User:Lll84/Mass media and American politics

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As a few new technologies were becoming easily available, experts did not expect the internet to have a major impact in American politics, before the year 2000. During this time mass media outlets such as newspapers, radios, and networks were losing public in alarming numbers. The focus in the newsroom for mass media outlets shifted from policy to character, when addressing American political news. This change only aggravated the opinion of the American public on the way mass media handled political news. During this time political candidates would use paid political advertising, rich in content, in order to better inform about their policies to the public.

While the introduction of the internet and digital media gave some hope of changing the way mass media portrayed political news, this did not happened. Immediacy, “the quality of bringing one into direct and instant involvement with something, giving rise to a sense of urgency or excitement ,” continued to be the focus of mass media, as represented by major networks like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. They, have maintained their audiences based on the success of providing entertaining programming, focusing on dramatic content. The entertaining and engaging political news, some mass media outlets introduced, precured the rise of Soft news.

As indicated by Newman and Smith, in their essay titled “Fanning the Flames, Religious Media Consumption and American Politics,” in 2007, soft news can have considerable political influence. Britannica.com defines “soft news” as, “Soft news also called market-centered journalism, journalistic style and genre that blurs the line between information and entertainment. …” Furthermore, as pointed out by Baum, in 2005 consumers of soft news are being exposed to relevant political suggestions as a collateral to turning their attention to soft news.