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.

Campaign information affects voters' issue preferences, candidate evaluations, and the likelihood of voting. Exposure, reception, and acceptance all play a role in this gathering of campaign information and in the voter perception. Exposure involves one physical proximity to a message. Reception involves actually getting or taking in a message. Lastly acceptance involves allowing the information contained within the message to influence one's preference, opinion, or attitude. (Shaw 1999,p.347) The more campaign ads seen and the amount of campaigning covered also has a greater effect on the voter turnout and the information gathered about the candidates and the issues. Campaigns are used to prime the voter's perceptions of politics and their candidate preferences. "To a considerable degree the art of politics in a democracy is the art of determining which issue dimensions are of major interest to the public or can be made salient in order to win public support." (London )

The Media Dependency Theory is very important to think about when it comes to political communication. The three main aspect of the theory are the Social system, Media system, and the Audience. The three lead up to and produce the last aspect which is the Effect or what the final product. The social system, which is the government, has goals that have to be met and they are publicity and support. There resources are public funds and legislation. The media system, which is television, newspaper, radio, etc., also has goals which are to make money through the public. Their resources consist of gathering information and dispersing it to the public. The audience is the public like you and me. Our goals are to acqu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bob Dole, Bill Clinton, , National Committee, London Television, Dependency Theory, America Kalb, London Media, FCC FCC, George Bush, mass media, political science, politics media, edwards 1999, american political science, bob dole, science review, public officials, american political, 1996 election, political issues, foreign policy issues, science review 93, political science quarterly, political science review,
Approximate Word count = 2500
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)