First, what politics affect media? It seems to me that the impact on the most media comes mainly from political correctness. Political correctness refers to the self-censorship that gives priority to certain ideas in speech, behavior and policy out of consideration of ideology, values and public pressure, usually to avoid causing offence to certain groups of society. It can also be used literally to refer to the official position, the mainstream values of society. The media must follow, or report or guide awareness within this framework. Political correctness is often seen as a restriction on freedom of speech, requiring influential politicians, public figures, media, and educational institutions to meet certain conditions when making statements and transmitting information. Politically incorrect statements or actions can result in criticism, attacks. The parties may be marginalization, job loss, and even civil or criminal prosecution.
For example, in terms of ideology, the media should pay attention to the correct guidance of the viewpoints in the reports on the colored people and homosexuality, without any discriminatory connotations.
In terms of consumption, the media need to promote resource conservation and low-carbon life, not illegal activities such as drug use.
In politics, in many European and American countries, media propaganda can influence the outcome of presidential election to a great extent. In turn, the president can also use the media to publicize and persuade the public to accept their ideas and new policies.
Individual enterprises or companies are also subject to legal restrictions when they use the media to promote their products. For example, they are not allowed to carry out false publicity, or exaggerate the efficacy of their products, and they are not allowed to promote addictive drugs or other harmful products.
In the case of current events, in some cases, media real-time coverage can be influenced by political factors. For example, after mass sexual assaults in several German cities on New Year’s Eve in 2015. Since most of the offenders are Muslim refugees of North African origin and Afghan origin, the German governments and media at all levels covered up the case in order to “support the political correctness of accepting foreign refugees”. After the case was exposed, it drew strong criticism from all circles. Some comments said that “Germans pay a heavy price for ensuring ‘political correctness'”, that “political correctness” is the root cause of the refugee crisis in Germany today “, and that “the pursuit of ‘political correctness’ at all costs is creating chaos and even tragedy for Germany and Europe”.
If the media violates these principles, they may be attacked in public opinion, to a certain extent, prosecuted by the judiciary, or punished more severely by law.
Reference:
Wikipedia, 2021. Politically correct. Available from: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E6%AD%A3%E7%A2%BA