Role of Media in Election Process: An Analysis

This assessment analyzes whether the electorate can effectively take judgement when voting for someone and the role of media in the election process. It discusses the influence of news and social media on the decisions and judgements of electorates, the importance of media transparency, and the role of media in framing the democratic situation in a country. The assessment concludes that while media has a crucial role in providing and circulating relevant information among the general public, it has not been able to provide accurate information in recent times, which affects the decisions and judgement of the electorates.

Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
Reference.........................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction
The main purpose of this assessment is to analyze whether the electorate of a country can
effectively take judgement when they are voting for someone. The assessment would be
including arguments and counter arguments and also provides examples of situations. The
assessment shows deep explanation of the roles which is played by different components such as
media, candidate and even electorate.
Discussion
The electorate play a very important role in the election process and also in establishing a
governmental body. Therefore, it is very much important that the electorate are presented with
relevant information on the basis of which decisions can be taken appropriately. In most cases
the news media influences the decisions and judgements which are taken by electorates. The
media plays a vital role in getting all the information and presenting the same to the society and
the general public1. The role of social media is very essential in the development of political
environment and consciousness among the general people. The social media just like paper
media also provides widespread information regarding different policies of government, election
campaign and also reveals results for the same. In most of the cases, the information which is
thus collected are often distorted and not accurate completely. The role of media is to
appropriately support the democracy function in the business but as most of the information
which is available to the general public are not true and therefore sufficient information are not
available to the general public for make appropriate judgements in election process.
1 Trottier, Daniel, and Christian Fuchs, eds. Social media, politics and the state: Protests, revolutions, riots, crime
and policing in the age of facebook, twitter and youtube. Vol. 16. Routledge, 2014.

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The media can play a constructive role in framing the democratic situation in a country.
The role which can be performed by the media are to act as a public educator, establish a
campaign program for the business and also ensure that the business acts as a watchdog and act
transparently on behalf of the public. The media transparency in relation to the information
which is provided are important for the electorate in order to arrive at any appropriate decisions.
The media can appropriately spread any information regarding any sensitive matter among the
public and acts as a public educator for the recent events and policies which are in place in the
country. A large number of studies which are undertaken by different scholars reveal that the
news media has widespread influences on an election campaign2. The society has granted the
power to the media to report all events and also act as a watchdog on behalf of the public for all
the activities of the business3. The media can alert the citizens regarding any malpractice which
is undertaken by the government. The media can counter and expose any scam which the
government is planning in order to make the general public aware or make them aware of the
activities of the Government. However, the role of media is not appropriately followed which
results in the fact that the general public are not made of a lot of situations which might affect
their judgements. Instead they are provided with information which are biased and sometimes
not clear which results in confusions among the general public.
Conclusion
The above discussion shows that the media has a very important role to play in providing
and circulating relevant information among the general public in society. However, the media in
recent times has not been able to provide accurate information to the public in this regard. The
2 Bennett, W. Lance, and Alexandra Segerberg. The logic of connective action: Digital media and the
personalization of contentious politics. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
3 Dahlgren, Peter. "The political web: Media, participation and alternative democracy." (2013).

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media can be held responsible greatly due to the unavailability of sufficient information which
affect the decisions and judgement of the electorates.

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Reference
Bennett, W. Lance, and Alexandra Segerberg. The logic of connective action: Digital media and
the personalization of contentious politics. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Dahlgren, Peter. "The political web: Media, participation and alternative democracy." (2013).
Trottier, Daniel, and Christian Fuchs, eds. Social media, politics and the state: Protests,
revolutions, riots, crime and policing in the age of facebook, twitter and youtube. Vol. 16.
Routledge, 2014.