Media's Obsession with the Second Sarah Palin

Interesting video. I've explored this topic in my previous blog posts as well concerning the media's obsession with...well..idiots. And when this practice enters the world politics, the consequences become a little more serious.

The Difference Between Newsworthy and Unecessary: Media Coverage of 2012 Election

A very interesting article by Jason Linkins from The Huffington Post, discusses the concern around media coverage of elections and what their restrictions should be in the future. With the upcoming election being so close, more and more people are realizing the lengths the media goes to provide every detail possible about the running mates. Some information is not even necessary, but the media would rather go overkill than risk not being the first to report on something. But is all politicl information newsworthy? Linkin interviews Jay Rosen, an NYU professor of journalism concerning these issues and more specifically, how the media highlights on ALL election candidates instead of bringing importance to the ones that actually show promise.


"If campaign coverage is supposed to be about... discovering who has "what it takes" (Richard Ben Cramer) to win the nomination and the election... then the narrative is about winning and overcoming odds and the decision rule should be: cover the candidates who are likely to affect the outcome. Ignore those who won't. Purpose gives you the answer to priorities."


Linkins goes on to say, "Journalists should give more coverage to the candidates who make substantive, material attempts to grapple with the issues that their reporting revealed. Those that fail to do so should be continually called out on the matter."


Linkin nailed this right on the head. With something as important as electing the future leader of our country, media should not cover every political candidate, as it can also get confusing. I know in terms of the younger generation we don't all necessarily follow politics on a daily basis, so when we finally research it and can't seem to be able to pick a side (because of there being so many options) it becomes tedious to merely seek out the highlights of the prime candidates. Journalists and other media writers should really take this into consideration in our next election and all future elections. To give appropriate coverage to the serious candidates could greatly impact the amount of voters and more importantly, create less confusion for the everyday person concerning politics and our government.


With the media influencing so much of campaign coverage, who is actually controlling the campaigning? Media outlets have expanded so much that we are provided with information everywhere we go, even information we don't actually need to know. I can't say I miss the days of newspapers, because unfortunately, I grew up with this digital age. It sounds like a more relaxed approach to provide newspapers with headlines and that being the source of finding out information. But now, we find it with the click of the button and while this has made it easier, we lose sight of what's actually important and what helps us pass the time while reading. 


Will journalists listen? Will the media restrict its coverage? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight and if anything, it may just be getting worse. With more and more media outlets readily becoming available for journalists and writers alike, it makes sense that the coverage of elections can seem excessive, but that doesn't mean we can't still be cautious of this and even prevent it from escalating in the future.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/campaign-coverage-jay-rosen_n_870533.html

John Stewart Comes Face-to-Face With Fox News

Comedian John Stewart got in a heated debate with Fox News hots Chris Wallace concerning stewarts beliefs about Fox News' political agenda. Wallace discussed the matter of liberal bias in the media stewart came back with saying there is not a liberal bias but more so a "bias towards sensationalism and laziness." Fox News is the news channel notorious for being extremely right wing republicans who love to disagree with anything resembling liberal news. Wallace mentioned Stewart statement about Fox News saying he believes them to be "a relentless agenda-driven 24-hour news opinion propoganda delivery system." Stewart of course backed up his statement and maintined hip opinion that Fox news is not an appropriate outlet for political news media. Further into the interview things got a little more heated.

Stewart: I'm given credibility in this world because of the disappointment the public has in what the news media does. 

Wallace: I don't think our viewers are the least bit disappointed in us. I think our viewers think finally they're getting someone who tells the other side of the story.

Stewart: And in polls who is the most consistently misinformed media viewers?  Who's consistently misinformed? Fox. Fox viewers.

Stewart, though he considers himself first a comedian, can debate very well on political matter and rightly stands by his opinion. Fox News will continue to dispense corupt news stories to the public but its people like John Stewart and others who reach out to the public through the media for political purposes, who will continue to appropriate educate the public about politics.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/jon-stewart-to-chris-wallace-on-fox-news-sunday-youre-insane-video/2011/06/20/AGA60pcH_blog.html

Now the President is Even on Twitter?!

When Will Sarah Palin Go Away?

