Media_Comparison

Media Comparison Case Studies in Mass Political Communication The most important tool for any democracy is information. Because by definition the supreme authority within a democracy rests with the people, mass communication becomes an essential element of informed decision making by that aggregate authority. In this way, any manipulation or lack of factual information has serious negative implications for the ability of a body of people to act consciously on its own behalf. Only an informed citizenry can participate in the cognizant decision-making process necessary for the advancement of its own needs. The question then arises as to the current state of mass communication within democracies. Are the media that communicate on a mass scale fulfilling their roles as scrupulous disseminators of information' What biases exist that may affect how the information is presented' How do the effects of these biases translate into the idea of an informed citizenry' All of these inquiries tap into the wide-ranging social implications of mass media. What follows is an analysis of a selected group of American mass media outlets for the purpose of determining strengths, weaknesses, similarities, differences, and biases, all in the context of their social 2003, nov, times, news, new, miami, coverage, york, story, protests, television, local, dramatic, information, framing, side, one, political, washington, two, same, public, protestors, print, nbc, herald, day, takes, media, events, dates, context, clear, biases, approach