Ahhh... the last blog of the semester. Like the midterm review blog this is simply an opportunity for you to ask and answer each other's questions and discuss anything that you think will be helpful in preparation for the final. I would suggest looking at your class notes, handouts from class, your reading assignments along with your review sheet. This is primarily an open forum for you so check back often during the week and comment/question/ponder/review as much as you would like. One request: please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not done so already. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to Campus Connect.
We have addressed how the mass media and American politics affect one another in many different ways during this quarter. Though we have highlighted many areas of concern we have also discussed many methods used to improve the way political information is communicated and the increasing number of ways that individual citizens improve their voice within our democracy. One theme we have constantly touched on is how much has changed over time. Consider the following: 2 months ago: you started this class 10 months ago: the Federal Courts threw out net neutrality protections opening the door to FCC action 2 years ago ago: Obama reelected 2 years ago ago: Facebook topped 1 billion users 3 years ago: Arab Spring spreads, Occupy movement 4 years ago: FCC Open Internet Ruling 5 years ago: Green Revolution in Iran, TEA Party movement begins, Google starts personalizing searches 6 years ago: Obama elected with most innovative web based campaign in history 8 years ago: most people had never heard of Barack Obama, Twitter begins 9 years ago: YouTube and flickr 11 years ago: Facebook starts (for college students only for a few years) 13 years ago: wikipedia 14 years ago: innovative uses of campaigning online 16 years ago: MoveOn.org started, also this thing called Google 20 years ago: Clinton launches first White House website 34 years ago: CNN starts ushering in 24 hour cable news 46 years ago: Three networks devote 30 minutes to news 5 days a week, Cronkite the most trusted man in America 54 years ago: first televised debate - JFK vs. Nixon 61 years ago: television becoming commonplace across America 81 years ago: fireside chats begin 89 years ago: radios enter homes in record numbers 95 year ago: Woodrow Wilson was the first president broadcast on the radio 100 years ago: all mass media was still in print 238 years ago Common Sense was published and sold over 100,000 copies - most in American history 564 years ago: The printing press was invented The point: much has changed, and often in a short period of time. Looking forward what do you predict will be the most important ways that the media will impact politics (and vice versa) two, five, 10, or even 20 years from now? What can and should be done to help make these changes as positive as possible? One request: please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not done so already. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to Campus Connect.
This week I would like to create a more open ended conversation around the interaction between public opinion and media. In our world of horse race focused media there is no doubt that public opinion is the source of our daily news coverage of the election. This is the case regardless of the fact that many are concerned about how well various polling agencies conduct their surveys and whether the polls are more important than, say, the issues (or the candidates) themselves. On the other hand polling is the best way for campaigns to know how they are doing and how to strategically move forward. Whether good or bad the polls often become THE story that the media focuses on during election time. For some great sites to use to follow polling you should check out realclearpolitics (click polls at the top), Gallup, and Pew (search through this site for an amazing amount of studies, trends and useful info). In terms of the election predictions (and predictions in general) by far the most nuanced and accessible evaluation of polling for projecting is done by Nate Silver from fivethirtyeight, now hosted by ESPN (for non-existant bonus points can anyone share why its called fivethirtyeight?). I read his blog daily during the election and think that the way that he and his colleagues evaluate all of the data is amazing and very useful. You can click here to see his Senate predictions based on his use of poll data.
Between elections, polling is used all the time but many argue that public opinion does not shape media coverage or political action, instead it is the other way around. Take a look at the video below, from 2000. Though it is a bit dated, the story is still absolutely applicable today.
Ultimately I would like you to discuss the relationship between public opinion and media today. Is it used well (if so please give some examples)? If not then why not? Is it helpful in understanding the election or would we be better off without polling or with less of it? More importantly how should public opinion polling be used by the media and by politicians? Any reactions to the sites/video above or other important uses/misuses of public opinion are welcome.
We have explored how the media today is largely dominated by a few gigantic corporations and how news organizations have expanded in numbers, with varied and relatively low levels of trust (this recent Pew study is amazing and I strongly urge you to read through as much of it as possible). There are also many indicators that suggest that political news and media are still dominated largely by the political and business elites that have controlled and shaped political messaging for most of American political history. Politicians and political elites still appear to set the political agenda in many ways.
However there are many who are articulating a new vision about political discourse in America and across the globe. They argue that the tools of the internet are providing individuals and organizations new opportunities to get their messages out. Citizen journalism is changing the role that the public plays in political media, and movements from the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria (to name a few) to the Occupy movement here in the U.S. have shown the power that the people can have through the use of the internet, mobile media, and social networking. In the case of Egypt, it even led the government to try to turn off the internet.
Are these examples of what political discourse will be in the emerging information political communication revolution or just exceptions to the rule that political communication will always be controlled by the small numbers of political elites? Is political power becoming more democratic as more and more citizens and organizations gain access and have the ability to cheaply and easily reach a global audience, or are they merely using new tools in an ever changing game of catch up, dominated by the political elites and drowned out by the noise of millions of voices online? What role will the media play in the democratic discourse and democratic politics of the future?
Feel free to respond to any of these questions and expand your discussion to events and politics outside of the United States. Please share important examples and add links if you think they are helpful. As much as possible please remember to respond to one another.
We all know that the media plays a huge role in the lead up to Election Day. The media obviously played a very important role in the 2012 presidential race including many major political media events such as the debates, coverage of major campaign events and major gaffes like The leaked Mitt Romney 47% video.
Feel free to use any of the prompts below to start a wide ranging discussion about the midterms and media:
What are the most notable aspects of media use during this election cycle? What does that suggest about campaigning today or the changing role of media?
What media strategies should campaigns use to help win in the future?
Who is in the driver's seat, the media or the campaigns?
This week you will have two blog opportunities. Please use this blog to review for the exam. This will be available up until the exam. Feel free to post general or specific questions or thoughts and then respond to each other. You do not need to write anything more than brief blog entries but I strongly encourage you to check into the blog regularly to look for questions and to help share ideas to review for the exam. The more entries that each of you adds the better for everyone. Make sure to review other entries so that you have correct concepts before the exam. Maximum of one blog credit per person this week but you should feel free to post regularly.
Political
leaders have a love/hate relationship with the media. They love getting
support and the ability to speak to their constituents and set the
agenda, they hate being scrutinized, investigated, and antagonized in
public. As a result many have used used technology to circumvent the
media in order to talk directly to the people. This strategy is
generally referred to as "Going Public." All politicians in the modern
era do this to one degree or another and some do it much more
effectively than others.
One modern version of going
public occurs everyday on Twitter. Take a look at who is active on
twitter and who is not. My guess is that most of the national
politicians that you know are tweeting pretty regularly. You can also
take a look at how politicians use good old facebook here along with going to individual politicians sites.
Finally
take a look at how President Obama goes public all the time. You may or
may not be aware of the fact that the President makes a weekly address
each week (like a modern day fireside chat). Take a look at his latest
one (and others if you want) here (click
on video gallery under the briefing room tab on the upper left, then look for the most recent
weekly address). You can also look around at other ways that he tried
to directly connect with the people by going over and around the media.
After looking through much of this use the following questions as a jumping off point for your discussion:
What do you think are particularly successful examples of
going public which are being utilized today by congress? Other
politicians? Political organizations? Obama?
What do you think of the weekly address? Why might this be a good/bad strategy?
How might you advise politicians who are trying to use the strategy of going public?
