What is the role of mass media during elections?

Answer 1

Ideally, the role of the mass media in an election should be to present the facts about the candidates, and to help the voters to understand the candidates' positions on important issues. One of the functions of the mass media is to inform; so whether in print, on radio and TV, or on the internet, the mass media are supposed to give useful information, so that the public will know the views of the men and women running for political office. News magazines like Time or The Week, radio news programs like NPR's "All Things Considered" and network TV evening newscasts on CBS, NBC, and ABC strive for fairness and accuracy, and avoid taking sides.

But while some media sources do remain neutral and informative, others are partisan: they openly advocate for certain candidates or certain political parties (on television, for example, Fox News commentators advocate for Republicans, while MSNBC commentators advocate for Democrats; in print, the Weekly Standard is pro-Republican, while the Nation tends to favor Democrats). Or some mass media sources try to portray certain candidates favorably and other candidates negatively. While this kind of partisanship may be helpful for a TV or radio show's ratings, it does not really inform the public, nor does it contribute to voters getting both sides of the issues. in fact, negative depictions by a talk show can lead voters to think negatively about a candidate and then decide not to vote for that person.