“The media has too much influence over the outcomes of elections and referendums.” - Make a case in support of this statement.

A clear example of this statement can been seen in the 2016 Brexit Referendum. During the lead up to the vote there was a significant level of support that was actively involved in supporting the Leave movement, this can be seen in particular in newspapers such as The Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Telegraph. During this period of political uncertainty these newspapers frequently had politically motivated headlines and articles which were built purely on an emotional premise on the themes of sovereignty, immigration and healthcare. It has been argued by many backing the Remain Campaign that these newspapers helped to 'mislead' the public with false or controversial content. Furthermore, it has been argued that without the influence of these right wing anti-establishment papers then the public would not have been swayed and voted in favour of leaving the European Union.
Another example of the influence by the media can been seen in the 2019 General Election. In this election the right wing media ran a smear campaign of opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and using a similar argument of the Leave Campaign This lead to a general consensus of peoples reason for voting party "x" was not based on the parties manifesto but rather to stop Corbyn from gaining power. Additionally, the other main point of influence used in the context of sovereignty and the premise of leaving the European Union. The arguments that were used by the paper allowed for an outright majority win for the Conservative Party and a significant increase in areas that have traditionally been non-conservative. Therefore this proves the overwhelmingly powerful influence that the media has over the general public in order to effectively determine the outcome of arguably the most important elections of the decade.