TELEVISION AND POLITICS IN THE 1960'S

Television has become one of the most important influences in the nation's life, especially its political life. The ways in which television presented the news and in which political figures appeared, especially, the Presidents, became noticeably important in the 1960's. It was feared that domination of television by wealthy candidates would further weaken the democratic process. Although such wholesale capture of the electorate was not evident in the Sixties, it was regarded as a future danger. Television news was remarkable for its saturation in the public, its power to calm the people in time of crisis, its conciseness, and the ambivalence with which people reacted to it.