Media, Politics, and Public Opinion

The relationship between media and politics is hidden within the axis that defines the main debate about the nature of the media’s influence in sustaining the driving force behind politics, politicians, and political actors. Political actors cannot remain outside the orbit of popular support, in order to build a vital and effective force to influence society and prevent the constriction of their authority, in addition to the influence of the media.

Media and Politics

Media and politics are
considered essential actors in the social system, bound together by interactively relationship. With the arrival of globalization in the 1980s, technological and information developments in news transmission aimed to influence society and shape public opinion. This was achieved by using print, audio, and visual media within mass communication, which played a significant role in illuminating the political landscape. This enabled politicians to communicate their ideas, opinions, and effective approaches within the limits of the strategy outlined by their parties to voters in the geographical area. This strategy represents the shared ideology between the voter and the candidate, removing the barrier that had been created between them for a long time due to politicians’ neglect of their voters before the elections. This was achieved within a limited timeframe and by the shortest possible means. Direct information about all political processes of interest to voters is available, enabling voters to evaluate candidates within the party with which they sympathize, through the images presented by the media. This, in turn, influences individual voting decisions.

Of course, it is impossible for every citizen to know and evaluate their leaders directly. Therefore, the media was tasked with presenting these leaders to society, and has been described as the fourth estate for this purpose. The question now arises as to the extent to which the media influences politics in shaping and directing public opinion. Most studies conducted in various countries around the world have shown that the public lacks sufficient information to identify political actors, define democracy, and analyze political issues. This is because political news generally tends to disseminate tabloid content rather than addressing the needs of individuals.

In short, the media and politics cannot be considered separate processes. The media charts the vast space for politicians to shape public opinion, and the media possesses the ability to seize social power in a constant interaction, with each seeking to direct the other at every turn.

Those who control state power, whether dictators, single-party governments, or democratically elected governments, tend to use, monitor, or control the media. Because the media are institutions driven by economic concerns, they feel compelled to manipulate this process to their advantage.

This study will examine the relationship between the media and politics, the relationship between them, and discuss their impact on public opinion and their credibility.

Media

“The term media refers to all visual, audio, and print media that perform three basic functions: entertainment, information, and education, conveying all types of information to individuals and society.” Although media is a general concept, it is used in a context that refers to a type of mass communication. The role of media, whether written, visual, or interactive, is to transmit news and events and provide individuals, groups, communities, and the masses with information, whether local, regional, or international.

Politics

Politics, in its modern sense, can be defined as the conflict arising between political blocs for dominance of power or participation in the division of sovereign positions among political blocs from different social classes in society, which include those with divergent interests and demands. The basis of politics lies in the conflict arising from the clash of interests and ideologies. This conflict is driven by the pursuit of shared values ​​and scarce resources in society. It charts the path for the winner to share power. Political parties and actors have emerged to represent specific interests. In this sense, these political actors and parties rely on the power of the media to influence and direct public opinion, and to understand its ideas and positions.

Media and Politics

The relationship between the media and politics is defined as a “symbiotic relationship.” The media views politics as a source of news. On the other hand, political parties and political actors seek to communicate their ideas, positions, and ideologies to voters, i.e., citizens, through the media to shape public opinion. This relationship creates a reciprocal process. In this process, politics or political institutions exert a greater influence on the media as the surrounding environment. No media system can be independent of the political system. The guardianship exercised by politics and political power over the media cannot be reconciled with moral values. On the other hand, the media system cannot operate independently of the political system. In terms of the relationship between the media and politics, moral values ​​can only be established ethically by following a path from principle to reality, rather than from reality to principle.
In this regard, Max Weber (1864-1920) says, German sociologist, historian, and economic policy expert (The media is one of the most important sources of political apathy. Because it is subject to political pressure, it is difficult for journalistic institutions to escape this pressure.)

Although the media seeks to avoid conflict with political forces and exploit the situation to their advantage (because they are profit-making organizations), conflict between the two parties may sometimes arise. Media companies are organizations with certain economic dependencies. While advertising may appear to be the sole source of income for media organizations, a closer examination reveals that advertising is not their sole source of income, and that these organizations are in fact huge conglomerates, and therefore engage in commercial activities with political forces and the state. Analyzing the process from this perspective would yield an explanation that lacks objective analysis.

While the media seeks to make politics its own subsystem, politics, in a similar vein, seeks to dominate the media. From the media’s perspective, the goal is to influence and impact society. Informing, directing, and mobilizing the public is crucial to demonstrating the media’s influence on politics.

With the widespread proliferation of the media, these outlets have acquired tremendous strategic importance today. They play a pivotal role in shaping and shaping politics. American political scientist Richard Fagin expresses the extent of the media’s influence on societies and the masses, saying, “If it were possible to create a fraudulent network capable of placing two thousand people in leadership positions in the media, it would be very easy to convince all of America and much of the world that the President of the United States was dead.” In his words about the impact of media on societies and masses.

Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polls

In the concept of public opinion, the word “public” simply means the collective, while the word “vote” refers to the general opinion. Public opinion is formed through the interaction of majority and minority views. In short, public opinion is the prevailing opinion of a group or groups of individuals concerned with a particular controversial issue at a given time. When we consider public opinion from a political perspective, we consider it the standard that determines the behavior of legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, or the standard set and shaped by opinion leaders. Public opinion is essentially an agenda-setting process, and this agenda is usually the political agenda. Studies that examine what or who sets this political agenda seek to answer questions such as: Are media messages politically biased? If so, what is the direction and source of this bias? What is the social and economic context in which these media operate? How do they influence the coverage and treatment of political events? How does media coverage of political events affect individuals’ political thoughts and attitudes? What evidence do these polls provide for understanding the workings of the political system and the political behavior of the public within it?

Opinions vary regarding the impact of public opinion polls on public opinion. The prevailing view is that opinion polls, especially during election periods, exert a significant influence on voters who make their political choices, influenced by political communication efforts. According to this view, public opinion polls steer voters toward political parties most likely to win.

For public opinion polls to influence voter behavior, certain conditions must be met. One of the most important of these conditions is public trust in them. This principle of trust also applies to the media. In advanced democracies, public opinion polls are closely monitored during election periods and at other times, helping to shape or guide government policies. Trust in these polls plays an important role in this. Another condition for the impact of public opinion polls is that their results do not conflict with information gained through personal experience and observation. It has been observed that poll results have a greater impact and reinforce prevailing trends when they align with prevailing opinions and knowledge. The decisive factor here is public trust in the organizations that conduct public opinion polls and the media that publish them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as we mentioned throughout the study, the media, politics, and public opinion are in constant interaction. In this interaction, the media acts as a bridge between political actors and the public. Political actors, seeking to communicate their political messages, seek to reach potential voters through the media while simultaneously attempting to manipulate them through public opinion polls. Today, the media and politics appear to be two almost inseparable systems. Although these two systems appear to be subsystems, there is an indispensable interaction of interests between them. The media maintains a constant relationship due to their economic interests and their desire to capture social awareness, while political systems maintain a constant relationship due to their efforts to maintain power. We can analyze the systemic process and form perspectives by asking questions such as “How much trust is placed in public opinion polls?”, “How much trust is placed in the media organizations that publish public opinion polls?”, and “How influential are public opinion polls in society?”