The media plays an important part in influencing public policy by influencing our thoughts and opinions about what we feel is important. It also influences our opinions on how the problems should be solved and pressures politicians into implementing new laws and programs in order to meet our needs. In this paper I will look at the role the media plays in influencing and informing the public about political decisions and the relationship between politicians and the media. I will show that in a culture, which relies so heavily on the relay of information, we cannot function or survive without this vital player in society.

Government policies can be best described in two ways: policy for those who make themselves heard, and policies for th

Statistics Canada says that Canadians spend on average up to 21.8 hours of the week in front of the television . The largest group of television viewers is those within the 50 and older age group. On average they watch between 25 and 35 hours each week. This age group is also the age cohort that has the highest voter turnout at both provincial and federal elections. Stats Canada says that most 50 year-olds watch television dramas and the news. So as a concerned citizen who is lobbying for change in some political area, how much attention are politicians really going to be give if you do not appeal to there largest group of voters? Politicians, even though they may be concerned with the cause, think about their next election. They need not be bothered by petty problems of the non-electorate or those who do not even concern themselves with politics.

Policies, laws and governmental decisions are enacted because of a raised awareness about a public problem. Although governments make public policies they are not the sole actors in the awareness and rising of concerns. Interest groups help raise awareness by campaigns and lobbying government officials . They do this through protests and a variety of other means. This draws the attention of the media, which again raises the familiarity of the cause.

Such differences can be accounted for as a result of cultural variations. Patterson says that the United States news systems were largely commercialized in the late 1800s where “profits outweighed politics in the minds of most publishers, and they invented a form of news that enabled them to deliver large audience to their advertising clients” . In Germany however, its press was largely dominated by the belief that opinion was superior to the news. “German journalism was influenced by the continental ideology that objective or even neutral accounts of reality are not possible” .

For example, if you chose to broadcast your problem on a late night television show, or through an email chain letter, your audience will be largely of those aged 15-25 years. This is because this age group uses the Internet mostly for email and recreational purposes. They are also the largest demographic that watches late night television shows. After all, how many senior citizens do you know that use email regularly or who watch television passed 10 o’clock?

While I have just touched the surface of the relationships between politicians and the media and the role of media in society, I believe it is obvious how reliant we have become on the media as our primary news source. Both politicians and society as a whole rely on getting their messages across through these imperfect news sources. No matter how flawed these methods of communication may be, they act as the most effective tools to spread information over miles of land in a short amount of time.

e people who are most effectively heard . First for those who make themselves heard, I believe that in order to make your concerns recognized

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