According to this Huffington Post article a movie was made about Senator Sarah Palin that will premiere in Iowa where Sarah Palin plans to attend herself. The film will be released to AMC theaters sometime in July. But why...seriously? The thing I don't understand about Sarah Palin is while I never formed an opinion about her, I never caught on to the whole love/hate relationship so many seem to have with her. She just needs to steer clear of anything media related and focus more on her political agenda in my opinion. First we have mockeries of Sarah Palin, then a TV show of Sarah Palin, now a movie about Sarah Palin when all this time I thought everyone thought she was a joke. We reward the idiots and devalue the creative. This isn't true in all cases, but it's sad to see it take this turn and into the mess of politics. *Sigh*

Weiner's Use of Media for Both Political Momentum and Exploitation

In a previous post I discussed the present scandal revolving around congressman Anthony Weiner and how the media blew up the scandal. However, media contributed to the uproar of the scandal in more ways than one. Social media, in this case twitter, is now being a main focus in the scandal because it allowed something like this to happen. An article by the Huffington Post discusses what Weiners media strategy is to gain his popularity back, but also brings up how using these sources like twitter and Facebook can be dangerous in terms of our private information that we ‘accidently’ send out there. There is almost too much room for making mistakes when posting things on the Internet and because powerful people such as politicians and celebrities have been using these outlets more frequently, the social media outlets have been forced to change how they operate.

The article mentions that Weiner was quite ‘media-savvy’ and still managed to make such a drastic mistake. He often used social media sources for advances in his political career. “For the past year, Weiner has taken to the social networking site Twitter to crack jokes and needle Republicans on policy matters. While many members of Congress use Twitter to discuss pending legislation and upcoming appearances in their districts, Weiner has used it to connect with a wider online audience and further burnish his reputation as a champion of liberal causes.” It’s probable to believe that Weiner may have brought this upon himself, clearly using social media outlets in an unprofessional manner in the past. So while Twitter could have more restrictions and privacy rules, people like Weiner may continue find ways to use the site as an inappropriate forum.

While I don’t agree with the media blowing up the scandal, I myself don’t understand why Weiner would use twitter to send a photo of his privates instead of basic email. Something so public and virtual shouldn’t be used in this way and I would think a politician in our congress would have been smart enough to know so. 

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/04/anthony-weiner-twitter-photo_n_871279.html

Palin and the Media

Sarah Palin is the perfect example of a politician using the media as a tool to gain recognition and supporters, but only by further jeopardizing their image. Palin has time and time again presented herself as a fame-seeker and oblivious to the real issues out there. She has shown more concern about her image in the mainstream media than other politicians, which is in itself questionable, but still manages to put her foot in her mouth more often than not.

Recently, Palin followers blew up her Wikipedia page after she made a complete fool of herself, incorrectly discussing Paul Reveres famous ride. Those behind Wikipedia had to temporarily disable the ability for users to edit pages because of the overload of users attempting to alter the page. However, this isn’t the only issue concerning the media Palin has been in contact with recently. 

Palin recently went on the road for a bus tour called “One Nation.” During this tour, Palin refused to provide any details to the press about her whereabouts and planned route. All reporters had to rely on other sources and tips to track Palin’s tour, making it extremely frustrating to provide much information to the public. However, once reporters caught up with Palin and began to ask her questions she was more than willing to answer and make time for them. This new strategy of Palin’s, while rather unusual, really was taking a step away from the current political campaigning trends. The media can often manipulate stories and make a campaign, or in this case a bus tour unable to portray the true message they had meant to. Sometimes the media can make campaigning even rougher than it should be.

While Palin is consistently the major element that has been connection our media to politic presently. While most politicians try to use the media as a platform to gain for recognition and voters, Palin has seemed to be more captivated by the fame it has brought her. From the SNL skits mocking Sarah Palins dense demeanor to her confusing newspaper reporters, she has been connected to media manipulation in many different instances and I have a strong feeling she will continue to do so until it ceases to rise her fame.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/06/04/palin.tour/index.html?hpt=po_bn5

Social Networking Is Revolutionizing Politics

Really interesting video by ABC News:

[Couldn't get the video to show up here! :( ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DtTTB-Njgk

Another Scandal Amplified by the Media

While some may disagree with me, I believe that Bill Clinton was a really great president. I also believe that people overlook him because of his scandal and because it was overblown by the media. My stance is simply this; what goes on behind closed doors and all personal matters shouldn't in any way reflect a politician in how he has acted as one. Now while I was not extremely familiar with Congressman Anthony Weiner and his political views, after reading the article I couldn't help think about the Bill Clinton scandal and how the media played such a huge role in both cases, and many others.


Weiner was relatively exposed in a photo leaked to the public which also showed him being accompanied by a younger woman. As the media ran with this and milked the picture as much as they could, Weiner finally admitted to repeatedly lying to the public to protect himself. Ultimately it began to be too much, and he ended up tearfully confessing to the public on Monday, June 5.


