So I have been thinking lots about the effect that media has on government and I decided to take a more political approach in this entry. I am not an expert in politics but I have a good friend who lives in Boise, ID who breathes politics so I asked for some of his perspective and opinion on how the media helps or hinders politics. My friend, Jordan Morales, is actually working on the campaign team for Keith Allred who is currently running against the incumbent governor in Idaho. He has been highly involved with local politics for the past couple of years and I think his perspective is interesting.
Most of Jordan's insights deal with how the voter is affected by the voting process and how media plays a role in that and what media can do to help people be better voters. I think is goes along well with the earlier post on civic media.
#1 - Promotes Awareness
Jordan told me that tight races between canidates and what he calls "hot button" issues, or contorversial issues, always draw out more people to vote. One example being Prop 8 a couple years ago in CA. It was very contaversial and more people than usual came out to vote for it. More people will vote if they feel that their vote will actually have sway. Jordan said this about the media's role in topics like this. "I think the media has a lot of power in covering controversial initiatives or close races and showing the people how close it is and why they need to get off their duffs and go vote." When the media covers hot topics it shows people how important their votes really are and it is another incentive to get out and vote. We all know that a democratic system does not work unless the people voice their opinions and this is done mainly through voting.
Now this was interesting to me because I really do not like this part of the media. I feel like too much time is spent on the news describing what canidate is ahead or which way the public is leaning on a topic versus actually focusing on where canidates sit on issues or what the ramifications of certain items on the ballot will be. Jordan's insight hasn't completely changed my opinion but it is nice to know that there are some benefits to things the media does.
#2 - Education on the Voting Process.
I am going to quote what Jordan said about this. He does it well and after I will comment.
The media should make it a point to inform the people the what, where, when and how of voting. Every state has different policies and procedures for how to register to vote, where to vote, setting up people for absentee voting, etc. Some states make it easier than others. In states where its harder people tend to not vote as much so here the media really has the responsibility of helping people with these kinds of things.
Fortunately digital media helps lots with this. Here is a Video as an example how it is helping.
#3 - Media's Impact on Information Cost
Information cost was a new term for me. I will try to explain it the best I can. Basically what it is, is the 'cost' in time, effort, and maybe money that it takes a person to get informed on the topics during an election. Jordan pointed out to me how this is a huge barrier to people voting. Many people are unwilling to pay the 'cost' to vote so they simply do not. This is another area where the media can make a huge contribution. They can take steps to lower the cost so that voters can get the information that they need. "The media like the newspapers and television news should actively follow candidates in an effort to give people a good un-biased shot of who these people are and would then lessen the information costs making it easier for people to go out and vote."
Media that helps people become more involved in politics especially voting is easily classified as civic media. Media that promotes civic involvement is any form falls under that category.
