Television has allowed political events and discussions to be more accessible, even if the audience is thousands of miles away. Since the 1960’s, American presidential elections and events surrounding the elections have been broadcasted on television. Although this allows for more of an audience to be politically active, as a result, images have become almost as important as a person’s actions. Through television, a political figure has the power to manipulate public opinion or change the truth to something more suited to their viewpoint.
It is historically evident that during a presidential campaign, a candidate will discuss a subject that relates to audience around them. A candidate will not go into great detail about retirement funding if he speaks to audience between the age of 18 and 30.Instead, he will discuss a topic that audience has an interest in: in this way, he gain support from many ages and groups. When discussing his underwear in a political campaign to an MTV audience (Source B), Bill Clinton focused on his image, and not the current issues. The members of the MTV audience that could relate to him and voted for him were not voting completely about the issues Clinton dealt with, but his image. During the election of 1960, those who listened to presidential debates over the radio felt that John F. Kennedy did not do as well as those who watched the debates on television felt he did. This evidence shows the “distorting effects of television” (Source C) in its emphasis on image. By using television as a key in presidential campaign, a certain percentage of voters are basing their votes on image and personality instead of political issues.
Television can also be used a form of manipulation. Audiences may not be getting the full story or coverage on an event or issue. This lack of information or change in information can alter their opinion. Ted Koppel wrote in 2001that a presidential debate was a “joke” because “we were able to pull the best three or four minutes out of the ninety-minute event, Nightline made the whole thing look pretty good.”(Source F).In