The Media: The Ultimate Linkage Institution

I was intrigued by the recent in-class discussion about how the public and the elites in society both use the media for their own distinct purposes.  We, the general public in society, use the media to tell us what the elites are doing.  We look to the media to explain to us what certain things mean, how the elites view a certain issue, how certain portions of the government function, etc.  On the contrary, the elites in society use the media to find out how we, the general public, feel about certain issues.  I guess you could say the elites use the media to take the public's temperature on certain issues.  Furthermore, while the elites are using the media to tell them what we think, they are also trying to shape the media to frame stories in a way that suits their purpose.  Basically, it seems like a cycle where the media is the constant go between that links the elites in society with the "commoners."

I wondered if this was accurate or not.  Naturally, it seems like it would be true, but I wanted to find some evidence of this.  Well, I seem to have found some proof of this in a recent New York Times article relating to the healthcare law that is coming before the Supreme Court.  This article begins by discussing how Justice Clarence Thomas views the outside pressures that the Court is facing when it comes to the high profile oral arguments over the healthcare law.  This portion of the article gives us, the public, an insight into how a Supreme Court Justice prepares for an important case such as this.  This links the general public, us, with the elites of society.  This portion of the article gives us the personal insight of a Supreme Court Justice.

The other thing I found interesting was the way the article also provided information that would be useful for a Supreme Court Justice to know.  The article discusses many of the outside groups involved in the case and the positions that some of these groups take.  By reading an article such as this, a justice could get some background into the case while learning the positions of these various groups.  Now, it is important to mention that Supreme Court Justices should obviously try to ignore outside pressures and rule simply on the merits of the case.  However, we know that the Supreme Court does not operate in a vacuum.  As such, these types of articles help show the elites the views of the general public when it comes to certain issues.

To me, this article was a living example of some of the topics that we recently discussed in class.  It was interesting to me to see how one article could seemingly serve both the needs of the public and the elites.  The more I study, the more it seems that the media is somewhat of an invaluable tool when it comes to our political process.  Politicians, businessman, and the general public alike all use the media for different purposes.  What is equally interesting is the fact that the media is able to fulfill all of these roles at the same time while still operating in a marketplace.  The media is a truly unique institution that serves as the oil in the machine of government.