The role of television in political processes
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e form and the content of the news media.politics transformed not only because of the political and social factors but also as a result of the existence of so called McLuhans Galaxy, the reality that emerged in the era of electronic media (primarily television) supremacy. McLuhans theory about the TV medium allows us to better understand the nature of symbolic politics transformation. McLuhan sees television as the dominant medium that forms the message of our epoch. Although today this medium is seriously challenged by newer inventions (internet, mobile technology), its influence on the culture lasts. According to McLuhan, the most significant feature brought to the culture by electronic media is irrationality. Characteristics of MacLuhans Galaxy such as mosaic perception, unification and simplification of reality, lack of logic and chronology contradict rational political activism and thus, forces society and its members out of a political space.
Chapter 2 EFFECTS
Analysis of telediscourse
is the form of democratic governance that is adapted to the rules of telediscourse. This specific discourse exists on the screen as mosaic of presentative images, which do not claim to be right or wrong, but only to seem real. In general, telediscourse is contra-discourse, where the value of logic (rational sequence and coherent context) turns into anti-value as soon as it ceases to entertain the public. For example, the value of logic of television that changes into anti-value is clearly shown in the following quote: The one who speaks for too long - is hiding something, the one who is silently showing impressive shots - is a prophet. The difference between see and know is erased by magic realism of TV images. Such images develop its persuasive potential by concealing the difference between fiction and reality. Consequently, they are more convincing for an audience member than theoretical and ideological arguments. Therefore, TV-images are read according to the crucial rule of telediscourse: what cannot be spoken about on the screen should be in fact shown there since the pictures are stronger than thousands words.
The main reason for distortion of reality in the media, according to W. Schulz, is that the messages are influenced by internal factors of media. Events with simple structure, conflict in the centre of action, high level of personification, attachment to stereotypes are most appreciated in telediscourse. Those events that correspond to these requirements are accepted and utilized those that do not correspond are ignored or gate-kept.I should mention American sociologist Jerry Marder, the author of Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (1978). He identified features immanent for the nature of television, however without using the concept of telediscourse. Among them were: biased negative attitude towards complicated and sophisticated questions that require historical approach, serious problems, traditions and spirituality, mass social movement, realities and aura of human life. Instead, according to Marder, television prefers death, war, goods, artificially created events, and quickened pace, charismatic leaders.authors quoted above identified the rules of telediscourse from the perspective of two different schools of thought: American sociological school and German philosophical school, which do not contradict but supplement each other. Inclusion and explanation of the views of the representatives of these two schools served the purpose of providing more detailed analysis of telediscourse and its content.
Main consequences of mediated symbolic politics
parties and institutions of state power are trying to adapt themselves to conditions of teledemocracy, they are, in this way, strengthening political orientation towards mass media. Television is accused, thus, of shifting the emphasis towards rhetoric and symbolism, away from real political problems and objectives. Symbolic politics of the post-modern political communication era has gained more permanent character and symbolic actions have become routine.for publicity can be seen as the first consequence of for the modern symbolic politics. Being public has become one of the most important tasks of politicians. Those who are trying to limit publicity lose their positions in a tough political struggle. The statement of E. Noelle-Neumann (1993) - the one, who does not find his own opinion in mass communication, is silent - in reference to politicians can be paraphrased as the one, who is not present in political communication, is not present in the world of politics. In other words, the lesser someone appears in media the greater this persons diminution in public eyes.
The next effect is the lowering of concentration of the politicians in practical and problem solving issues. Instead political actors spend great recourses and efforts on communication strategies for the television. It may negatively influence both moral and practical aspects of politics. For instance, presence of television during a parliamentary session can lower its practical efficiency and the lost of parliamentary self-respect: the words before mass auditory is often demagogic or offensive towards others.more consequence of the television mediated symbolic politics is that political language resembles everyday language. During TV-translation narratives are kaleidoscopic (changing fast) and with fragmented plot. Politicians should use the most simplified and laconic constructions in order to be heard and understood. Such simplification in the language can distort the adequate idea about the problem.of the most widely discussed factors of symbolic politics is the rise of the level of political personalization. Television concentrates on party leaders who are mediagenic and well prepared. Among those politicians who succeeded owing to their professional TV-related training were, for example, Ronald Regan and Tony Blair. Although it may be too radical to say that the politicians-as-celebrities have, by themselves, made political parties irrelevant, there is certainly a conspicuous correlation between the rise of the former and the decline of the later.consequence of mediated symbolic politics is that, entertainment has become the supra-ideology of television. Economic, organizational and technological logic of television requires providing the information in entertaining, visually attractive form. Television is not just entertaining but it has made the entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience.
of alienation and dangers of political spectatorship
modern political systems mass media gained power from interpretation and constructing social reality in the process of political communication. The social world is mediated through a media system that has very particular power-effects on how the actions and believes of all of us are caught up in this process. Hence, the potential of symbolic politics rests on creating the models of political reality. Such situation does not necessarily cause political alienation, but it inevitably creates conditions for it. Political alienation is a condition under which media recipients lose the rational sight of political processes and as a consequence, no longer thoughtfully participate in them. Thus, symbolic politics performed through mass media can be viewed as the cause of political alienation.usually have illusionary passive participation, if the political process is staged on TV. Many authors criticize the dangerous tendency: as the modernization process advances, the essential form of citizens participation in election campaigns changes from direct personal involvement to spectatorship. Political spectacle concentrates more on respecting the symbolic commitments on solving real problems.. Murdok proposed the distinction between the identities of customers and that of citizens:the one side stood the crowd, emotional, seduced by dramatic images, acting in concert, bargaining by riot and demonstration. On the other side stood the citizen, rational, open to sequential argument, making considered personal choices and registering preferences soberly, in solitude of the voting booth.
Finally, pre-planned media events, high holidays of mass communication are the clearest symptoms of the development of political theatre. According to Fiske, the term media event is an indication that in:modern world we can no longer rely on a stable relationship or clear distinction between a real event and its mediated representation. Consequently, we can no longer work with the idea that the real is more important, significant, or even and true than the representation. A media event, then, is not a mere representation and what happened, but it has its own reality, which gathers up into itself the reality of the event that may or may not have preceded it., a state-theatre (influencing the minds of citizens through political spectacle) is better than a state-prison (influencing citizens through autocratic methods). Thus, political alienation and passive spectatorship can be accepted as factum brutum in the conditions of modern liberal democracies. However, two dangers stemming from mediated symbolic politics for the democratic process are discernable. Firstly, in case of serious political and social problems mediated symbolic politics can easily turn into tranquillity pill for the public, making it numbed to potential conflicts and apathetic towards any involvement in political processes. Secondly, symbolic politics in its TV version often deprives citizens of an access to accurate and objective information, proper political education and adequate political socialization.
Conclusion
paper showed that the causes of transformation of symbolic politics