Following the invention of the television, and later, the internet, the media has become a part of daily life to Americans. In the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the only “celebrities” were politicians and war heroes. Now, anybody who can get on television can end up in the tabloids. Weekly, if not daily, a new headline flashes across the supermarket lines. Usually scandalous and mostly untrue, these reports are a plea for readers and shock value. Who would rather read about a happy Hollywood couple than Britney and K-Fed’s bitter divorce battle and her downhill struggle? The writers in these magazines and news reports know that if they report the truth and only the truth, it will be the bane of their career.

News coverage has even made it into this year’s presidential election. In a petty fit of mudslinging, Republican candidate John McCain released an ad calling Democratic opponent Barack Obama “a celebrity”. The ad started out showing pictures of scandal princesses Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and quickly compared Barack Obama to the two girls. Whether or not this changed anybody’s minds about the election is yet to be seen, but it still shows an honest political use for the media. In fact, presidential candidates have been using commercials and the media to smother their opponent’s political hopes.

The media business itself has created help for political candidates. Many celebrities choose to endorse a certain candidate like Oprah Winfrey has done for Barack Obama. Other celebrities have chosen to bad mouth a candidate, but what if these handfuls of people weren’t famous? Their opinions would never make it to the fronts of magazines or to the headline news. The Dixie Chicks’ widely criticized comments putting down George W. Bush would have never been heard by the masses had the media moguls not slammed the comments into the pages of tabloids. Media not only reports on these comments, but they’re the sole reason for the comments being heard. With no media business, the movie stars and television stars dissipate. These comments may end up changing a lot of minds of the herds of sheep in America.

The average person doesn’t research for progress in wars. They rely on the media to bring the war news to them. These moguls have complete control over what some people think our country is doing. If a paper or TV station reports that we have liberated millions of people and brought peace to the Middle East, some may believe it. This will have obvious effects on the way the country is run. The more people who depend on the media for war info, the more that will advocate sending more troops. In reality, the American troops could be torturing and killing innocents, but some will never know. For example, had pictures not been taken inside the sheer terror that was Abu Gharib, it may have gone unnoticed by the American masses for even longer than it did.

The media has America wrapped around its powerful, money hungry fingers. They decide what we find out about and what is kept secret. They choose if we’re succeeding in Iraq or losing thousands of troops to a false cause. A mainly Republican magazine decides whether mudsling towards their candidate is heard by their supporters. A Democratic magazine may choose to ignore some of the few honorable policies of their elephant counterparts. America should be fearful of the day when the media could single handedly turn an election, or has that day already arrived?