Has the media influenced Wyoming voters’ views on issues and about candidates by promoting a particular agenda for the public? Wyoming has often been on national and state media over the past several years shaping public opinion and our world views, locally and globally. There has been a lot of research on the role of news media setting the agenda for those reading and watching the news believe because the information they are receiving is dominant, it is the most acceptable news. For example, agenda-setting research generally points to the power of media to tell us what we think about. But that is not enough. The other side of the coin is whether the same media tell us how to think, in other words which candidate is most acceptable and why. For example, during the 2022 congressional election in Wyoming, the Wyoming and national news media told us how to think a certain way about the candidates. Trump basically interfered by sending in his minions to the state during the campagin season, in order to defeat incumbant Congresswoman Liz Cheney. In addition. a significant number of Wyoming news media were being bought by “investors” from out of state who likely had a hidden agenda to ensure a particular outcome of the election — the defeat of Cheney. This strategy was a first in Wyoming political history, and it won’t be the last until we voters are aware of how it came about.
What about critical thinking? Have Wyoming residents abdicated that role to the media when they accept unquestionngly the dominant media stories and political positions regarding issues and candidates?
Media may affect an individual’s view of the political landscape by suggesting a significant majority exists that supports a particular issue or candidate. A spiral of silence exists when there appears, through news reporting and public opinion polls, that a dominant political position exists. Nonetheless it is our civic duty to learn and to hold the media accountable for their actions affecting the Wyoming public. Simply, because if the media have purposefully influenced public opinion to obtain a certain outcome (propaganda), their owners and journalists pose a serious challenge to democracy.
Our first step is to find out who owns the news media in Wyoming — newspapers, radio and television as well as who owns the online news media. We must determine their political orientation. Of concern is how they present the news and information about elections in Wyoming. Finally, we should be able to extrapolate if and how their offerings affect voters’ thinking and behavior. Now is the time to examine the conduct of the Wyoming media, before more fall to outsiders. A question we can ask is: Which has greater effect on the public — Wyoming media or Fox News beamed into every household? As a goal, we Wyomingites should work to find a way to urge the Wyoming media back to the days when media served the public good fairly, truthfully, and without propagandistic and hidden agendas.
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