The influence of the media is detrimental to the American political process

This is the LD debate topic right now; wanting to see different opinions/stances. Simply put, is the way the media is presented to the modern american harming the democratic process? I would like to begin by defining the terms (stated in the resolution) as follows: MEDIA as:// the main means of mass communication [especially television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet] regarded collectively (oxford english dictionary) DETRIMENTAL:// Causing damage or harm (oxford english dictionary) POLITICAL PROCESS:// the process of the formulation and administration of public policy usually by interaction between social groups and political institutions or between political leadership and public opinion (merriam webster) The value I will be upholding in this debate is democracy. As our political process is a democratic political process, valuing democracy is logical. My criterion is upholding the will of the people, which can ONLY be achieved through democracy My contentions this round are as follows 1- the media undermines the will of the people & controls what issues are important in the public"s mind. 2-There is no such thing as a completely objective point of view. 1. the media undermines the will of the people & controls what issues are important in the public"s mind. The media undermines the will of the people by focusing coverage not on issues essential to citizens but to the sport of campaigning, who is winning and who is losing. Similar to the way we view a sporting event, Americans tend to get caught up in the glamor of competition because of they way it is presented to us. (according to The Wall Street Journal) "Since 1952"when Dwight Eisenhower's You like Ike, I like Ike, Everybody likes Ike" commercial "campaigns have spent most of their budgets on TV and radio." According to the Wall Street Journal, "Relying more on [the media] for political information means we will come to trust sources that won't always be...edited for accuracy. [For example,] the widespread Internet distribution of a fake Kenyan birth certificate for President Barack Obama, and the video of Mr. Obama's June 2009 Cairo speech edited to appear as though the president is admitting he's a Muslim. The latter was so cleverly edited that even otherwise sensible people are taken in. How to minimize and discredit anonymous Web smears is a real challenge." SUBPOINT A: the media controls the information we receive, and uses that to their advantage. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, recently told the New Yorker magazine, "With the Internet, with YouTube, with TiVo, with cable TV, people are selective viewers now. .R01;.R01;People approach their news consumption the way they approach their iPod: You download the songs you like and listen to them when you want to listen to them." That affects the way reporters spend their days and the way campaigns craft their message. 2. There is no such thing as a completely objective point of view. No matter how much we may try to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially. This state of affairs is neither bad nor good. It simply is. Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message. Politicians are certainly biased and (infamously) overtly so. They belong to parties and espouse policies and ideologies. Journalists also speak from political positions" although the journalistic ethics of objectivity and fairness are strong influences on the profession, journalistic objectivity is not pristine. (Rhetorica.net) in 2012, Fox News shared with us their own personal bias in a "segment [that] shows that the way the news is presented can influence a casual observer"s consumption of the news in a way to sway your opinion. A four-minute segment critical of President Obama, but factually correct, is causing a mini-uproar among media critics." As Michael Brown, Former Under Secretary of Homeland Security watched the video he "had to remind [himself] that this was a "news segment" and not an attack ad produced by the Romney campaign. As [he] watched it, [he] found [himself] agreeing with the facts contained in the segment, but questioning the "presentation." After watching the entire segment it was clear that this a great opportunity to show that how the news is presented from either end of the political spectrum can affect our perception of the news." Thus we see that the media's influence is harming the democratic process. Thank You :)