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Essay / The relationship between pressure groups and information...
Nowadays, it is understandable to hear that huddled citizens gathered in the streets or gathered in front of the official government to argue their calls to the government or put pressure on the 'slow government. These phenomena could be identified by social activities carried out by pressure groups and as forms of expression of public opinion (Grant, 1999: 4). However, the news media also reveals functions similar to those of pressure groups in attracting public attention and awareness on certain issues, even going so far as to influence the government's decision to a large extent. This essay will mainly focus on analyzing how pressure groups successfully use and affect the news media in terms of increasing public attention to their campaigns, accompanied by some negative examples of pressure groups pressure on news media errors. Furthermore, this essay will critically discuss the relationship between pressure groups and the news media; some techniques used by pressure groups in the media field and how the media reacted to pressure groups. There are several types of pressure groups existing in today's society which have different values and objectives. More specifically, cause groups may be eager to place certain debates on the political agenda and expect to receive effective political action (Grant, 2000, P126); sector groups may need to draw public attention to their issues, but sometimes they block public attention in order to conduct activities through informed consultative channels (Grant, 2000, P126); interest groups that are easy to understand in its literal sense and used to increase their interest in the political agenda using the media (Grant, 2000, P127). Therefore, some pressure groups require a higher level of media support than others. Furthermore, despite lobbying groups tied to the political agenda, environmental groups have established long-standing relationships with the news media that could be identified by a large number of environmental articles in media coverage (Hansen, 1993, P5). In detail, the best-known environmental groups employed rich and experienced staff; workers involved in writing environmental news before or in providing environmental information to journalists who will ensure that their campaign themes are similar or familiar with favorable media coverage (Hansen, 1993, P5). However, environmental groups enjoy significant advantages in media coverage over other pressure groups because environmental information is more newsworthy and equivalent to news criteria (Hansen, 1993, P5). Although pressure groups demand news media at a varied level, different forms of news media can exhibit varying effects depending on their functions and target audiences...