The correct answer is A) People tend to vote for the candidates who they find most appealing, rather than the ones whose beliefs are most like their own.
People consider the way the media cover candidates for public office bad for democracy because "People tend to vote for the candidates who they find most appealing, rather than the ones whose beliefs are most like their own."
That is why propaganda and public relations activities play a major role in modern political campaigns. Elections are decided in mass media by PR and advertising. People are no more interested in the political platform of the candidate or the political party.
The issue is that with the advent of TV, the presence of the Radio, and now, social media, many Americans decided to follow and believe what they listened to the news or read in the newspaper. Critical thinking and the attitude to do research, read other sources, books, encyclopedias and learn and know more, started to diminish. Instead of thinking, many Americans were happy to wait and see what other people thought, and they simply followed what others said.