Media Coverage of the Election

The media is generally thought of as being liberally biased. In my opinion, the coverage of this presidential election is perfect evidence of that.

Much negative attention has been brought to McCain and Palin's campaigns. The press has criticized McCain for many things, including cancelling his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman to focus attention of the financial crisis, and all of his negative campaigning leading up to the election. Palin has also been nailed by the media for various comments she has made. One of the more publicized of these comments concerns the "Bush Doctrine." From Palin's comments, the media hinted that Palin is not ready to be elected to office.

So maybe these events that took place might not have been the best of things to happen for McCain and Palin, but they got a lot of coverage, nonetheless. In one of my prior blogs, I wrote about Palin's $150,000 wardrobe, which received a lot of attention from the media, when certainly, there are more important things happening with election day looming nearer.

However, Obama has said some things that weren't the brightest either, but did they receive very much coverage? I opt to think not. His "57 states" comment was not not widely publicized to my knowledge. This comment to me is one of the more obvious mistakes compared to not appearing for a show. But which one got more coverage?

Also, what do we know about Biden? I know I don't know much about him. The articles I have read have all been about Obama, McCain, and Palin.

Is this fair coverage? Is the media trying to sway the public to vote for Obama?

While we may never have a sure answer of this, the media has covered the election in a way I think will sway most voters towards Obama and Biden.

My Epiphany... Accompanied With Many Questions

The other day, I was exposing my brother to the wonderful world of Saturday Night Live.

For me, the humor I find in SNL has grown exponentially this semester as I have become more informed. I must admit, this is probably thanks to Comms 239 for making me read the paper every day.

Anway, as my brother and I were trying to find SNL spoofs on one of the presidential debates, we clicked on a link that wasn't quite what we were looking for; the link showed us clips from the actual second presidential debate, and contained some news reporters talking about the debate as well.

I am somewhat grieved to say that when we realized that we were watching "real news" we both said, "Oh," with heavy hearts, and wasted no time reembarking on our quest for these specific video clips.

I find it really sad that even though I am going into jounalism, that I don't really enjoy watching the news, but love SNL. I think people miss out on important information if they only watch SNL and not other news stations, but who are we kidding? We all know which out of the two are more entertaining.

Is it right for people to have this view? Is there anything that people are missing out on by choosing SNL over standard news programs? Should people already be well informed if they are going to watch SNL? Is SNL even legit for a news source?


(Oh, and if you were wondering, here is the clip we were looking for. It's way good.)

Too Much Attention?

Palin's $150,000 wardrobe has gotten much attention from the media, and a jab was even made at the amount Palin's clothing cost on SNL. The question I would like to ask is this: Are Palin's pricey outfits receiving too much coverage from the media?

Yes, $150,000 is more than the majority of people would spend on clothing, but is it really that big of a deal? Did this deserve to have its very own article?

The media's explanation for Palin's wardobe coverage (as I gathered from the article), was that as Palin is trying to appeal to the "working-class voters," her wardrobe does not necessarily reflect that.

Palin's wardrobe has changed over the course of her campaigning, but I don't think that has to be considered as negative as the media is making it out to be. Yes, Palin's wardrobe might not be that of the typical working class voter. However, her wardrobe could be an effort to make her appear more professional, seeing as Palin's reputation has been somewhat tarnished by the media, which has been partially successful in portraying her as an ignorant politician.

Either way, I think any possible reasons for Palin's wardrobe change are not significant enough to have received media attention. There are probably more compelling stories that could have been written in its place.

Is it Being Cocky to Think Citizen Journalists Couldn't Do All That?

Today in class we talked (among other things) about muckraking, investigative journalism, and watchdog journalism. During our discussion, a question was asked that caught my attention, and... you guessed it. The rest of this blog is devoted solely to that question.

If journalists couldn't or didn't do investigative journalism, would citizen journalists do it?

The conclusion I have come to is a resounding NO. I mean, I suppose there are always the exceptions. You know, those eccentric people who are hardcore into digging up information, but aren't employed as journalists? Yeah. That's them.

In theory, all journalism is investigative, but when I think of investigative journalism I think of in depth reporting over an extended period of time. Quite frankly, I don't know of many people who would be willing to sacrifice enough of their time to do investigative journalism out of the goodness of their souls, and without pay.

I think that bloggers and citizen journalists mostly do regurgitate information that employed journalists have already dug up. Citizen journalists are definitely capable of posting some news, but I don't think that it will ever be classified as investigative journalism. There's just not enough motivation there. Anyone agree? Disagree?

(Here's the reading that related to this discussion in class)

Laura Bauer

Laura Bauer, a reporter for the Kansas City Star, was introduced to journalism in high school, and has loved it ever since.

Bauer graduated after five years of attending college, and got a job soon after at the daily newspaper in Springfield, Missouri where her older sister also worked. At first, she wrote for the neighborhood news, bi-weekly section. Two years after she was hired (in about 1995), Bauer began working full time as a cop beat. It wasn't until January of 2005 that Bauer was granted a presence on the Kansas City Star staff.

While she worked as a cop beat, Bauer felt like she had a purpose.

"When I solely covered crime, my goal was to open people's eyes to the underbelly of society," Bauer said.

What she meant by this, was that she tried to show people what was happening in their community so they could try to improve circumstances or try to protect themselves.

While she was working as a cops reporter, Bauer worked on a story about a toddler who had died in foster care, and who should never have been put in this foster home in the first place. Because of the investigation about this boy and the information that was retrieved from of it, this child care agency was reconstructed, and some of its leaders had to leave the agency. This experience is evidence to Bauer that jounalists can make a difference in communities.

