale, Bush-Dukakis, Bush-Clinton pairs. So, gradually, televised debates between competitors for the presidency became an effective tool in almost all countries, including Russia. The place and role of the media in political life are becoming the most important and leading. And television in this bouquet of means is a huge opportunity for influencing and manipulating public consciousness. It is used less and less for operational or objective information, for education, for education. Much more often there are manipulations in the interests of certain groups.

Image

Nevertheless, the reasons for the growing role of the media in political life are not entirely clear, thisa multifaceted and complex institution cannot be assessed one-sidedly. Many of its organs and elements implement tasks that are too diverse, even simply informing people about events and phenomena that occur everywhere - from regional to global. This is the collection of information, and its dissemination through vigilant observation of the world, this is the selection and comments, that is, editing the information received, and then the goal of forming public opinion is pursued. The possibilities of human communication are growing - this is the main reason for the growing role of the media.

The society is extremely politicized, and the press, radio, television contribute to this enlightenment in the widest strata of the world's population. Therefore, the role of the media in modern political life is stronger than ever. They claim to be the watchdog of public interests, the eyes and ears of the whole society: they warn of economic downturns, the growth of drug addiction or other crime, they talk about corruption in power structures. However, for this role, the media must be completely and completely independent of anyone - neither politically nor economically. But this does not happen.

Profession

In industrialized countries, the media is a privately owned enterprise or industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people. The economic activity of the media is based on the collection, processing, storage and subsequent sale of information. That is, the functions of the media are completely subordinate to the market economy. All the contradictions in society, all the interests of its various strata and groups are reproduced inpublications and programs. Economic power and socio-cultural influence are growing - control by the state and corporations (advertisers) is decreasing.

It even happens that opinions on certain issues do not coincide with the ruling elite and the leadership of a particular publication. The media have turned into huge conglomerates, they have an independent and quite profitable industry in business, but this commercial beginning does not allow us to do without the market use of the available information. And here, not only the nature of the activity, but also the entire role of the media in political life can change dramatically. The examples are very numerous. Even Reagan, the current president of the country at that time, was not aired by all three major US television companies in 1988 due to lack of commercial interest. As a result, 1989 was the last year of his reign.

More examples

Publications, reports and comments should shed light on the secret springs acting on the policy of the ruling circles, draw the attention of the entire public to the most odious characteristics of this activity. Sometimes this is what happens. For example, the New York Times published such a plan when some Pentagon documents were revealed, the Washington Post newspaper exposed the Watergate scandal, and television corporations staged broadcasts from Congress, where revealing hearings were held. Public opinion regarding the Vietnam War was also mobilized to protest, and in this processmany mass media of the world participated, including the USA.

US Presidents L. Johnson and R. Nixon were forced to leave the political arena, because the role of the media in political life is great. In short, the media can limit both the power and the specific actions of the ruling circles. However, this happens most often in cases where it is beneficial for the media. Most magazines and newspapers, radio and television broadcasting stations, even the most famous ones, are kept afloat only thanks to sensationalism. Revealing scandals, exposing frauds, looking for secrets, putting it all on public display - this is the main role of the media in political life. Grade 11 in Russian schools is already studying the mechanisms of such influence.

Bombs

Often sensational publications, seeking to "detonate the bomb", investigate corruption or other malfeasance, talk about the decline in morale among high-ranking officials or deception of voters by presidential candidates. This sets the tone for public discussions. All scandals and scams in the corridors of power are brought to the attention of the public. And there are times when the media wins brilliantly.

For example, the W altergate scandal was followed by the first resignation of a president in US history. And when "Der Spiegel" shared with readers information about the secret penetration of employees protecting the constitution into the private house of a simple engineer and about the installation of all kinds of listening equipment there, the German Interior Minister resigned.

Ducks

But it happens otherwise. The journalist from Interfax was present at the court session where Khodorkovsky was to be sentenced. She prepared two messages to the editor before the verdict. And then I made a mistake with sending. Information appeared in the news feed that M. Khodorkovsky was already at large. Refutation is not a quick matter, as long as it is formalized, the market has grown by many percent. This is far from the only case. Rumors about the resignation of V. Chernomyrdin also rolled after a similar "duck" in Novaya Gazeta, where B. Gromov was "removed" from the post of governor of the Moscow region in order to be sent to the Ukrainian embassy.

This is the role the media play in political life in the pursuit of sensationalism. In such cases, the dialogue between the authorities and the population is simply impossible, since communication is very similar to a children's game called "deaf telephone". The most important rule for the manipulation of public consciousness is that in which it is possible to isolate the addressee, to deprive him of extraneous influences. When there are no alternative, smart and uncontrolled opinions. Dialogue and debate are impossible under such conditions. Unfortunately, at the moment, the method of manipulating information is part of the policy in almost any state. After another "duck" of the victim, the public remembers as a person associated with some kind of scandal: either his wallet was stolen from him, or he stole it. Yes, this is no longer important to anyone, since information today ceases to be relevant very quickly.