The media is one of the most essential channels of communication in the society. As a result of these, it is always under severe scrutiny, particularly by law regulating bodies such as the government and its affiliates (Timmons 45). The major challenge that the media faces is ensuring fairness and objectivity during its passing of information; this basically implies that it must not be biased in its objectivities and should always pass on the correct information. One of the key roles of the media is to serve as a government watchdog. It is whereby the media basically assumes the roles of activism in order to keep the government and other authoritative bodies in check against cases of bad governance.
There is always a mutual relationship between the media and the elected government officials. Despite the bitter nature of the relationship between the two parties, there are scenarios whereby they both require collaborative efforts for both the media and the politicians to pursue their goals. One of the cases during which the political candidates rely on the media is during election campaigns. The politicians usually rely on the media to increase their publicity and public relations. One such case is how frequent and the time that a candidate is allocated in the media channels for passing on information. The politicians also greatly rely on media provisions to convey their prospective initiatives that they would fulfill once elected in office. Another way through which the politicians significantly depend on the media is through cooperating with it in order to avoid the disclosure of their unethical ways which may tarnish their political image (Timmons 59).
The media also relies on politicians on one way or another. One such case is when the media requires the passing of the laws that favor the smooth running of media in a nation. The media operations and limitations is subjective to the acts and laws that are passed by the government, this implies that the functionality of the media is fully dependent on the regulating bodies. Another case in which the media depends on the politicians is that they form the basis for new media coverage such as news stories, relevant information and the particulars that are to be conveyed through the diverse media channels such as the television, the newspapers and so on (Timmons 89).
The efforts to control the media and the dire need for the media to influence the government usually counter balances in the long run. The three basic concepts that are involved in the relationship between the media and the government include; media protection, government control over the media and the media's influence on the government (Timmons 90).
