Introduction "The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions. There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers in the instant replay and women will not care if Dick finally gets down with Jane because Black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day. The revolution will not be televised."(Scott-Heron). This poem is from the 1970. Forty-three years later it is still relevant to past and current media opposition of movements they view as a threat. In a country where most people recognize peaceful protests as a legitimate form of political participation, why has there constantly been opposition to an activity that has brought beneficial changes our society. Throughout our countries history protesters have fought for just causes, being forced to find new ways to communicate with each other and with the world. Restricted and facing opposition protesters have found alternatives to overcome the ever-changing obstacles. Historical Overview Social movements are a mixture of “organized yet informal social entities that are engaged in extra-institutional conflict that is oriented towards a goal” (Christiansen, 2009). Formal obstacles restrict and decrease participation within social movements. Mass media communication is a major source of information. It grants visibility to some people and some points of views, while simultaneously muting other’s voices and shunning their viewpoints. At one point in media history it was a trustworthy news outlet and was by law required to air both sides on controversial issues and events. This was known as the fairness doctrine, unfortunately in 1985, this document stopped being enfo... ... middle of paper ... .... CNN Staff. (2013, October 24). Politics: Obama puts immigration back in spotligh. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/24/politics/immigration-reform/ Ginsberg, B., Lowi, T. J., & Weir, M. (2011). We the People an Introduction to American Politics: The Media, Political Participation. New York : W.W. Norton. Pulido, L. (2007). A Day Without Immigrants: The Racial And Class Politics Of Immigrant Exclusion. Antipode , 1-7. Sperling, G., & Brandon, B. (2013, August 20). The Economic Benefits of Fixing Our Broken Immigration System: Travel and Tourism. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/20/economic-benefits-fixing-our-broken-immigration-system-travel-and-tourism Wood, J. T. (2006). Communication Mosaics: an Introduction to the Field of Communication. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
“Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell is an article published in the Annals of Innovation, by The New Yorker magazine. Gladwell starts with an example of true activism. He opens the article with a depiction of how the Greensboro sit-ins contributed to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Then the author supplies two examples of protests that have taken place in recent years that some people have said were started and organized on Twitter. He then goes on to clarify why Twitter was not a factor in these events and how media and government can distort certain truths about social media’s role in protests. The author continues the article by explaining why communication and relationships were more efficient before the era of social media and then compares social networking from the past and now. He uses this strategy to illustrate social media’s effect on how we interact and our commitment towards one another. Gladwell goes on to explain the organization of activist groups of the past and its
Cary, Mary Kate. "5 Ways New Media Are Changing Politics." 4 Feburary 2010. U.S. News. 14 October 2015
Ginsberg, Benjamin, et al. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. Print."Voter Turnout." Nonprofit Vote. Nonprofit Vote, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
It has been nearly three decades since the last time Congress reformed our immigration system. From the Reagan era to the Obama administration, the country has undergone financial, social and political changes yet our immigration policies continue to be the same. Since the implementation of the last immigration reform in 1986, the United States government has spent nearly $187 billion ($220 billion when adjusted to 2013 dollars) in immigration enforcement agencies and programs alone (Meissner, Kerwin, Muzaffar & Bergeron, 2013). The high costs and the increasing public concern has led Americans to recognize the brokenness of our current immigration system and how it has not kept up with changing times. Research has shown 71% of Americans say undocumented immigrants should have a pathway to remain in the country legally (Pew Research Center, 2013). Although Congress and the White House have had numerous failed attempts to pass immigration reform in the past, H.R. 15 proposes an updated bipartisan system that can further secure the borders and solve problems surrounding immigration (Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, 2013.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and famine, and make a better life for themselves. Forgetting their origins as persecuted and excluded people, the older and more established immigrants became possessive about their country and tried to exclude and persecute the immigrant groups from non-western European backgrounds arriving in the U.S. This hostile, defensive, and xenophobic reaction to influxes of “new” immigrants known as Nativism was not far out of the mainstream. Nativism became a part of the American cultural and political landscape and helped to shape, through exclusion, the face of the United States for years to come.
Newman, Alex. “Immigration News Update.” The New American. (2009): 10-16. SIRS. Web. 2 July 2010.
Gil Scott-Heron’s song “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” has been praised as a slogan for activists after its release in 1971. Scott-Heron sings about people “not [being] able to plug in, turn on and cop out” in defense of the activists who are actually working towards change (Scott-Heron). Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian journalist, tackles the same subject in his essay, similarly titled “Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted”. Gladwell recounts historical events of activism that were not perpetrated by social media, and goes on to explain that regardless of what the media says, social media has not in fact “reinvented social activism”. Despite Gladwell’s examples, however, it is clear through events such as the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, that social media can have a crucial part in social activism.
Perea, Juan F., ed. Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the
Perea, Juan. Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the United States. New York or London: New York University Press, 1997. Print.
Wellman, Christopher, and Phillip Cole. Debating the Ethics of Immigration is There a Right ti Exclude?. New York : Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Schmidt, Steffen W., Mack C. Shelly II, Barbara A. Bardes. American Government and Politics Today: 2010-2011 Brief Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011
Social movements come and go; they represent all manner of political aspirations, and aim to achieve their political objectives by influencing a particular target group’s opinion. Some groups reach out directly to just a few key decision makers or constituencies, while others act more indirectly by broadcasting their message to as wide an audience as possible. Popular forms of social media have played a significant influence in social movements throughout the last few years. Two prominent examples are Ai Weiwei’s use of the social platform: Twitter, and the use of Yik Yak at the University of Missouri. Social movements rely on the media for the mobilization of political support, validation in the mainstreams discourse, and opportunity to broaden
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought
As Americans we take pride in our liberating government. But, it is essential to ask how much we, the general public, know about our democracy. Because of the representative structure of our government, it is in our best interest to remain as knowledgeable as possible about political affairs so that we can play an active role in our democracy by voting for candidates and issues. The media, which includes print, television, and the internet, is our primary link to political events and issues. (For the purposes of this essay only print and television will be considered.) Therefore, in order to assess the success of our democracy it is necessary to assess the soundness of our media. We are lucky enough to have a media, in theory, free from government influences because of our rights to freedom of press and freedom of speech, but we are still subject to the media’s interpretation and presentation of politics, as is the danger when depending on any source for information. So, we must address how the media informs us; how successful it is at doing so; and how we should respond to it.
Prior, Markus. "News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout." American Journal of Political Science. 49.3 (2005): 577-592. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.