Does The Press Pick Presidents? (Poll)

The press reflects the voice of the people and they depend on it, in turn, for their advice and information. In any democracy, including that of the USA, the press will end up choosing the leaders because the media is the vehicle of free expression. So it is not so far fetched to say that the media chooses the president because indirectly it does, through its power, expertise and influence.

1. The press, by virtue of the awesome publicity it generates, has the power to make or break a candidate simply by focusing negatively or positively on them at any time. For example, the GOP presidential candidates are not having a good time of it because they are perceived by most journalists to be substandard in knowledge and suitability, and veering towards the extreme in their alliances, hence why they are not generating much enthusiasm from the moderate public. Furthermore, despite the fact that Mitt Romney is not popular with the majority of Republicans, the press seems to favour him and so he will be ahead of the others in publicity. Thus the press has the power to at least keep its choice at the forefront of the debate for the people to consider and to vote for. It often uses this influence unashamedly to change the fortunes of the candidates, and that is why participants in elections have to take notice of the press and always try to be overly accommodating to get the most favourable or sympathetic coverage.

2. The press is known for its expert writers and journalists who can analyse a person's suitability rather clinically for this top job. With such a reputation for investigative journalism, the public tends to take note of what is published, especially if they are loyal readers/viewers/listeners of a particular medium. They come to trust their source of information and often remain floating voters until they see which way the press coverage is going. In this regard, one can say that the press often does a valuable job in unseating insincere candidates who might not be consistent in stated policies or who have a dodgy public background. However, some members of the press have abused this position by deliberately giving negative publicity to those who might be competing too closely with their favourites by dredging up unsavoury things from their past or spreading questionable gossip.

3. The press has the capacity and means to affect the public perception of who is the best potential president and often manipulates that perception to suit their ends. Public perception is often fickle and highly changeable, depending on its knowledge and information, and the press enjoys the best position to alter that perception at any given time, especially when it suits their purpose to do so.

In the UK, the press has always dominated the selection of our leaders. In fact, one of the first persons to be called to Downing Street after Tony Blair won office was Rupert Murdoch, the media giant. His papers had sided with the Labour party in the election and that did make a difference to how Labour was perceived as 'electable' after their 18 years in the political wilderness.

But what do you think?