Media links people and the government:
- Provides political information
- Facilitates political decisions
- Analyzes political leaders and their capabilities
- Avails the history and prospects of leaders
- Informs the public about government plans and projects (Limaye et al., 2020)
Media plays an important role in the provision of information to the public regarding the quality of their leaders and empowers citizens to make informed decisions during the election period (Cheng et al., 2017). Political information concerning their leaders helps citizens develop the right attitudes towards the leaders and government.
Sets the public agenda:
- Agenda setting
- Agenda cutting
- Determines priorities in the legislative arena (Malecki et al., 2021)
- Provides information on government activities
- Provides facts and realities
The public depends on the media for the provision of information to support their decisions and opinion regarding government performance (Limaye et al., 2020). What the media decides to highlight and cover determines the information available to the public and subsequent priorities in the legislative arena.
Promotes the free exchange of opinions and ideas:
- Enhances sharing of ideas
- Determines government operations
- Influences government agenda
- Criticizes and investigates government decisions
- Encourages negotiation with the government
The media facilitates a smooth flow of information between the government and its citizens creating room for better understanding (Limaye et al., 2020). It ensures that the government knows what the public expects from its activities while citizens learn about the potential of their leaders.
Controls the government activities:
- Evaluates whether the government is meeting its obligations
- Highlights the public interest
- Interviews government leaders
- Collects public opinion
- Provides feedback to the public and government
Media plays an important role in appraising and overseeing the activities of the government based on public expectations (Malecki et al., 2021). This encourages officials to remain focused on the achievement of their promises and objectives.
Supports well-functioning democracy:
- Promotes transparency and enhances accountability (Cheng et al., 2017)
- Reports election development
- Encourages debate between candidates and parties
- Promotes the communication of opinions and concerns
- Provides information on the election process
Media helps voters know the progress of an election process and counting of voters, ensuring accountability and transparency (Cheng et al., 2017). It makes it difficult for dishonest leaders to engage in irregularities and compromise the credibility of an election.
Media provides a communication platform to enhance understanding:
- Magazines and newspapers serve as forums to support political discourse
- Televisions and radio briefs provide a platform for the expression of ideas (Limaye et al., 2020)
- Media brings political and government stories to citizens’ living rooms
- Explains ongoing events and issues
- Covers interesting government stories
The media has been chasing critical information to help citizens learn more about the government. Moreover, citizens gain a better understanding of issues affecting them and learn to deal with the situation.
Media helps the government to achieve its objective:
- Educates the public on beneficial policies
- Citizens distinguish the good and bad leaders
- Supports the government in influencing positive attitude from the public (Malecki et al., 2021)
- Facilitates the elimination of discriminations and biases
- Highlights vulnerable groups requiring assistance
Media enables the government to pass information to the public, making it possible to win support from its people (Cheng et al., 2017). The government educates its people and offers details of important events such as immunization, public health, and research.
Media promotes management of state resources and response to emergencies:
- Promotes crisis communication
- Enables citizen engagement (Limaye et al., 2020)
- Encourages the development of public trust
- Sets the record straight
- Provides a cost-effective method of communication
Media benefits the government in many ways, particularly providing an effective method of communicating and interacting (Malecki et al., 2021). It enables sending beneficial information to the public and ensures necessary measures are taken at the right time.
References
Cheng, X., Fu, S., & de Vreede, G. J. (2017). Understanding trust influencing factors in social media communication: A qualitative study. International Journal of Information Management, 37(2), 25–35.
Limaye, R. J., Sauer, M., Ali, J., Bernstein, J., Wahl, B., Barnhill, A., & Labrique, A. (2020). Building trust while influencing online COVID-19 content in the social media world. The Lancet Digital Health, 2(6), 277–278.
Malecki, K. M., Keating, J. A., & Safdar, N. (2021). Crisis communication and public perception of COVID-19 risk in the era of social media. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 72(4), 697–702.