Even though I am in no way condoning what these men did, I think the media causes their personal issues to be connected to much to the role they play in our government system. I understand when people say "I don't want a man like that in my congress," and it is perfectly reasonable. My belief, is merely that these people are human and we don't know what their personal relationships are like. What we do know is what they have done for ourselves and our government system and that should really be all that matter. The media enjoys to find corruption, scandal and gossip, use it to their full advantage, and tear down the person responsible, as long as it results in the media outlets gaining recognition and viewers, which actually makes them corrupt themselves.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110607/ap_on_go_co/us_congressman_twitter_photo;_ylt=ApwUsRDbsfUz1NH6hI0Dz0Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNzb2tvY3ByBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNjA3L3VzX2NvbmdyZXNzbWFuX3R3aXR0ZXJfcGhvdG8EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMzBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I-

The Social Media Age

 

 I found a really interesting article in NPR concerning the place of politics in what NPR writer Linton Weeks calls the "Social Media Age." He specifically points out twitter as a popular outlet politicians use to gain voters during their campaigns, as it specifically targets the younger voters. Weeks discusses specific instances where politicans have immaturely invaded sites like youtube, facebook and twitter only to bash their opponents.

While these sites can be easily manipulated, politicians have properly used it for campaining. Weeks notes that there seems to be a connection that people feel when politicians and celebrities connect with them via facebook, twitter, etc. Now if they connect to the public, they are seen as more "authentic" as weeks puts it, because they made an effort to reach everyone as possible. If politicians show familiarity with social networking it also gains the young voters because they are following the current 'trend.' But as Weeks discusses, this is more then just a trend; it's a whole new age. 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130873983

Media and Politcs: Who is manipulating who?

My focus for this blog is to concentrate on the corruption of media, it being an important issue that seems to be on the rise and could pertain a great deal to politics. Politicians have been one of the many groups to use the media as a means of persuasion and coercion, especially during times of presidential elections [soon approaching in 2012]. A very common example would be when politicians create series of commercials blatantly accusing it's opponent, while often overusing dramatic sounds effects and bold red lettering, saying "the real truth" that we. My town in New Jersey shows these very often during our governor elections and other smaller ones within the state. I remember a few years back, my friend's mother had written a letter to the running governor [whom she of course disliked] and complained about his ridiculous commercial. While I don't remember it, I remember her being irritated that while he was bashing his opponent, he continued to pronounce the name wrong every single time. It really is something silly but she still wrote a letter to him and basically stated her opinion on those commercials and how they really are not necessary. 

It's situations like these where the media, and we as the audience, are constantly manipulated and taken from our own free will, it becomes a problem that needs to addressed head-on and not swept under the rug. Many people commonly acknowledge that it is a problem, but don't follow through and attempt to make a change. Is it possible to even change the media or how it's run or being transmitted to us to prevent exploitation?


Subliminal messages, sexual undertones, these are just a couple examples of manipulation techniques used by many advertisers in the media. Whether it be a perfume magazine ad, a music commercial or even a quick 30 second blip you hear in between songs on the radio. With technology being so available to us and in use for most of our days, it makes sense that we are so easily manipulated by the media [sometimes being on the phone or the computer is even the basis of most of our days.] In the case of students and young adults, they use technology as their prime mode of entertainment and communication, which has made themselves the central market for any mainstream marketing campaign. 

 The media makes for a nice outlet for politicians who need to gain the young person's vote. Celebrities have made most of their fortunes from product endorsement and more and more groups are learning how to make it work similarly for them. All politicians really need are the statistics for trends and things alike for any given area and they'll be provided with countless way to win over an age group. Celebrities take it a step further and use themselves for political endorsements, giving them the money and the politicians their vote. In the end it seems like a win-win, but the audience is left with a feel of defeat and being taken advantage of. We are the audience, but more importantly we are the consumers who are susceptible to manipulation in the media as it is always around us. 


Young adults and students are represented as careless when it comes to politics [or anything important really] and unwilling to vote. I am a student and while I have not enjoyed following politics in the past, I made sure to vote when I was able to because it is a right we all have. I try to understand politics and get myself to a point where I could randomly spark a conversation on political topics, but I've never gotten there. I just feel as though it doesn't hold my interest very long because the corruption begins to overwhelm me. While marketing advertisements did remind me to vote, it wasn't my full reasoning for voting. Nevertheless, studies have shown that these advertisement strategies are in fact successful and if it increases positivity like having more voters, then it isn't the worst thing that could happen.

  

Sometimes it can be used as a positive thing, but the issue is important and but I'd like to explore it further and possibly see how it could be prevented. I think relating politics to public media would be especially timely for the upcoming pre-elections.