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Media coverage of presidential elections
Media coverage of presidential elections
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SPIN CYCLE
	With so many different scandal to his credit and numerous ongoing
investigations pending, President Clinton has been bombarded by the media in a
fashion not seen since the last days of the Nixon administration. Despite this
unwanted attention, Clinton has managed to maintain lofty approval ratings and
successfully deflect even the most ardent attacks. How does he do it? This
question is answered in full in Spin Cycle, a backroom look at how news is
created and packaged in the White House and the methods used to distribute it
to the public. In painting a detailed picture of the hand-to-hand combat known
as a press conference, Kurtz shows how the use of controlled leaks, meticulously
worded briefs, and the outright avoidance of certain questions allows the White
House to control the scope and content of the stories that make it to the front
page and the nightly network news. As Kurtz makes clear, the president and
First Lady are convinced that the media are out to get them, while the journalists covering the White House are constantly frustrated at the stonewalling and the lack of cooperation they encounter while trying to do their jobs. In the middle is the White House press secretary Mike McCurry, a master at defusing volatile situations and walking the fine line with the press. Though less paranoid and cynical of the media than Clinton, he often finds himself on both ends of personal attacks and vendettas that veer far outside the arena of objective reporting. The anecdotes and carefully buried information that Kurtz has uncovered give this book a brisk pace, along with ample invaluable information that cuts to the core of this age of media overkill.
	Kurtz focuses mainly on White House response to scandal news in 1996
and 1997, and he does not purport to cover most other aspects of the relationship between the president and the press. And within the narrow scope of his research, he had only fragmentary access to important information. For legal and political reasons, white House aides were probably not inclined to volunteer the whole truth. What’s more, the story is still unfolding. Though he adds nothing to what is known about recent happenings in the Oval Office, he does shed light on a subject that remains of considerable importance: the techniques used by the Clinton administration to shape the way it is portrayed in the press. It never seriously takes up the issue that seems to lie at its core.
A Bestselling author and co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is a remarkably confident lady and TV-journalist Mika Brzezinski whose on-air protest between entertainment news & “hard news” received a large number of supports and fans’ responses on 26 June 2007 in which she had refused to read the news about a release of Paris Hilton from Jail rather she considered more important Senator Richard Lugar with President Bush on the war of Iraq breaking news. She stands on these issues rippled over the internet quickly and similar incidents continue on-air on July 7, 2010 on a report about Levi Johnston and Lindsay Lohan over hard news stories with the title “News you can’t use.”
On August 17, 1998, exactly one year after making the statement above, President Bill Clinton prepared to deliver a speech concerning a scandal that had gripped the nation for months. It is needless to say that this was an important moment during the Clinton administration. After accusations of sexual harassment, Clinton addressed the nation and admitted to having a relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In this critical speech Clinton set out to admit to wrong-doings, provide a few reasons for his action, and ultimately persuade the audience into moving on and forgetting the scandal. This essay will break down his speech into sections and examine the most and least effective strategies that Clinton employed and how well he executed those strategies. This is an interesting speech given under rare circumstances. Not since Watergate had an American president been under such harsh moral criticism from the public. By looking critically at this speech we are able to gain valuable insight into Clinton's motives.
A good part of Outfoxed focuses on the company's blurring of news and commentary, how anchormen and reporters are encouraged to repeatedly use catch-phrases like "some people say..." as a means of editorializing within a supposedly objective news story; how graphics, speculation and false information are repeated over-and-over throughout the broadcast day until it appears to become fact, and in doing so spreads like a virus and copied on other networks. A PIPA/Knowledge Networks Poll points to glaring, fundamental misconceptions about the news perpetuated upon Fox viewers, versus information received from widely respected news-gathering organizations like NPR and PBS. Asked, for instance, "Has the U.S. found links between Iraq & al-Qaeda?" only 16% of PBS and NPR viewers answered "yes," but a frightening 67% of Fox viewers believed there had.
Bonila, Denise M., and Levy, Beth, Eds. The Power of the Press. H. W. Wilson, 1999.
Technology is growing fast, as is the new generations branching off with new forms of media and devices that provide us with the news. News and politics have had difficulty when informing its public and community of the events that happen in their community. Now the media and news are growing to reform to the earlier generation’s way of receiving the news and events related to them, by using media and popular culture. According to Wodak, for politics to air and to engage and intrigue its public, it must need scandal, rumour, and speculation (45). The West Wing, is a clear example of where the news and politics enter into the world of entertainment, but still informing its audience of the political world and events they may face. I will be analyzing The West Wing television series in relation to the representations of gender, race, and politics with support from examples and scholarly sources.
