The same ol' problems...

Schudson provides examples of the changing face of American political traditions at the hands of a (loosely put) more informed and more involved citizenry. Indeed one of these changes involves the use of mass broadcast media as a passenger on the political juggernaut, a tradition cemented with the broadcast of the first presidential debates. The media serves our self-centeredness and self-interest, but not necessarily in terms of elementary selfishness. Unfortunately, this self-centeredness stems from a growth in the belief that "I" (the viewer) know best, and when "I" don't know best, the anchor or journalist most certainly does.

Certainly the news as a source of political information existed prior to this, but finally the issues were attached to a face and not just a name. This example alone begs unending research, but quite simply, the media has grown from being a passenger to a full-blown, irritating backseat driver. Of all of the political changes in the US' history, none has been more detrimental to, and more instrumental in, the reshaping of our political landscape and our competence as part of an electorate. The other historical factors that Schudson addresses are valid issues to consider when evaluating a change in citizen political behavior, but none of the others - which I will not enumerate here - offer as much of a dichotomous and often symbiotic relationship as the media. The bottom line is that the media informs our political opinions while shifting us away from the truth.

We rely on the news to keep us abreast of politics while we simultaneously demand of it only half of the "story", and the media machine is more than willing to accept this challenge. And when we find ourselves unable to comprehend the intricacies of the gov't, we rely on the media to simplify the issues, thinking that these gross over-simplifications actually do us justice...but there's more to it. The media offers us a way to take a stand without having to declare our own views. If I say "I watch Fox", or "ABC is great", you will guess my political declarations based on my choice of news views. The media has become the Facebook of politics...it allows us to pretend that we are intimately connected with our polity, yet it requires no actual or tangible involvement on anyone's part. And why do we do this? I would argue that it stems from our knowledge that there are in fact numerous issues of concern in America, but because we don't understand them we depend on those who claim they do, and the media certainly pretends they do. In sum, myriad issues seem to compromise our competence as American political citizen-participants, but no institution has done more to veil the truth of that compromise than the media, and we act mostly to legitimate its power over us. I wonder, is there such a person as a truly informed citizen?

Alan H.