Passage Two
Disillusionment with government and politics has contributed to the public's fascination with the media's increased interest in the character issue. The public's growing concern with character may be considered instinctual. Too often, in recent past, voters have reached out to candidates with neatly packaged virtues- characteristics they often fail to have in reality.
There is another reason why the American people have“encouraged”the media to explore the politicians as never before. Political parties have seldom been more interchangeable. Ideological differences have become burred. And the nation's social and economic problems are too complicated to submit to clever political slogans. Consequently, most of the candidates now play it safe on the issues, relying on their rhetorical skills to produce the greatest number of sound bites that say as little as possible. The character issue becomes a way to sell candidates and to set them apart from each other.
The issue of the media and character raises a number of important questions. Has the media gone too far in attempting to define what character is and what role it should play in identifying the differences between political candidates? Are the print media and television really responding to the public's growing desire for a greater “need to know”their candidates or are they manufacturing everything, no matter how trivial, in hope of selling more newspapers or achieving higher rating points? Is the media being responsible in defining the role of character in a political campaign? The great amount of coverage and the intensifying competition among the news organizations have led to more reports about the candidates' personal and especially sexual lives, says political science professor Larry Sabato, author of Feeding Frenzy.
As the bigger more important issues become increasingly more complicated, the media has begun to focus more and more attention on the trifles. Character no longer becomes a question of how a candidate may handle an international crisis or prioritize a domestic agenda but whether the candidate cheated on a college exam years ago or committed adultery. By [elevating] character as an important element in the presidential election, has the media lost sight of properly defining character and the role it should play in identifying the best candidate?
Questions 6-10 are based on Passage Two.
The media are giving increasing attention to _____.
