These jokes shape opinions as well or better than the news outlets. The opinions like Bush lacking or Bill Clinton s womanizing were targets for Leno and Letterman. My Bush show depicts the new president as a little bit unintelligent. One episode shows Bush, forming ideas about the death penalty from an old frat buddy. This could be construed as a negative effect about the media influencing politics.
Some people think that talk show hosts attack political figures a bit too much.
Things like the National Inquirer and The Drudge Report invade the privacy of political candidates. Private lives of candidates are constantly being dug up in order to sell more papers. Some people think that media is slanted towards the left. The New Republic is a Conservative news outlet that thinks that the American media is a bit Liberal. They think that the media favors Democrats.