In the modern political landscape, elections are now more accessible than ever. A large majority of the populace has access to a television. Due to this widespread access, television has been treated as the ideal form of advertisement for presidential campaigns.
However, because of modern society’s idealization of image over facts, television has had a generally negative impact on elections.
Television can skew the facts about candidates in elections. Political information that is broadcast has the potential to be heavily manipulated. Viewers are often too trusting of the facts being fed to them through television.
Even Ted Koppel stated his news broadcast “Nightline” could easily skew the facts. He told of how the show pulled just “three or four minutes out of the ninety-minute event” (Source F), resulting in the debate looking far better than it actually was.
By manipulating what is broadcast to audiences, society only sees the good in candidates. They are not allowed to see the bigger picture. This heavily influences the outcome of presidential elections. Many people don’t see past the glamorized charades that candidates put up to win voters.
Television can be used to manipulate audiences into focusing on the unimportant elements of presidential elections. TV is all about image. In the past, candidates have won purely because of “a triumph of image over content” (Source C), as with the Kennedy-Nixon debates.
Candidates’ opinions and standpoints can often be disregarded in favor of their appearance. By focusing on these inconsequential qualities, society risks putting a subpar candidate into a position of immense political power.
If the candidate was judged solely by their image, then they could be potentially inferior in their political ability to their opponent. Elections are becoming increasingly dependent on image over facts.
Due to how candidates take advantage of what is televised, the outcomes of elections often seem to be based on which candidate is the better actor instead of their standpoints.
Candidates have the tendency to put on a mask when on television. Through this façade, they’re able to create an image of themselves that is very paradoxical to their actual beliefs.
Television is the device through which they’re able to adequately create this façade. A candidate just needs a healthy public image to achieve success.
In the modern political landscape, presidential candidates are increasingly “judged by standards formerly used to access rock singers and movie stars” (source B). This goes to show the lack of focus in televised politics.
All society seems to care about is the celebrity-like façade that candidates put up. Viewers rarely ever put any research into the candidates. Candidates can influence their success by controlling what aspects of their personalities are put in the spotlight.
Due to modern society’s focus on image over facts, television often has a negative impact on presidential elections. Television tends to sugarcoat what is shown to the public.
By doing this, viewers fail to grasp what the candidates actually stand for. Debates being shown on television have caused candidates to gain a status more akin to a celebrity than a political figure.
This causes people to vote for candidates only for their image. If society continues to disregard the beliefs of potential candidates, then political issues will only continue to worsen. Television must focus less on the image a candidate portrays, and more on the beliefs that they embody.
