Political Accountability and Media

Political Accountability and Media

Media enables citizens to monitor the actions of the political class in a society, and use this information to make voting decisions. Indeed, media acts as a link between the political class, and the citizens. In many parts of the world, some states have been in loggerheads with their media houses regarding the content they expose for public consumptions. In the third world countries where democracy is highly compromised, the media are usually under siege for unearthing some of the uncouth government deals. In such countries, corruption has eaten to the bone of the society, and the media cannot help either.

Media plays significant roles in educating the public of their rights, other than reading the constitutions. Research has also shown that in a country with a population of 4 million people, only about 1 million individuals may be interested to know the contents of human rights as provided in the constitutions. This implies that the rest of the 3 million people depend on the media for democratic education, and the creation of awareness regarding the operations of the political incumbents. One of the resourceful websites for use in the report compilation is the Reuters Institute. This website explores how the press in the US and the UK has shaped the way journalist in these countries hold the governments accountable. This reports will investigate, and present an argument to answer the questions: how does the media coverage filter information for public consumption and how does this affects political accountability and policy formulations?

Background Information

The role of the media in the modern world of political accountability cannot be underrated. Nowadays, media plays significant roles in developing the country. In this case, the media acts as an instrument for transferring the information between people and the political class in a society. The development of a community in terms of education politics, economics, and culture all depend on the media (Camaj 2013, pg. 24). Media has helped many countries to move towards modernization. A case is a time when Thailand was under an absolute monarchy. The press played a significant role in moving Thai society towards modernization. The freedom of expression of the press was emphasized after Thailand charged to a democratic system. The freedom of the media informs the maturity of democracy in many developed nations (Esser 2013, pg. 165). The lack of media interference from the political class ensures information flows freely and thus democracy can be achieved.

The debates on political accountability and the media in the US is an issue at hand. During the tenure of President Obama, he issued a memorandum on Transparency and Open Governance, which emphasized the participatory and collaborative leadership (Bowles 2013, pg. 10). During the same era, Prime Minister Cameron also stressed on the issue of opening up government data to wider access. The open government commitments have become part of the international policy discussions with the adoption of the freedom of the information laws in various countries. Countries such as Mexico, South Africa, and India are attracting attention regarding the implementation of the national freedom of the information laws (Langlois 2015, pg. 14). In the US and the UK, most policies focus on the data helpful to people in their role as consumers rather than mere voters.

Analysis and Discussion

Transparency and accountability among the political class and the leaders of government is a key aspect for the full functionality of the media. The strong political media structures in the US and the UK have hinted on the possible problems, which have consequently called for the implementation of the policy of openness, and transparency in both the governments (Camaj 2013, pg. 37). In the US, media comprises of both social and mass media. The current president of the United States Donald Trump is at the center of all media discussions. There are many questions regarding his elections, the alleged ties to the Russian government, and his finances. Such discontentment from his allies has led to amounted pressure for his impeachment since some claim he is a political “witch-hunt.” The basis of such information is not clear, but most of the Republicans hold a view that media treats the president unfairly (Esser 2013, pg. 157). Such treatments have led to an unhealthy relationship between President Trump and the media. Most American citizens believe such tension between the president and the press impairs the American’s access to important political news.

Many Americans believe that some of the policies championed by the Republicans tend to favor the administration of President Trump because the media has painted him negative in some cases. Such policy formulations are thus not received in good heart, and in most cases, they have received reactions from the Americans (Bowles 2013, pg. 15). The abolition of the Obama care is a case at hand, a policy proposed by the Republicans but received massive tantrums across the states dominated by the Democrats. Although media house are expected to be unbiased, and accurate, many Americans currently do not trust the media’s report on the political news. A survey conducted in 2017 branded the American media “an enemy of the American people” with 43 percent Republican respondents supporting the claim (Esser 2013, pg. 168). On the contrary, 33 percent of the Democrats believed the media is serving its legitimate purpose to the people of America.

The discontents in the media firms among the Americans led to the rise of the “Fake News” belief. Fake is slowly becoming a significant problem in American society, and it significantly hampers political accountability. In the same survey of 2017, 50 percent of Americans believed the notion of fake news in America is indeed a problem (Camaj 2013, pg. 27). In the 2016 elections, various socials media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter were the hotbed for the fake news propagation. Some of the Facebook accounts were used to leak unconfirmed information the Republican got foreign aid from Russia to triumph in the election. In particular, one firm the Cambridge Analytica was at the center of the problem. As mentioned before, political accountability and media in America are more about data than the votes (Esser 2013, pg. 158). Matter subject to investigations was released on various social media platforms confirming the conspiracy between Cambridge Analytica and the Republicans to rig the elections. Such cases have created what researchers term the worst relationship between media and politics in the US.

The 2018 statistics show that most US voters preferred media as a source of political information (Esser 2013, pg. 172). Among the leading sources used by adults, television was the leading source. Bearing in mind the type of relationship between the US government and the Media, the Americans fear missing a lot of accountability addresses from the politicians. Not once, as the current American President been outrageous in some of the TV interviews including CNN. In these interviews, he has also missed answering some of the pertinent questions raised by the TV personalities based on his perception towards the media in the US. Some of these interviews have also been characterized by bitter altercations, leaving behind a normal US citizen who cannot figure out the course of the current US policies (Langlois 2015, pg. 14). When such media contents are watched by many, they develop voting policies. The political landscape can thus be shaped according to the contents of the media. The 2018 survey revealed that 73 percent of American voters make their decision depending on the contents of the TV, and this decision remains for the rest of the election cycle. The media must practice fairness, and accuracy in their coverage to retain the trust in their consumers.

Conclusion

Transparency and accountability among the political class will ensure the full functionality of the media. Both the media and the politicians, and the government leaders complement one another. For a transparent government, the freedom of information among the media houses is crucial. The citizens also have the right to get information from the government so that they can hold the government accountable for most of their policy formulations and practices. Media plays an important role in reshaping the views of the public towards the political class. The same media can also act as a rift between the politicians and the citizens as seen in the current American society. When the public has lost trust in the information provided by the media, each person develops the interests of speculations leading to the fake news. The disease of the fake news is detrimental to any government and the political class since nobody will consider their views with the required level of attention.