Television's Influence On Politics

Since the 1960’s television has influenced the decision of many presidential elections, but what are these influences, and how have they affected politics in America? Television in the United States greatly impacts the results of political debates, by allowing the audience to get a deeper insight in political campaigns. Although many would argue that television has had a negative impact, the truth is, television has allowed the United States to further pursue its role in politics through both positive and negative tactics. Television came into existence in the late 1960’s, it quickly became the center of all things in a household. America has always had a technology driven society, and the invention of the television fit right into the mix of everyday life, the news on t.v. quickly replaced the need of the radio and the newspapers. The television was a factor that united all of america together as a nation, if there was a catastrophic event on the west coast, viewers
People argue that debates get edited and politicians are allowed to edit out things they don’t want the public to hear. But in reality, political debates are broadcasted live so there is no worry of editing of speeches. According to Campbell, “As we [America] grew we lost this feeling of direct contact - television has now restored it.”America has grown greatly over time, within the first presidential debates, everyone knew all of the candidates running personally, but over time the population has grown tremendously. Due to the citizens not having the proper knowledge on the candidates they were at an unfair disadvantage, television has now mended that problem by uniting