"The Limits of Media Power," by Robert J. Samuelson.

Essay by dukrbukCollege, UndergraduateA+, November 2003

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Many of us do not realize how interesting a magazine article is until we get almost half way through it. Authors like Robert J. Samuelson, in that sense, are the same as a magazine article. Reading this editor's article, I found that the interesting point that he makes is to defend the truth in his line of business. In our economy, the media has a strong influence on how people relate to many different topics. The reputation of the media is thought of as negative and in some cases, only good for talking down on the economy. In his article called "The Limits of Media Power," Robert J. Samuelson tells us "we're often accused of spreading 'gloom and doom' and threatening the economy. The first charge is sometimes true. The second isn't." What he means, is that readers of these articles do feel threatened by what some articles say.

That is said to be the Author's "first charge." The "second charge" that authors are not guilty of, Samuelson says; "because the media is everywhere, reader's influence is routinely exaggerated." Also saying, "The truth is that we do influence and refine public opinion, but rarely create or manipulate it." So Samuelson's intent in this article, I believe, is giving the readers an honest answer to why the media has such a reputation.

From a media perspective, tragedy is like striking gold. In many cases, news media would rather hype up and chart a tragedy than focus on a quieter success story. From my point of view, I think that the media for the most part, are a bunch of idiots. Everything always seems to come up with its own story, or get turned around somewhere in the wondrous mind of a reporter. Looking at sports reporters for instance, I feel...