Here's a post I wrote earlier this year about how the media attempts to gear public opinion - Enjoy!
Let’s face it April 15th is no Americans favorite day. Sure, the accounting industry is excited about their upcoming vacation but even they can’t deny that no one enjoys paying taxes. Regardless, every year we fill-out, envelope, and mail our hard earned cash to the IRS. What does this get us? It gets us a secure infrastructure. It gets us schools to educate the next generation. It gets us a working nation that we all know is one of the best in the world. Or at least that’s the idea.
Well this year, fueled by the new Obama tax plan and inspired by the 1773 tax revolt , in over 700 cities across the U.S. citizens staged “tea parties”, tax protests with a notably colonial twist.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman tell us that "The press both covers events and, in choosing what to report and how to report it, shapes their outcome" The media took the opportunity to shape the events of the day as they saw fit.
The press as a whole covered the parties, as well they should. Some news sources chose to be slightly more immature in their coverage. But no single news organization covered the event more heavily then Fox News. Fox News covered the tea parties for weeks prior to tax-day, framing the parties as a grass roots movement, but were they? Could it be possible that the overwhelming amount of coverage from Fox News incited their viewers (who are generally conservative republicans, the demographic most likely to oppose the governments recent spending spree) to support and attend the tea parties?
At 9PM on April 15th Fox News had live feeds from multiple cities and full team coverage. On CNN, Chelsea Handler was giving a tour of Candy Spelling’s mansion. Apparently CNN didn’t feel that a supposed grass roots tax revolt was worthy news. Critics have said that Fox sensationalized the tea parties to earn ratings and pander to their audience while jeopardizing journalistic integrity. Fox News even supplied supporters an opportunity to attend a virtual tea party on their web page. Certainly endorsing tax revolts wouldn’t be a fair, unbiased use of the resources of a major news organization like Fox. What do you think?
If you noticed at the beginning of that video is the other side of this issue. Was it fair for CNN reporter Susan Roesgen to attack protesters for utilizing their right to peaceful assembly and protest?
(When this clip was aired on multiple Fox News programs the part where the protestor is holding a poster compairing President Obama to Adolph Hitler was never shown or discussed. )
Clearly this is a highly polarized issue. On television. The truth of the matter is most people paid their taxes regardless. The tea parties were in my opinion nothing more then media events sensationalized by both liberal and conservative media. Reporters should provide unbiased coverage if for no other reason then to avoid the reinstatement of the dreaded fairness doctrine.
For a concise unbiased recount of the events (ironically found on MSNBC.com) here’s good old Brian Williams:
And honestly the first few minutes of this clip is hysterical:
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
What I Hear...
MED150
Instead of doing a soundwalk around NYC like most of my classmates probably did I opted for a suburban alternative.
I started my walk from my home in Oceanside, Long Island. I live on a relatively quiet block the first thing I heard were sea gulls squawking – a regular soundmark in a town on the water. As I approached my cross street the sound of cars got louder. A car honked to signal the car in front of it to go through the light that had just changed.
In the background I hear a Long Island Rail Road train blare its horn at the near by station.
As I walk past the small shopping center on the corner I hear a lot of talking, First two men speaking Chinese in front of the Chinese restaurant. Then I hear a group of kids joking around outside the candy store, I couldn’t clearly make out what they were saying. Their speech and laughter blended into a muffled sound.
I walk further down the block towards the neighborhood park. On the way I pass a row of houses being built. Machines grumble and tools buzz away as the construction men work.
As I get closer to the park a mini-van stops on the side of the road in front of a house where a man is washing a car, I hear the noise the hose makes when it is interrupted by the mini-van’s horn. The man washing his car yells for his son “___’s here to pick you up” his father yelled – I didn’t hear the name of the woman doing the picking up though.
I get to the front of the park and there’s a ton of different sounds. First I walk past the hockey rink a group of guys are playing roller hockey, I hear their skates swish across the floor and sticks hitting the cement.
A plane passes over head and I look up when I hear its engines.
Once again I hear the unmistakable sound of children at play, followed by a mother yelling at her daughter who was running through the parking lot.
A couple who I assume were doing laps around the park ran past me. I heard them breathing heavy and their feet slap against the pavement.
I walked down the pier that overlooks the bay. Once again I hear gulls overhead. Then a diesel boat passes by its engine sounds like a deep growl. Two people on jet-ski’s zip passed me, their motors hum across the water.
People are fishing on the pier I hear their reels hiss as they cast off the side of the pier.
After a few more minutes of the cliché keynote sounds you’ll usually hear by the water I head back. Once again as I approach the main cross street I hear traffic sounds but this time they’re louder probably because I was becoming more aware of the sounds around me.
Instead of doing a soundwalk around NYC like most of my classmates probably did I opted for a suburban alternative.
I started my walk from my home in Oceanside, Long Island. I live on a relatively quiet block the first thing I heard were sea gulls squawking – a regular soundmark in a town on the water. As I approached my cross street the sound of cars got louder. A car honked to signal the car in front of it to go through the light that had just changed.
In the background I hear a Long Island Rail Road train blare its horn at the near by station.
As I walk past the small shopping center on the corner I hear a lot of talking, First two men speaking Chinese in front of the Chinese restaurant. Then I hear a group of kids joking around outside the candy store, I couldn’t clearly make out what they were saying. Their speech and laughter blended into a muffled sound.
I walk further down the block towards the neighborhood park. On the way I pass a row of houses being built. Machines grumble and tools buzz away as the construction men work.
As I get closer to the park a mini-van stops on the side of the road in front of a house where a man is washing a car, I hear the noise the hose makes when it is interrupted by the mini-van’s horn. The man washing his car yells for his son “___’s here to pick you up” his father yelled – I didn’t hear the name of the woman doing the picking up though.
I get to the front of the park and there’s a ton of different sounds. First I walk past the hockey rink a group of guys are playing roller hockey, I hear their skates swish across the floor and sticks hitting the cement.
A plane passes over head and I look up when I hear its engines.
Once again I hear the unmistakable sound of children at play, followed by a mother yelling at her daughter who was running through the parking lot.
A couple who I assume were doing laps around the park ran past me. I heard them breathing heavy and their feet slap against the pavement.
I walked down the pier that overlooks the bay. Once again I hear gulls overhead. Then a diesel boat passes by its engine sounds like a deep growl. Two people on jet-ski’s zip passed me, their motors hum across the water.
People are fishing on the pier I hear their reels hiss as they cast off the side of the pier.
After a few more minutes of the cliché keynote sounds you’ll usually hear by the water I head back. Once again as I approach the main cross street I hear traffic sounds but this time they’re louder probably because I was becoming more aware of the sounds around me.
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