US elections and the media: How did we get here?

We explore how a lack of regulation and absence of a strong public broadcaster has impacted the coverage of US politics.

In this special edition of The Listening Post from New York City we explore how a lack of regulation and absence of a strong public broadcaster in America has impacted the coverage of US politics.

As the 2016 presidential election campaign heads into the home stretch, many Americans are accusing their news outlets, particularly on the broadcast side, of not just reporting on the race for the White House - but actually affecting the outcome, through their commercial agendas, prioritising ratings and revenues over journalism and responsible reporting.

So how did we get here? Measuring the totality of media coverage over the entire presidential campaign - the content, the tone, the ideology - is near impossible. But what we can do is examine structural issues in the broadcasting landscape that are unique to the US.