If the media controls what people think?

Question

And fox news is the highest rated news program, and right wing talk radio is so popular, why didn't the reps win in the last election? Is it possible that people voted the way they wanted to, not the way the media wanted us to?

Answer 1

Someone must be blamed, the media will do. To admit Repubs lost because of their actions would be akin to accepting personal responsibility. Umm, personal accountability sounds like an old conservative idea, like balanced budgets and smaller government.

Answer 2

There is no doubt that the media has significant if not overwhelming influence on what people think. Even if the media merely presented raw facts - the selection of which facts to publish would influence opinions. Just because Fox is highly or highest rated does not mean anything, you could be highest rated and still reach only 10% of the population. But I suspect that the real reason is that finally people figured how morally bankcrupt and cynical the elephant people have become. They have simply been suckered too long and finally they have realised when you get screwed by an elephant - it REALLY hurts

Answer 3

No one "controls" what you think unless you let them. The media is just one factor influencing public opinion and the media groups you cited were the conservative groups. There are still plenty of liberal biased media outlets e.g. NY Times and the Washington Post in print; ABC, CBS, PBS, and NBC on television not to mention All Franken's radio show.

Since the advent of the Internet any interested person can find out about any point of view on any issue under the sun with a minimum of effort. In my opinion, the creation of the Internet is the most important development in the democratization of knowledge since Gutenberg. In short the "media" is not as monolithic or powerful as you imply.

Answer 4

No thats not it . They voted the way the media wanted .Fox is a small portion of America news sources and most people can tell by looking in your wallet if a president is good or bad for America and if the people in power are republicans they will be voted out is all .
Still people do not vote for real change but the appearance of change .

Answer 5

The media has influence,always has and always will everywhere in any time but it will be a sad day when they control how the people think.
And you are forgetting the enormous influence of this board on the election.Of course people don't vote like the media tells them.They vote for what they read on Yahoo! answers politics

Answer 6

Fox is the highest rated CABLE news program. It is still far behind any of the big 3 (ABC, NBC, CBS). Fox averages about 2 million viewers a night. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, all combined pull about 12 million per night.

So we have 1 outlet reaching 2 million people with a moderate to conservative message against 5 outlets reaching 12 million with an extemely liberal message. You do the math.

Answer 7

The highest rated doesn't even start to compare when you add together all the other media sources.. One of the reasons fox has such a high rating is because it's the only non-liberal media outlet...

Answer 8

There HAS been a media consolidation. That has NOT allowed really progressive issues and opinion to break through. The mainstream spectrum goes from center to edge of the universe right.

Answer 9

... well... it seems to me that the 30 percent of the people that watch all the conservative shows and radio... aren't enough to win elections...

Fox only has about 30 percent of the audicence and while that may be larger than other news stations, it's still only 30 percent of America in the end... the ratings are so divided...

it's not as popular as they would have you think... overall...

Answer 10

Combine all the liberal media outlets and the conservative ones. The majority are liberal. Fox is the highest rated news program because it is one of the only conservative ones. Liberals have their pick, CNN, MSN, ABC, and NBC, just to name a few.