"That little boy didn't die in vain," Bauer said.

Currently, Bauer's news writing is more generalized. Bauer's new focus is on front page enterprise stories, which she describes as "people-oriented stories."

With so many bloggers and other forms of communication available today, it is sometimes difficult to define what journalism is. Bauer has her own opinion on what constitutes not only journalism, but "good" journalism.

"...It accurately depicts what is going on in people's lives and how it affects them, telling their stories in a way that others feel like they are living it themselves. Journalism that holds people accountable and that gives people information they otherwise wouldn't have."

However, Bauer admits that her view of journalism has changed since she began work in the field. She believes that the purpose of journalism is basically the same as it always has been, to "inform, educate, entertain and evoke emotion." The thing that has changed, in her opinion, is the audience in terms of wants, though not necessarily needs.

Despite the changes that have taken place, Bauer feels that The Kansas City Star does a good job of providing news that balances the wants of readers with news they can use.

The Kansas City Star, like many newspaper staffs around the country, has suffered lay-offs and has lost one fourth of its staff as a result. Although these circumstances are not ideal, Bauer encourages all who are interested in journalism to stick with it.

"Newspapers will survive, they're too important," Bauer said.

Changes are definitely due to come, though. The advice Bauer had to give to young journalists is to become well rounded. She said it was important to learn how to do video and audio, and to become experienced with working on the web. Bauer's sister, a newspaper editor, has speculated with Bauer that there probably will be a time in the future when newspapers will not hire reporters who can't do both of these things. She relayed that small newpapers are most likely the best places to gain experience in this. Bauer ended the interview with a few words of wisdom for upcoming journalists.

"Prove yourself, pay your dues, specialize in a type of reporting that interests you and be the best in it."

Temple in Kansas City!

In the Kansas City Star, there was an article about the new temple that will be built in the Kansas City area. The media really is amazing, becuase this article was posted on the internet on Saturday, the same day that President Monson announced the locations of the new temples-to-be.

Anyway, this news was SUPER exciting for me, because as you might have guessed, I am from the Kansas City area (Liberty, specifically). Until now, my stake has been assigned to the St. Louis temple, which is about three and a half hours away. The Nauvoo and Winter Quarters temples are also about three hours away from where I live.

Now, the new temple in Kansas City is going to be FIFTEEN MINUTES from where I live! Words cannot express how excited I am. It's funny how quickly word travels in the church. Anyway, the temple will definitely stand out on highway 152.

Opinion vs. Journalism

Today while I was looking at the New York Times, I came across an article about a journalist (Heather Mallick) from Fox News who got nailed for writing baseless opinion.

(Click here to view the article about Mallick)

We discussed in class today if opinion is considered journalism or not, but never really came to a group consensus. Regardless, this article shows that opinions must always be factual. The article that Mallick wrote received 300 plus negative comments. As journalists, if we do not use correct information... Well, the effects well be less than desirable.

I've been doing some pondering, and I don't really think that opinion is journalsim. It can be included in journalism, but it, by itself, is not journalism. It seems like it is more of an element than anything else.

Is the Media Truly Objective?

As a pre-communications major hoping to go into journalism, I have been firm with the belief that journalism is strictly objective. After all, that is how I have learned to write in all of my classes for journalism here at BYU, so isn't that how all journalists write?

Unfortunately, lately my "firm belief" has gotten somewhat shaky. With the upcoming election only five weeks away, I have been paying more attention to politics than I ever have in my life. Part of the reason for this is that this will be my first year to vote. Rather than watching the debates, however, I have taken to reading the paper to find out how the debates went.

I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to politics, I am poorly informed. Thus, when reading the paper, everything journalist write about the candidates is relatively new to me.

When I was reading the articles this morning about the vice president debate, I don't know if I can say that what I read was biased, but it did shape my opinions about the Palin and Biden. Articles in the paper have helped shape my opinions about the candidates from president, as well. From what I have read, the newspaper is saying that Obama seems to be handling the financial crisis better than McCain, and also that Biden has a better grasp on the issues than Palin.

I already know where I stand party-wise, but regardless, what the media is telling us is becoming my "knowledge" about these candidates. But who really knows if this is factual, or just the opinions of journalists? It is hard to say what is opinion and what is not, when I am receiving information about the candidates through other sources rather than directly observing it myself.

The Biggest Tragedy in Modern-day Journalism

In the film we watched in class on Wednesday, one of the editors for a newspaper made the comment that now journalism gives "[the public what it wants, not necessarily what it needs,]" and deemed this the biggest tragedy in modern-day journalism.

While the news does provide information that we need to know, such as information on the current financial crisis, it is hard to ignore the fact that newspapers have a big motivation to sell their papers. They need circulation, and they need revenue from advertisers. In order to get people to read the papers, unfortunately, a lot of attention is given to the questions of what interests people, and what will sell.

I remember on the day that Heath Ledger died, I had gone to the Yahoo! website to check my email. On my homepage there was a big picture of Ledger and an article about his death, and somewhere on the same page was a feeble picture containing a tragedy that had occured to many people in a country in the middle east.

It hit me then that most people in the United States would be more concerned about this one celebrity's death, than the terrible death of many, despite the fact that those who had died were not Americans. I, myself, am a prime example of these people with misplaced, or exaggerated concerns. I confess that I don't remember many details about the events of this tragedy, or even the country in which it took place.

The reason I say these things is to point out that becuase of the newspaper's need to earn money and satisfy the public's wants, certain important events are being overshadowed by others that are made out to be extremely significant, when in reality, there are bigger things happening in the world.