Media transparency deals with the way the media is viewed to the public today and concerns why the media may portray something the way that it does. Media communication can be a very powerful tool in affecting change whether it is political or social. The various implications it has on the way issues are viewed within the government and to the public has a great affect on public policy change in the United States.Social media participation can be a key factor in whether or not something is accepted by the government. Transparency causes issues when there are many competing sources and they are possibly corrupt. The biased information can affect public policy if the government is tampering with the way the information is portrayed, in order to cast a positive or negative light on it. Depending on how transparent a news article is, one can determine its reliability and draw their own assumptions or draw their own conclusions from the findings.

The media’s pervasive influence can directly affect public opinion. It has been stated that “the only means of influencing what people think is precisely to control what they think about.” Agenda-setting relates to the process of policy change because “media content is pervasive and rife with explicit and implicit political meaning.” Beyond the role that agenda-setting can play in influencing public opinion, agenda building has to do with the mechanisms by which “social problems originate on the media agenda and how they are subsequently transformed into political issues.” The transparency with which information has been obtained alters our knowledge about the subject. The framing theory states that media influence issue agendas by portraying an issue as positive or negative; citizens will then be influenced by media to hold similar opinions. By discussing local issues in a positive manner, local media can garner support for issues. By blocking certain users, they defy transparency in media.