It is the role of the mass media to keep the general public informed and up to date with current news and events in their community, state, country, and around the world. In politics the media can either build or damage a political figure by changing the public's opinion. Many people depend heavily on television as their source of information where they see or hear about political issues, events, and policies because television is the single most powerful medium of global communication and nightly newscasts are the most frequently watched source of infor

Presidential elections, campaigns, and policies have always been important in the media and to the public. The media creates a political world that is the basis of the public's knowledge and the later behavior, such as voting for the president or any public official. The themes and issues that are repeated in the media become important to viewers. Those that are highlighted become especially influential when it comes to choosing a candidate. The media affects evaluations of presidents. Presidential approval is strongly influenced by how the media portrays the candidate to the public. For example, during the Gulf War, George Bush received bad publicity based on his performance with the war even though his prior economic performance was exceptional. (Edwards 1999, p329) The values in which people used to evaluate him on were influenced by what the media had to say. Particular televised political advertising, televised candidate events. And news articles also affect the preferences and opinions of the voters. For example, Bob Dole in the 1996 election. His age arose early from the media. During the primary election, over 800 news stories dealt with Dole's age. His medical examinations were brought to attention by the media. Televised networks covered a lot about his age during his 73rd birthday. This just goes to show that the media were wrong in conveying an appropriate understanding of the issues involved. The media did not fully understand the implications behind electing a senior citizen and if they did it was not brought to the public's attention, as it should have been. Age was not seen as affecting his behavior, analytic ability, concentration, and memory. (Abrams 1998,p.481) It is not truly known whether his age would have been a matter of consequence in the election, but the media certainly didn't help it out any.

Haynes, A. & Murray, S. (1998, October). Why do the media cover certain candidates more than others. American Political Science Quarterly. 26. 420-438.

There have also been an increasing number of women running for public office and gender has now become a common ground for the news media about certain voters, candidates, leaders, and issues. The question is whether or not the media advances or holds back women's participation in politics. Many news stories about politics tend to be presented in masculine terms, but there is good news, women receive about the same amount of news coverage as men in comparable positions. Over the years the number of women in the mass media has increased. There are many more women journalists, which has resulted in expanded coverage of women's issues and women as public officials. By publicizing and raising certain issues, this has helped women candidates gain credibility and support among voters. (Pippa 19-41)

Edwards, G. (1999, June). Who influences whom? The president , congress, and the media. American Political Science Review. 93. 327-342.

Elections are influenced by two factors. The first being the strength and political skills of the incumbent and the second being the interpretation of the incumbent's performance by the mass media, particularly television. A study was taken during the 1996 presidential election race between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Clinton regained positive news coverage by the major television newscasts by battling with Dole over Medicare and the United States budget. This event was covered live by the media and displayed to the public in an encouraging manner in favor of Bill Clinton which in turn strengthened Clinton's political image in the eye of the voters. Many news stories came about depicting Clinton as the strong incumbent and it proved successful with an easy

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