Preview

Take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
770 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections.
I do believe that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections. In modern times there is a need for television for these types of events. The authors mentioned agreed with the fact that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections. One source, Source D, is a chart of the ratings for presidential debates. I believe that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections because the world has changed in recent years, the people have changed, there is a trust in the people who are on television, and there is a more honest aspect when someone sees it themselves. I believe that television has been a positive impact for presidential elections because the world has changed into more modern times. Most people will agree that people today use technology for almost everything, presidential elections are no different. Watching a debate on television rather than over the radio has more of an impact in the fact that watching someone delivering a speech is much different than simply hearing it. When you can see a person and their actions, you can have a better understanding on whether or not that person is trustworthy. Because of this, there is a more honest aspect when you can observe who is giving a speech over just hearing it or hearing other people talk about it. This is positive because you can make better judgments about a person when you see them rather than just hearing them. Television has also had a positive impact on presidential elections because the people themselves have changed. In his article, “Has Television Reshaped Politics?” Source A states, “The people have once more become the nation, as they have not been since the days when we were small enough each to know his elected representative. As we grew, we lost this feeling of direct contact—television has now restored it.” (Campbell) The United States have grown exponentially in numbers since its beginning, and because of this one cannot truly know what came

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    References: Bazalgette, P. (2010), The influence of television on the general election. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/may/10/television-general-election. [Electronically accessed 24th December, 2010.]…

    • 3733 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What has happened to world poverty since the 1970s? (refer back to the tables by Xavier Sala-i-Martin).…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The amount of air time Donald Trump received on the campaign may have been more than most candidates experience during their campaigns. Donald Trump’s face was consistently on the minds of millions because of the news and most social media platforms. This allowed people to have easy access to information on where Trump stands on many issues and what policies he wants to implement. Interesting to note, a political researcher by the name of James N. Druckman, wrote a paper on the effects of image by the medium television and how people’s mentalities shifts. In the results section of his paper, he…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1860, the public were eager to listen to Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debate for several hours; however, since television is centered around entertainment, most of today’s public focus on the presidential nominees criticizing each other, attending talk shows, and posting pictures on social media. For example, after an hour-long democratic debate, the media and social media erupted about Bernie Sander’s “burn” against Hillary Clinton. Most people do not even know what the debate was about. Also, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and “Saturday Night Live” often make fun of the presidential nominees. Americans love these talk shows, catchy news headlines, and blowups in social media, but, simultaneously, television is mitigating the seriousness of the presidential election. Television forces Americans to think lightly of the presidential election, which ultimately affects the way citizens vote. In today’s society, citizens are more likely to vote for a presidential candidate based on their looks or humorousness than in the 1800’s. Altogether, television has blinded Americans about the seriousness of the presidential…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the 1960’s to present day, media has made a huge impact on political affairs through television and radio. Many debates were viewed in different aspects, one of many debates displayed the importance of why technology is very important. On September 26,1960 the first Presidential debate was televised; the debate between John. F Kennedy and Richard Nixon was one of the most influential debates. It was a remarkable event that sparked a division between radio and television.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How do you think the media influences people's views on political ideas and events? How do you think the impact of the media has changed over time with the invention of television and the Internet? I believe they have a huge influence on people’s views on political ideas. Reason being, I feel…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The articles "Television Transformed" and "The Box That Changed America" by Lauren Tarshis, talks about how American culture has changed because of having the television. One example in which the television has changed Americans culture on the positive side is it brought families together. The article exclaims "In the early days of TV, Americans were united by their favorite shows" (Tarshis 20). This shows how the TV brought families together because, people would gather around the TV and watch their favorite show. When people would watch their favorite show with their family they would figure more things out about their family members. Another way that the American culture has changed because of the TV is it also divided a number of families.…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    HST 202 CH 24

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The TV World: Television replaced newspapers as the most common source of information about public events and provided Americans of all regions and backgrounds with a common cultural experience. TV avoided controversy and projected a bland image of middle-class life. Television also became the most effective advertising medium ever invented.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    AP GOV

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    -Public media is effective towards candidates, because it allow the candidates to speak their minds to the American people, for no charge. (ex. entertainment shows)…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although it was a novelty in the United States at the end of World War II, television became an important part of American life during the first postwar decade. Fewer than one out of ten American homes had television in 1950. Five years later the proportion had grown to two-thirds. New stations quickly took to the air and such networks. For the First time in history, political debates, issues, and other such important issues were capable of being broadcasted nationwide for the American people to view.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    THE influence of technology on the United States presidential elections is an on going debate among candidates and voters. "Has technology, such as the television, made elections more accessible, or has it moved candidates from pursuing issues, to pursuing image?" Television has pressured presidential candidates to succeed in the presentation of their image, instead of pursuing issues important to the well being of America, as a democratic nation.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is numerous ways television has impacted an election in a positive way. Based on the article, written by Hilary Parkinson, former president Kennedy “took a leap in the polls after the [televised] debate”(4). While many people say that the candidate’s morals are what get them elected, without watching the television the voters will become clueless about what the candidate’s morals are. The television gives the citizens of the United States a chance to listen to the candidates’ opinions to be able to elect a new leader. Former president Kennedy agrees that “it [is] TV more than anything else that [turns] the tide”(4). Television gives the voters a chance to see the candidate’s body language. Because the citizens witnessed Kennedy’s body language and facial features, Kennedy won the election. Clearly, television may have a positive impact on a candidate’s campaign.…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Television cheats voters from important content, it alters the voter’s judgement of candidates, and has bias and distorting aspects. It is important that the people knows about the effects television has on presidential elections. This is important because the president is not just some famous person, they are the leaders of the country who are crucial to the success or failure of America. Knowing this information people should try to go to debates in person and get to know the candidates through another source other than just television, because the different negative influences television has on elections alter the results more than most people may…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There has been much discussion about how mass media presents and can determine the outcome of presidential elections. The media has been accused of focusing on subjects such as the politician's personal life and their characteristics rather than looking at the political issues of the election. The voter's views can also be altered by political advertisements that do not focus on issues. This can cause the voters to believe that certain issues are important when in reality they are trivial concerns. Elections often become popularity contests because of the polling that is done by newspapers and TV news programs prior to the actual voting. Politicians then can have a difficult time guiding voter's opinions on their concerns.…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Synthesis Essay

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today in a world so populated by information in the media, candidates in high profile elections are able to place favorable biased information directly from television sets in front of a large percentage of the American demographic (Source D). Distracting messages appear in both advertisements and in one-on-one live debates mixed in with other entertainment in the same experience (Source B). Some of the people who would receive these are not the type to study candidate issue profiles under a microscope. They grab the information offered that appeals to their emotions and sympathies, such information that might have little or nothing to do with how a presidential candidate will decide how to vote. Such people go to their ballots with intent to vote for a candidate that will not act in their best interests. When people are focused on appearance and likeability, which take a front seat in television programming, they are not doing themselves any favor and are skewing the electoral process which is the basis of freedom in our country (Source C). It is absolutely un-American to negligently broadcast these messages over such a format of television.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays