It is human nature to believe what we hear. We trust the media and don’t question it because assumingly, we believe that they present information which is well researched and honest. That is also because we do not have many choices to check that information ourselves. The public listens to the media all the time, whether they are aware of that or not, until they reach the level that they believe anything they are told by the media.  Media is a method to send messages to people. But lately, people stopped forming their own opinions about what is going on in the world. For example, the media tell us what and who is important, who should run a country, and about authority.

When it comes to politics, media has a huge impact; good and bad. For example, media could help the politician in developing his career but can also destroy it. Although is it wrong, but bias is created because most media are owned by rich people who could be politicians. Media could alter the truth by working its way around it or elaborating the actual facts. For example, the media could hide certain aspects of politicians’ actions which we are not “supposed” to know about. At the same time, the media is able to create scandals and destroying that politician. So basically, the media makes profit by controlling the careers of politicians or by telling us what we want to hear. But media should be forced to be 100% truthful about what they are telling the public, not less and not more in order to deserve out trust.

Some examples of the effects of media in politics are inaugurations of presidents, wars, and “man’s first step on the moon (if that even happened). Coming from Lebanon which is a very diverse political and religious country (17 different religions), I have seen many ways the media influenced people’s opinions about politics. For example, there are at least 4 different TV stations which belong to certain politicians to promote certain ideas, where each TV station would interpret facts differently. I have lately received an email which represents this case in Lebanon. It says that the main event was that a Lebanese was hit by a car on the road between Lebanon and Syria. One station would interpret this as having this Lebanese citizen assassinated for being against Syria; another station would report this as a Lebanese sacrifice against the Israel; and another one would say that America aimed to kill this Lebanese citizen. So this not only describes the conditions in Lebanon but the world. The media is a very affective and dangerous tool influencing people’s minds.

        In conclusion, there must be more restrictions and laws for the media describing what they are supposed to publish or don’t publish. They have an ethical responsibility towards the public, where everyone is touched by what the media do or don't do. But the question is, would politics even exist the way they do without the media?