PAF 494: State of the News Media: The Fight To Be Politically Right

Jon Stewart Decides to Box with Fox:

If you're a swimmer you're likely to swallow a little pool water from time to time. It may not taste good, but what you are in gets inside of you even if it's not by choice. According to Jon Stewart in his interview with Fox News he rejects the proposed title of being labeled a partisan ideological activist stating that this is the soup Fox News swims in. In the political alphabet soup of today's news media we will find letter-shaped noodles such as ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, FOX, and other tasty treats that may contain MSG which I refer to as "Media Swayed Government". After I witnessed what almost seemed like a broadcast brawl in the Jon Stewart Fox News interview I would say that the interviewer and the interviewee could use some chicken soup for the journalist's soul. Jon Stewart had his boxing gloves on his tongue and there were more rounds in this interview than in the final scene of a Rocky film. 

The interview with Jon Stewart on Fox News Sunday made me want to scream, "Where is the referee?"! They were talking over each other with their tongues drawn like swords in a fencing match. Jon Stewart, the proclaimed comedian, wasn't smiling or making anyone laugh during this interview. He did however imply that Fox is a joke. I have my own little joke. "Knock, knock. Who's there? Jon. Jon who? Jon you wanna report the facts while making people laugh?" Jon Stewart produces paramount parodies and I think it is laughable when he proclaims that what he does is not activism. Happiness is an emotion, and when you make people laugh about something you make a spectacle of they will remember it and it will influence them. If Jon Stewart looks in the mirror and sees anything less than a man that uses his comedic, news reporting skills to influence others' opinions he is probably legally blind when it comes to seeing himself. My favorite part of the Jon Stewart Fox News interview is how incredibly good Jon Stewart's hair looked that day. If all political news was as perfect as his hair, everything would be good in the journalistic hood. 

Jon Stewart consistently disagreed with the painted perception of him, but never seemed to agree to disagree. Jon Stewart praises the creators of South Park. I wonder if the biased news should be produced in cartoon form. If so, at least the truth would be told bluntly and maybe we could all laugh while viewing the animated state of a nation as the Wile E. Coyotes of politics blow themselves up during the chase for the roadrunner of true and just American politics. Do we exist in a box where, "politicians are taken as a joke and comedians are received as serious?" Was there an attempt to de-legitimize Fox in order to validate Jon Stewart? I don't know, but I'm sure many would pay to see this again live in a boxing ring at Caesar's Palace in Vegas or anywhere else for that matter. While there are people/journalists that deride mainstream media, the question is why do they deride it and does anyone really get it? Whether it is for sensationalism, conflict, or partisanship, two very different sides still deride the media on these issues. There seems to be a liberal bias and conservative activism in the media. It is all there and we are all here.  I don't know how much the Jon Stewart interview was edited, but he didn't seem to be projected as a man screaming as a little girl to me. The interview was bold; it was strong, and Jon Stewart was projected as serious as any comedian can be. Personally, I think he does influence politics even if he claims to be joking. Many jokes are serious business. "And so I have this friend..." Some people are laughing all the way to the bank.

De Bait:

Debates are always significant as they provide a platform on which candidates can preform. A debate is where the issues are aired and candidates argue their position. No argument is complete without a beginning and an end, and this debate lacked the latter. Well, it did have an end the end just wasn't aired. Even a lawyers case can be won by closing arguments, but we are witness to a debate where the last thirty minutes where not broadcast. The last thirty minutes still happened, what good are they if the public was not able to view them? Sure, some will look up and view the ending online, but many won't. 

Debates are significant and the broadcast of a debate is as significant as the debate itself. Earlier I mentioned a boxing match. There are winners and there are losers. A debate is a verbal boxing match where the important issues that matter to the masses go head to head. Somebody is going down even if it is by a technical knock out. Debates are highly significant and voters will gravitate towards the candidate that is able to throw the most significant auditory blows allowing them to get more people in their corner. "De bait" a candidate uses can not only help them win the fight, it can empower them to catch more fish (voters). 

A Perry Moment:

I don't think Perry's brain freeze is that big of a deal. It has happened to the best of us even under less stressful conditions. I must say that even though it's not nice to laugh at people I thought Herman Cain's brain freeze regarding a response to the question he was asked on Libya was hilarious. What's funnier is that the media doesn't call Cain's incident a brain freeze, they call it "a Perry moment". During President George W. Bush Jr.'s reign as president there seemed to be thousands of these types of events aired on The David Letterman Show. Whenever someone is in the public eye such as a presidential candidate these brain hiccups will always be over-dramatized. 

The Perry incident will more than likely cause more laughs than harm to his campaign. I think Verizon Wireless should launch a new ad campaign featuring presidential candidates that have had brain freezes. In the commercials the candidates can say, "Can you hear me now? What was I saying? Ummm. Can you hear me now?" I don't know how much Perry's mistake will impact his campaign, but I know it has changed my life. At least three times a week I now say, "I'm sorry, I was having a Perry moment." Between political debates, a vigorous travel schedule, and the fight to win the race, all of the candidates may appear a little punch drunk every now and then though it isn't always caught on camera. Tissues and called Kleenex, petroleum jelly is commonly called Vaseline, all varieties of soft drinks are called Coke, and brain freezes are now called "a Perry moment". There is life in politics even after the infamous on-camera brain freeze, and I think we can all understand that running for office is a huge political freezie to sip from. I was going to say something else but I'm having "a Perry moment" right now so hopefully I remember before the next time Deneene Says...

