How might television negatively affect democracy, politics, and government policy in the aftermath of 9/11 in the United States of America?
On September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a fourth crash-landed in a field in Pennsylvania. The World Trade Center towers, affectionately known as the Twin Towers, collapsed mere hours after impact. Two years after this tragic event occurred, CNN’s Phil Hirschkorn (2003) noted that the revised death toll of September 11 totaled 2,752 individuals, not including the 10 hijackers who crashed the airplanes.
The purpose of this essay is to determine how television might negatively affect democracy, politics, and government policy in the United States of America following the terror attacks of 9/11. In order to do so, this study begins by briefly examining the development of television technology and the origins of political broadcasting in the United States. This is followed by a discussion of theories on the negative effects of television news media on interpersonal trust, political trust, and policy support. After examining the effects of varying media forms, this essay shifts its focus to a post-9/11 evaluation of news media in the United States in order to examine the degree of influence that the media may have had on government policies, political attitudes, and public opinion. The essay concludes by discussing potential future impacts of information communication technologies on democracy, politics, and government.
As with many contemporary corporations, during the 1920s “the [Radio Corporation of America] (RCA) spent millions on television research and attempted to buy out or crush other competitors in [what Conway (2007) has described as] its attempts to dominate the visual medium” (p.36). Due to its substantial investment in technological research RCA achieved many of televisions first. As an example, its network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), broadcast live sporting events which included baseball and boxing (Conway, 2007, p.36). Despite having a technological advantage, RCA and its networks decided against developing a daily news segment. It was the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) that developed “a separate television news presence” (Conway, 2007, p.37) beginning in 1941.
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Many theories have been developed surrounding the effects of television on its viewing audience. Robert Putnam argues that television is in large part responsible for the “decline of social capital in the United States” (Lee, Capella, and Southwell, 2003, p.415). Social capital, for the purpose of this essay, is comprised of participation in group activities, political involvement, and interpersonal trust. As noted by Gross, Aday, and Brewer (2004), “interpersonal trust, or trust in other people, [has been found to shape] cooperation, volunteering, giving to charity, and policy preferences” (p.50). Gross et al. (2004) also suggested that “political trust affects compliance with government authority, voting behaviour, and policy preferences” (p.50). Based on these definitions, it can be assumed that social and political trust can influence government policy, politics and democracy. Positive levels of social and political should therefore increase trust in other people, including government officials and media officers, and reduce opposition to government legislation.