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What role does the mass media play in the U.S. political system?

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What role does the mass media play in the U.S. political system?

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Executive Branch

News Releases and Briefings

A government news release is a ready-made story prepared by officials for members of the press. Also called a press release, it can be printed or broadcast word-for-word or used as background information. A news release usually has a dateline that states the earliest time it can be published.

Press Conferences

A press conference involves the news media’s questioning of a high-level government official. Mayors, governors, and leaders of executive agencies all have media strategies that include giving the media certain access.

Other Means of Sharing Information

Another way top officials try to influence the flow of information to the press is through a leak, or the release of secret information to the media by anonymous government officials.

Modern presidents often stage a media event, a visually interesting event designed to reinforce the president’s position on some issue.

The President and Television

The president and the mass media, especially television, have a mutually beneficial relationship. As one of the most powerful government officials in the world, the president is a great source of news. Most television coverage of U.S. government officials focuses on the president.

Television and Presidential Campaigns

Television has greatly influenced who runs for president, how candidates are nominated, and how election campaigns are conducted. Television has influenced the types of candidates who run for office in several ways.

Legislative Branch

Covering Congress

Thousands of reporters have press credentials to cover the House and Senate. Several hundred spend all their time on Congress. Nearly every member of Congress has a press secretary to prepare press releases, arrange interviews, and give out television tapes.

Television and Legislative Campaigns

Similar to presidential politics, television has impacted who runs for legislative office. The exposure provided by television helps candidates gain recognition, and television has encouraged celebrities—from actors and astronauts to professional athletes and television commentators—to enter politics.

Judicial Branch

Covering the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court and other appellate courts receive less media coverage than trial courts as well as less coverage than Congress or the president. The nature of these courts’ work—their appellate jurisdiction—means that they are deciding issues of law, not ruling on whether or not a crime was committed. These issues are sometimes very technical and abstract, sometimes of little interest to the general public.

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How do the internet and social media affect the U.S. political process?

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How do the internet and social media affect the U.S. political process?

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Civic Participation and Digital Media

With more and more digital tools available, many Americans have become engaged with the government or begun to participate in civic activities online. This marks a major shift in American civic participation.

Gathering Information

Thanks to the Internet, Americans today can gather information about government and politics much more easily than their parents or grandparents could. Websites devoted to political issues are commonplace. News outlets, government agencies, Congress, political parties, universities, and various interest groups all host websites designed to inform, entertain, or persuade Americans.

E-Government

All levels of government now provide services and information over the Internet. At the local level, residents can access property tax bills, get forms for marriage licenses, find town board meeting times, pay parking tickets, or report abandoned cars or illegal dumping.

Communication with Officials

In recent years, the Internet has become a powerful tool for citizen activism. It helps people connect with and mobilize like-minded individuals. The group can then build consensus on issues and put pressure on government officials.

Public Policy and the Internet

The rise of a major technology like the Internet creates a need for new laws to deal with its impact on politics, business, and people’s lives. Everyone from lawmakers in Congress to local school board officials has struggled to keep up with the legal implications of the Internet.

Broadband Access

As of 2013, about 70 percent of American adults had broadband, or high-speed, Internet access at home. More and more daily activities necessitate (or are made easier by) an Internet connection, from communicating to finding and applying for a job, banking, or interacting with government.

Net Neutrality

In 2010 the FCC issued an Open Internet Order, saying that Internet service providers (like AT&T, Comcast, or Verizon) must not discriminate against any one type of data or application as it transmits it to users. This is known as net neutrality. Some Internet service providers (ISPs) would prefer to be able to charge content providers (like Google, Amazon, or Netflix) tiered rates for transmitting different content at different speeds.

Offensive Content

The Internet gives anyone with a personal computer the ability to spread his or her ideas to a global audience. This has led to an explosion of creativity and new opportunities for civic participation. However, it has also allowed anyone, anywhere, to access obscene content in the privacy of their own homes.

Taxing E-Commerce

Internet growth has led to the expansion of e-commerce, or the sales of goods and services online.

Online Privacy

Much like searches of a person’s home or belongings, government officials must often receive permission to access someone’s digital information. There are two main ways that law enforcement officers can gain access to a person’s digital data: through a search warrant or through a subpoena.