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Interest groups are not necessarily just lobbyists. They are any party interested in the outcome of a campaign. Thus, a notable group included here is the media. How other interested parties utilized television is an interesting way of looking at the usefulness of the technology. Voters can't really make use of TV. Candidates use it to project a certain image, as well as get their message across to viewers. How then did a news station use television to impact a campaign? How might a lobbyist have used TV? These outsiders in the political realm can get involved in the process through television. Consider the media. Since 1964, the media has used television to predict election results early so people can watch the elections as they unfold. Much like no one can control the way politicians use the television, nor what politicians say on television, no one can control how the media makes use of television for politicial ends. For nearly 40 years, since the advent of televised presidential election coverage, people have actually found predicted election results to be inappropriate. Forty-seven percent of people surveyed in 1964 did not believe that predicting election results was appropriate (7). Those numbers have held true throughout the years. Clearly, this demonstrates that the media is willing to simply give the populus certain information to watch. One must also consider the possibilities of having such a broad media that is controlled by such a select few. Does the television media report to the people, or does it merely espouse the views of the mega-corporations that own it? Not only do people have little say in what happens on television, but they also are forced to accept information from a narrow grouping of sources. This provides the media, and other groups, a unique opportunity to influence the populus. This entire phenomena began in the sixties and has dominated politics since then.
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