by Hunter Dawkins
Assumptions exist in today’s society that party identity automatically labels one person to a line of thinking. For a perfect example, the Democratic Party in the southeast region of America often falls under the logo of “socialism” or “liberalism”, which is pictured as being weak on military affairs, financial concerns, and social issues. Generally, the Republican Party of this nation is viewed on being “warhawks” or “dictatorial” because of the polar opposite perspectives. The true reasoning in parties and policy should be found locally and this deliberation will attempt to contribute a better mindset.
In being a member of the fourth estate (by definition this means being a part of the press and news media both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues), news perceptions are supposed to rely on factual information, but the portrayal of these feelings usually are doctored by individual points of interest. With an increase in social media and an overabundance of attention on personal information, the mass media is following the idiomatic proverb “to have your cake and eat it too.”
As Executive Power author and Professor Mark J. Rozell expresses in his discourse, titled The Media’s Impact on Perception of Political Polarization, “The mass media set the agenda for news coverage; and the culture war frame allows the media to pursue the news values of novelty, negativity, and conflict, which attract readers and viewers and, ultimately, advertising dollars.” Describing this angle, the fourth estate among today’s society appears to be tainting the outlook of American citizens and making money on this depending on specific political locations.
Coming from the point of identifying with local newspapers, the message seems to be more crystal clear. The recognition of intelligent political competence should be turned back to your local community newspaper.
In a study done by Nieman Lab on media coverage, “the loss of local news leads to political polarization, making governing more difficult both locally and nationally.”
From this notice of scientific research, the local newspaper is obligated to provide this community with factual, concise information which will help make your choices of our future leaders.
Under the same perspective, the readers should recognize their ability to purchase a paper and become involved whether silently or publicly in their region.
