It's that power - to turn the public opinion - that has turned most of our society, especially our politicians, into sniveling cowards that make every move based on what the media will say about them.
Pols have always been sniveling cowards in the face of public opinion and always will be. It's just the nature of the beast.
The problem is that media decides what is 'news' or 'entertainment' and how it will be portrayed and that is what drives public opinion, both politically and socially. Like the Lewinski scandal... in my home we never ever even mentioned 'oral sex', yet it was on the 'news' constantly during the Clintoon years. And what did we end up with? A whole generation of young women who give bjs at the drop of a hat because they were 'conditioned' by the 'news'.
Media controls what political opinion and what themes are announced in your living room every day.
It's like inviting George Soros to speak in your home every day all day.
And we wonder why we have problems...