FRQ Prompt 9

In modern politics, media plays an increasingly large part in influencing policymakers. The collection of important issues that lawmakers examine and dedicate time to is called the policy agenda and is greatly influenced by what media.
National news media links the voters to what the policymakers have put on the policy agenda. It does this by bringing such issues to the foreground and providing information and increasing the public's knowledge about the agenda. Since national news media reaches a large percentage of the voting populous, it also can bolster support or opposition for certain policies. This causes the lawmakers to pay close attention to national news media and what their constituencies want.
When it comes to media attention, the president is a highly publicized part of our government. This is due to several reasons, primarily the fact that he is an individual. Congress is an amalgamation of people, making them less cohesive and relatable. Part of the president's election process requires him/her to campaign nationwide and make himself/herself a household name; the many individuals that make up Congress do not need to do that. That the president is an individual, also makes it much easier to condemn or praise him. While Congress represents a spectrum, the president holds definite views.
The media and news programs is how the majority of the nation receives its information about politics. As shown in the table, there are several trends of the viewing demographic of nightly news. Most significantly is the dramatic decrease in the percentage of young people who watch the nightly news in 2002 compared to 1974. For the elderly there is a similar trend, although not as dramatic. Another trend observed is that as people get older, they are more likely to watch the news. The elderly are approximately 30% more likely to watch regularly than youth, no matter what the year.
Though the media is still a large part of government, the news is playing a smaller and smaller role. The  public's shift away from using nightly news programs to gather information has changed the way the president presents policies. Since the elderly are more likely to watch the news, the president uses the evening time to target that specific demographic. Even then, the nightly news is not as effective as it once was for promoting and informing on the policy agenda. To reach those who don't watch the news, especially the younger generation, the president must find alternative media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, etc.