This excerpt about the media malady effect is a powerful statement:
"Negative economic headlines were found to have a significant and negative impact on subsequent consumer sentiment [and] an adverse effect on subsequent leading economic indicators up to a five-month time lag...Clearly news organizations hold the power to effect change" (as cited in Griffin, 367).
It is very similar to the polls. Many times the press coverage on election polls will harm the front-runner. The reasoning for this is that people assume that the front-runner already has enough support, so they assume their vote will not make a difference. Then the runner-up will get more votes, and maybe even sympathy votes in order to keep them in the game. The media and the press can have a black magic or poisonous affect on people's opinions and perceptions. The creation and perpetuation of ideas in media headlines seem to create a self-fulfilling prophecy for the audience that subscribes to those ideas. When someone falls prey to believing a negatively-framed idea, they will almost always act out those ideas subconciously in order to prove to themselves that what they chose to believe is true. This also brings to my attention, the recent stock market crash and recession in America right now. The more people listen to and believe the media, the more they will panic and sell their stocks, which leads to a larger crash in the market. It is an evil cycle; an economic catch twenty-two.
I agree that the media really does have a large amount of control over what people think about presidential candidates and the state of the economy. I think news outlets try to gain ratings by having the most outrageous topics, but sometimes when you scare people enough they will react. It's what happens when the media creates the news. They definitely have a huge influence on us.
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