Back when media was not easily accessible to masses, Presidents could operate in a vacuum. Their decisions and actions were made public by the administration in a controlled manner. Presidents could paint any picture they wanted. That all changed wth the advent of Radio and TV. With mass media, journalists got power to independently scrutinize President's policy and actions. Mass media informed public and empowered them. President's could no longer work in a vacuum.
This has further evolved with popularization of social media. Now scrutiny power has been distributed among citizen journalists. Now everyone can question and debate Presidents actions. Putting more pressure on the President to act in the best interest of public. This phenomena has strengthened democracy more.
