ABSTRACT
The conduct of modern elections in the United States of America guarantees that the relationship between media and politics is a symbiotic one. An informed electorate is not possible without information, and information is the business of the media. Lance Bennett (1996) described the significant role that the news media play in our system of governance and pointed out that the media actually control “democracy’s most important product: political information” (p. xii). To understand candidates and their messages, citizens rely on the media. As democratic theory suggests (Berelson, 1966; Kelley, 1960), a prime requirement for self-governance is the ability of citizens to make informed decisions; and to make these decisions-such as who we will elect to be the leader of our nation-we need relevant information.
