American Idol and the Presidential Elections

The industry of broadcasting has long been taking its toll to the mindset of the general population. For the very long time, media outputs have played a vital role in providing its patrons the kind of entertainment they intentionally or non-intentionally introduce. However, due to the fact that media is almost always represent the popular culture of the people, it can’t be denied that the whole reflection of the social function of a nation can be seen clearly in any forms of media communication. The creation of the popular reality program American Idol has changed the way viewers portray the role of an ordinary observer.

The program has provided a fresh new outfit of correspondence where the interaction of the viewers is as valuable as the program itself. Apparently, because of the increasing number of communication device options in the market today, it is now very easy to take part in any media event with just a click of a button. This event has prompted many television networks to tap the marketing capability of communication devices to increase the so-called advertising revenue. The American idol was able to use this strategy by introducing the electronic voting system for the viewers.

They have designated the use of a phone or mobile device, which serves as a medium to participate in the casting of votes for the contestants. The release of statistics that reflected the number of voters in American Idol has somehow stirred a relatively significant concern when it reflects out that it has outnumbered the actual number of votes in the presidential elections. This scenario has lead to a good argument whether the government system is really at the verge of being disgusted or if the data is merely a raw commodity that has not yet reached the maturity of analysis.
Somehow, there has been a feeling of disgust that currently manifests in the world of politics. Some of the attributes in the elections provide a rather inconceivable effect of aversion among the public. This is because politics are only very much concerned on how it will project its image rather than how it will serve the public. Just pondering the billions of dollars spent in a presidential election would make an individual squirm because of the fact that the money, wherever it came from, only the advertising component will benefit form it.
Even though, we cannot readily say the electoral process system is broken just for the simple fact that the public is not interested in politics at all. We can look at the statistics about the voting numbers of the American Idol as against to the presidential election but being as a critical thinker. If in any case there is still a large discrepancy based on factor analysis, then that would be the only time when assumption of massive hatred in that politics have resulted to the public’s apathy and have fallen apart from its grip of public trust.
The American idol voting system is practically very attuned to the convenience of the participants while on the other hand, the presidential elections needs a specific format process to address the standard requirements in casting a political vote. For American idol, landline phones and mobile phones give instant results of the voting with a simple keypad button sequence while you have to register and be at least 18 years old to vote for America’s leader. In the television program, you just have to dial a phone to vote for the next American Idol.
You don’t have to be 18; you don’t have to “register,” and you aren’t limited to one vote; you’re limited to two hours. You don’t have to use gas to get to the polls, and you don’t have to decipher any ballots; you just pick a person and dial a phone (Falk, par. 2). This might have been the very reason why number figures favor much of the data in the American Idol voting compared to the presidnetial elections. Of course it is not possible to compare the numbers since they were acquired in two very different modes.
As a matter of fact, the voting system has some serious voting problems were tens of millions of votes were lost (Seibel, par. 3). Even though this is the case, the problem of people diverting away from their interest in politics will still have a very large negative impact. The principles employed in the political advertising arena makes it a very unrecognizeable aspect of social function. People will just find a more appealing and more realistic system such as the American Idol where they see and feel the actual results almost instantly.
There is not much that politics can do to acquire back the interest of the public whether they do good or not. Ploticians will always be embarked on the unusual activities of advertising their platforms to gain the public’s approval of their competnecies. However, the media has the responsibility to provide the most realisitc analysis of true representation of what is actually happening in the society. In the case of the American Idol being more popular than the national electoral process, it can readily define how people preceive the actual dilemma of the community, more of a nation.
This attention and preference discrepancy can only be resolved if there is a complete transparency in disseminating info coming from both sides. The American Idol should exemplify the actual process of voting and its statistics while the presidential electoral institution should clearly present their advocacy in their politcal ads. Works Cited: Falk, Michael. 17 May 2006. <http://www. progressiveu. org/064001-voting-american-idol-vs-presidential-elections> Seibel, Deborah. 17 May 2004. <http://www. broadcastingcable. com/article/CA417981. html>