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
During these difficult economic times sensationalism has become more prevalent in the media. Stories involving sex scandals and child murders have taken over our T.V and internet screens as well as the front pages of our newspapers. The media bias of sensationalism has been used as a sort of escapism for readers. Although it may seem that sensationalism has just started making waves, it has been around for decades. Sensationalism has been influencing viewers and contributing to media bias since the days of the penny press. Sensationalisms long history has been turbulent, self-serving, and influential to today’s reporting practices. With the influence over readers’ sensationalism’s media bias have and will continue to affect media reporting for years to come.
This essay focuses on how spin doctoring became a phenomenon among public relations, journalists, politician and even a massive campaign. This essay considers the tool used by the spin doctoring team to engage and steer public opinion. Spin team must have a strategy in using each tool and we will discuss how this strategy affected how well the result will be. Overall, this essay has been written to show two spin teams use different spin tools in order to change public’s perspectives. The brief explanation shows how well the strategy they use to the success of the campaign and how it can be unsuccessful.
Woodward and Bernstein's undertaking constructed the cornerstone for the modern role of the media. The making of the movie about the Watergate Scandal and the ventures of the two journalists signify the importance of the media. The media’s role as intermediary is exemplified throughout the plot of the movie. The movie is the embodiment of journalism that guides future journalists to progress towards the truth, no matter what they are going up against. It was the endeavor of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that led them to the truth behind the president’s men. They showed that not even the president is able to deter the sanctity of journalism in its search of truth. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and people’s right to know account for the same truth that journalists pursue; the truth that democracy is alive and will persist to live on.
Lately, the top story in the news day after day, months after months have been about William Jefferson Clinton, also known as Bill. Who could blame them, there is nothing better than a story out of the ordinary, especially one with presidential status. For the past months he has been the most talked about figure, being the essential topic for news, talk shows, late night comedy and even going as far as the big screen. Talk about 'Primary Colors' and 'Wag the Dog.' What has gotten to me the most however, were the constant flow of Republicans, along with a few Democrats, who just want to say how shocked and embarrassed they are along with the people of the United States.The president had not just become the most talked about figure, but also one history had ever seen, so far that is, breaking the record and becoming a topic of conversation and debate 'twenty-four seven.' The people, who I think were most affected by this crisis and feel very sad for, are the Republicans, since they had lost severe amount of sleep over the president's bedroom crisis. They had to perform their republican duties by shocking our brains with the president's affair with Monica Lewinsky. We had to ignore the rest of the world news and its issues while they plough through the valley of lies, abuse of power and something they called high crimes and misdemeanors.
Their reportage selection is politically important because they determine who and what will have a good opportunity to be the center for political debates and activity. News people with their stories compel political leaders to react to events and conditions on which their viewpoints and platforms would not have been transmitted otherwise. Without media attention, events that the media news offer and the society might have less impact on decision making—or none at all. Situations that might be accepted in unimportant events, they can become intolerable in the fierce of publicity. Consider the case of Senator Lott’s salute at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party. Without the public exposure of a particular private situation, Lott’s politi¬cal failure and its consequence would not have occurred. Politicians are heavily aware of the media’s agenda-setting power. That is why they strive immensely to organize and arrange events to give as much appropriate coverage as possible and to avoid detrimental publicity.
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.
Journalists have a role of delivering key information that our government does not want to disclose to the public. They are protected by the First Amendment, but the First Amendment does not protect journalists against source disclosure. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government of a redress of grievances” (qtd. in VanArsdall 16). Because the first amendment does not spell out in detail how the amendment protects journalists, the interpretation of the amendment by lawmakers is often times not enough to clear a journalist from having to disclose a ...
has come to have an adversarial press—the tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them. This cynicism and distrust of government and elected officials have led to an era of attack journalism—seizing upon any bit of information or rumor that might cast a shadow on the qualifications or character of a public official. Media coverage of gaffes—misspoken words, misstated ideas, clumsy moves—has become a staple of political journalism (WDB 294).
Sabato, Larry J. Feeding Frenzy: Attack Journalism and American Politics. Baltimore: Lanahan Publishers, Inc., 1991.