The media has played an enormous role in making the Presidential race and upcoming election extremely dramatic. Instead of discussing policies and the true stances of the candidates, more often than not we have been exposed to every slip up Donald Trump has at his rallies, and updates on Hillary Clinton’s illnesses. Looking deeper into the realm of political news coverage, one can see a clear distinction among networks based upon which candidate is supported. Cable News Network (CNN) headlines like “Trump interviews models in newly found 1994 Playboy Magazine” are one of many techniques to getting individuals to question the Republican candidate. Similarly, far right supporters like Breitbart for example, offer the film “Clinton Cash” for free on their website’s front page. Both the film and the headline serve as propaganda against each Presidential candidate by questioning their integrity and past. News outlets supporting opposite sides of the political spectrum give the listening supporters exactly what they want to hear, news stories that reinforce their support for the political party of their choice.
The plot thickens when we look deeper into the connection between political networks and political candidates themselves. A quick google search of “who owns CNN” would turn up a result of Time Warner. If one was so inclined to discover the donors backing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, they would also see that the same Time Warner happens to be high up on the list. Monetary backing from the network guarantees that CNN will broadcast a majority of information that is not detrimental to that candidate. If CNN was broadcasting anything against the Clinton campaign, the organization would be counterproductive in getting Hillary elected. News stories are twisted and modified as a result, and someone is making sure that the voters watching the bias broadcast will stay with Clinton.
The 2016 race is very entertaining, and has drawn a large portion of emotionally driven individuals who may have very little political knowledge to the voting booth. The race has personally connected to certain groups of individuals because of the current topics which have found their way onto the broadcast. Events that impact a large number of individuals such as the “Black Lives Matter” movement, immigration, and the potential of the first female president have drawn more voters than usual. The primary elections showed voter turnout to be above average, possibly foreshadowing the turnout in November.
In order to be diligent, informed voters, we cannot watch one television station of visit one website and begin to form our opinions. Be conscious when contemplating which side to take. Be sure that if you vote, your vote represents what you and not what CNN or FOX News believes. Also, please remember to fact check, and remember that any headline that is not in quotes could be portraying something biasly. Uninformed people can become targets of candidates because of the quantity of votes possible. We are approaching a large moment in the history of the nation, and we would be best off making informed decisions in the voting booths next month.
