Research Paper on:
The Political Functions of Mass Media in America

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
The media plays many roles in American society. One of the most interesting of  these is its role in shaping the political culture of the country. This role is accomplished via six distinct aspects: newsmaking, interpretation, socialization, persuasion, agenda setting, and framing.  Utilizing these functions the media wields a heavy impact on politics and, indeed, on culture in general. While the media has the potential to play a positive role  in the shaping of American culture, it could be contended that this impact is largely deleterious in its nature. Indeed, the contemporary lack of civility which we are experiencing  in contemporary politics is largely attributable to the media. The electronic media is one of the most influential entities of the modern  world. While we are most definitely better informed about current world events as a result of television and radio, we are also subject to manipulation by the media.  Indeed, the electronic media plays a direct role in the way the American public, in particular, perceives the world around us and our place in that world. In many  ways it could be said that we are being lulled into a sense of complacency by the glowing light and ever present hum of the electronic media. This light  and sound does not necessarily inform in so much as it blinds and deafens us to the realities of world events. The degree to which we are manipulated in  regard to our opinions is determined only by media responsibility, a quality which can differ not only between medias but also between individual representatives of the media.