Politics & The Media

By: Victoria 

Before watching this talk, I would never have thought that tabloids would have such a profound impact on the public’s perception on politics. I mean, to take tabloids as legitimate sources of news is a complete crime.

Puttnam cites a study in his TED Talk in which it was found that consumers who only read tabloids were likely to assent with the position put forth in the tabloid. Although in the same vein, it is still a study and we must carefully consider all its shortcomings and biases.

In his argument, Puttnam advocates a balance between chasing the bottom line and extending due care to the public. While I understand his intentions, I do think that Puttnam’s ideal or utopia will be extremely difficult to come to pass because of so many mediating factors that will pose significant obstruction to achieving this perfect state of balance.

Before I carry on, I should make a disclaimer here that the opinions below are simply my take on the matter. Do feel free to agree to disagree.

He advocates for media creators, (i.e. journalists, filmmakers, bloggers and so on) to shape their content to their “own standards”. He argues that this is not a form of self-censorship; though I fail to see how it is not. Furthermore, I have trouble with the use of the term “own standards”. Personal standards vary significantly from person to person. What I perceive as acceptable, may not be to someone else, and vice versa. Therein lies the problem with his argument. How then do we define what is acceptable to publish, and what is not, if we boil it down to the individual or organization’s own set of values? He brings in the legal concept of reasonableness. “Reasonable” in law refers to what is “ordinary or usual” (law.com, “Reasonable”). But perhaps it is also difficult to define what is ordinary and usual if there is no precedent for it, since the media has been this way for a long time.

To some, the obvious answer is to set up specific guidelines in legislature. That, however, becomes inherent censorship; but if one of the quintessential elements of democracy is free speech, then it is not the role of the government to check and balance the media. Puttnam is also quick to note that censorship by the government is not the way to handle this and in that case, we are back to square one.

The media is essentially a business. Employees have mouths to feed, and a mortgage to pay. It is a no brainer that powerful elites exert a large influence over the media, and hence organizations for the most part lean towards one political ideology or another. There are few – in fact, I am daring enough to say that there isn’t a media organization out there who can truly say that they are completely unbiased and have no political affiliations. (If you do find one, please let me know.) While one could argue that media organizations are pursuing their own agendas, it is imperative to note that audiences also have a sort of bias when selecting the media they consume. For instance, conservatives may prefer to watch FOX news, while liberals tend to consume CNN or NYT – at least according to a study done by the Pew Research Center (Mitchell et al.). Conceivably, this is due to the phenomenon known as confirmation bias. It is where people actively hunt for information that confirms their existing beliefs or preconceived notions (Nickerson, 175-220). So perhaps it doesn’t really matter how media organizations shape their stories to suit their own agenda after all.

I think the more pertinent question here is: how do we ensure that the public is exposed to a wide variety of opinions and facts before making an informed decision when engaging in political discourse or more importantly, when casting their vote? I think that that would make for more interesting conversations.

Works Cited

“David Putnam: What happens when the media’s priority is profit?” YouTube, uploaded by TED, 10 Feb. 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1AIvMrvAE>

Mitchell, Amy, Jeffrey Gottfried, Jocelyn Kiley, and Katerina Eva Matsa. “Political Polarization & Media Habits.” Pew Research Center Journalism & Media. 21 Oct. 2014. Accessed 13 Sep. 2016 <http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/>

Nickerson, Raymond S. “Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises.” Review of General Psychology, vol. 2, no. 2, 1998, pp. 175-220. < http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1998-02489-003>

“Reasonable” law.com. N.d. Accessed 13 Sep. 2016 <http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1729>