After winning the Iowa Caucus on Monday night, Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz exclaimed that "the next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media, will not by chosen by the Washington establishment, will not be chosen by the lobbyists, but will be chosen by the most incredible, powerful force where all sovereignty resides in our nation — by we the people, the American people." After all the polling is over, it is not the media which guides our nation's future, but the people. Over the past several decades, how politicians interact with the media has changed drastically. Previously, the media have played key roles in politics, educating the public about the issues facing our nation, politicians’ stances on them, and how they affect the American people. The media are meant to be institutions that cooperate with our nation’s leaders in order to spread political awareness, especially in regard to the government's impact on the lives of the people. While this is the way it truly should be, the modern media have been warped to emphasize a sense of entertainment, often resorting to highlighting the faults and missteps of politicians to please supporters. This negativity, which has spread throughout the world of media, is not entirely due to a change in how the media cover news; rather, it, to a great extent, stems from how the American people wish to have their news delivered to them.
More and more in the news, we witness the media aiming to point out the faults of our nation’s leaders and make a spectacle of them. A prime example of this is exhibited through the media's endless criticism of Donald Trump. This issue is, to some extent, caused by today’s partisan news networks, which have a need to please their supporters of one party or another. These partisan-leaning news outlets feel the need to constantly criticize the opposing party of their supporters so that they can provide somewhat informative entertainment. For example, it is commonly acknowledged that networks like CNN and MSNBC lean toward the left of the political spectrum, while ones such as Fox News tend to advocate more right-wing stances. Because of these partisan biases within news networks, politicians often wish to search the media for the negative publicity they receive. Nowadays, it seems as if the enmity between the political world and the media only continues to be exacerbated, being especially prevalent since the beginning of the 2016 Presidential Election cycle.
During this presidential race, a number of candidates have criticized the media for how it has covered the election thus far. Republican candidates, in particular, have accused the “liberal media” of unfairly targeting their party. Presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have openly criticized the unfair questions asked to the candidates during the debates. While some of these candidates’ claims are ludicrous, there is an underlying problem which is constantly occurring throughout the debates. At many of the seven Republican and five Democratic debates which have occurred so far in the race, there has been a similar theme of candidates pointing out an underhanded or unwarranted question asked. This trend illustrates the issue of the debate moderators wishing to pit the candidates against one another for the purpose of good entertainment.
Besides this, one of the candidates, Trump, has, on numerous occasions, requested apologies from media outlets or journalists on account of their “rude behavior” towards him. For months, he and his campaign have received perpetual coverage on virtually all major news networks. Many, in fact, believe that Trump’s significant popularity is somewhat due to the media’s constant coverage of him. This popularity, though, was squandered shortly before Trump arrived at the Iowa Caucus. Just days before the caucus, Trump decided not to attend a debate in Iowa hosted by Fox News because of the ongoing feud between the candidate and the news outlet. Politicos speculate that the candidate's absence during the final debate may have cost him a win in Iowa. Moreover, this highlights how the American people are still the driving force that decide the outcomes of elections, no matter how the media cover them.
There is no doubt that the adversity between political candidates and the media has heightened in recent years; this is largely due to how the media have changed in order to influence the outcomes of elections instead of simply reporting them. In the past, the media have not had nearly the capabilities to sway voters toward one candidate or another which they possess today. This fact reveals that the modern media are flawed in how they go about bringing change to the political world. In addition, the relationship between politicians and the media is meant to be a symbiotic one, benefitting both parties for the greater good of the American people. This mutual relationship was well exhibited in President Obama's 2008 campaign, during which he utilized the media to his advantage and was referred to by the New York Times as "a king of social media." In total, how the media cover elections has changed immensely in the past several years, focusing less than ever before on the voices of the public. The only way that we can amend this problem is to place the power in politics back in the hands of the people, as it rightfully should be in a democracy.
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