Thursday, August 21, 2008
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Current Student Blogs
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The R Word - Not unlike Jed Bartlett's on air gaffe about the intelligence of governor Richie, Obama's offensive remark the other night just seems a little too perfect....15 years ago
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My "farewell address" [#2] (I always wanted one of these)-COMPLETED Version - So as you all saw I got stuck in the middle of posting the completed version of my final due to the amazing YU internet. I decided that since I am looking ...15 years ago
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The Media: A Fourth Branch or A Whole Other Tree? - I begin with a video (Notice the Cameo at the end) Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today! And what a time for campaigning it has been. This election season ha...15 years ago
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4 comments:
He has more than one house. So what?
The point of the post was not to evaluate the merits of the claim, but to note changes in the media environment. That said, in a national campaign it's important not to confuse what may be relevant, fair, or intellectually honest with what may be effective. We don't need to be happy about that, but we do need to keep the distinction in mind, and perhaps try to explain why some political attacks seem to resonate and how they are propagated (the "Swiftboat Vets" and Kerry 2004 are instructive in this regard). One part of the complicated and multi-faceted answer has to do with the narrative or narratives of each particular campaign: one dynamic we see at play here is a sort of blowback effect, as efforts to paint Obama as "elitist" are turned against McCain. On one level, it's all a bit silly, of course -- both candidate are members of a very elite minority, as are most candidates for national office. But, as many in the blogosphere now say, we are in the midst of silly season. . . . .
Brilliant point professor. My only question along these lines is: if we already know that vehicles such as youtube and blogs exist where ads will spread like wildfire almost instantaneously then why do candidates spend so much money on TV ads in major time slots instead of using the money elsewhere? (I have considered the answer to be that they have SO much money, which should be spent on other things like housing for the poor and food but that's not the point, that they don't care to pay for the ad time and benefit from the quick and large amount of "natural" and "automatic" spreading of their ads).
Daniel: while more money will be spend on this campaign than on any in all of recorded history, money is still a relatively scarce resource in a contested battle. Part of the answer is audience: take a look at the State of the News Media report for our Wed, Sept. 8 class and you'll start to see what I mean. . . .
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