PAF 494 Blog #9 - Reality TV Past, Present, and Future

Though it is claimed that reality television shows have existed since the early days of television broadcasting, there is no doubt that this peculiar species of televised programming has dramatically evolved and even exploded in popularity over the last decade.  The way I see it, the news has always been reality TV, but with the progression of cable news, biased news reporting, and up-to-the-minute coverage of controversial political battles; what we are about to witness in the political new arena will pale in comparison to Survivor. There will be a survivor alright, and the best man or woman is not guaranteed to win because this is a survival of the fittest, or should I say, "the most fit media-savvy personalities and users?" The presidential race is rapidly turning into what I call an American Political Idol competition. The media is putting a flame under the feet of presidential candidates to see who sings the best under media fire. I'm surprised that cable news is the only political reality TV show out there. I asked myself what I would call such a show if I were to produce a political reality television show. The only ideas I came up with were either The Next American President or Save the Drama for Obama. If you see a show of this type emerge, remember that you heard it here first. 

I live in Arizona where the new west has been built on top of the old west. With advancements in crime-reduction technology, it always amazes me when I see a story about a bank robbery on the news. How can bank robbers still get away with their crimes in this present day? I'm baffled over this subject especially as I see a nation of people being robbed daily by misinforming and highly opinionated news as traumatic and demeaning as a stagecoach or bank robbery in the old west. I'm not a thief by any means, but I have a great personality and if I can steal the hearts of the American public through strategically-focused media coverage; maybe I should run for president. If I decide to do so at any point in the future I want you to know now that some of the negative things you will hear about me may be true, but I didn't inhale. The nation however may have to inhale political medical marijuana as we seem to be suffering from both a social glaucoma and cancer of sorts. The proper radiation to help cure disease in U.S. politics would be a radiant candidate that is more concerned and committed to solving our country's issues than they are supporting their own ego while forging attacks on others' character. 

While there may be a game of cat and mouse going on in U.S. politics, there is a ferocious dog barking known as the media that will keep the sly cats in check allowing the mice to get a little cheese. Since we are discussing animals let's talk about the FOX. One biblical reference states that it is the small foxes that spoil or obtain the grapes. For me this means that sometimes it is the small things that will gain a person victory like the small but large media advantages that Obama used to win the presidency. I once heard that if you remove the letter "U" from the English language that you lose 3000 words. I'm not sure how true this is, but it displays how important small things are. Even if 3000 words weren't lost a large number of them would be and something as small as one letter matters. There is still no "I" in team and "U" matters as "YOU" matter a lot. 

I watched a video about Obama's media advantage specifically in regards to the upcoming election coverage. Does Obama have an advantage when it comes to media? I think yes. Is this advantage enough? I don't know. The video stated that though Obama and democrats in general have media favor that the American public is pretty much ruled by conservative republicans. The video expressed that though Obama and liberal democrats are favored by the media it isn't enough to help a candidate secure the presidential office. This is both true and false. It is true because republicans have won seven out of the last 11 elections as stated in the video. It is false because in spite of a republican dominated winning streak Obama used every aspect of media favor from newspapers, to television, and especially new and social media to dismantle the republican stronghold on election success. While I believe Obama will have some media advantage in the upcoming election, I believe it won't be enough to get him reelected. Hopefully people will vote for the best candidate for the job in spite of the political reality TV sideshows and superstar larger than life images some candidates will manage to pull off. I can't help but to think about comedian Richard Pryor running for Mayor of New York in the movie Brewster's Millions when he launched a campaign for people to vote for, "None of the Above." He was expressing in the fictitious movie that there wasn't a candidate worthy of holding the office and by doing so he stood to win. Media is powerful, especially when it communicates something the people/voters want to hear and believe to be true. 

I've watched all types of news from local and national broadcast news to cable news programs. Cable news has definitely reached Hollywood status and when I watch it I sometimes wonder if I'm looking at a televised tabloid or viewing a schoolyard fight by adults that act like children. While I missed out on some of the popular cable news programs this week I did catch the CNN News Room and Fox News Sunday tonight. There was coverage of similar issues in different ways. While there was no Walter Cronkite stating the way it was, there were descendants of Uncle Walt reporting on the dependents of Uncle Sam. A new breed of journalists have been birthed onto the scene of political news telling all accurately and inaccurately about those that depend on Uncle Sam. When I refer to those that depend on Uncle Sam I'm talking about all that depend on the government from the American people to the elected officials that are employed by the government having been placed there by the people. 

I watched reality political TV tonight and I can confer that it isn't the best thing to watch before a night's rest if you want to have sweet dreams let alone the American Dream. A couple topics of interest were Mitt Romney's religious beliefs, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gender equality. The reporting on CNN was straight forward but somewhat boring. They covered the topics with brief bursts of gray-shaded information and when it came to allowing various people to speak their opinions those freely-opinionated expressions seemed to be cut short. The news reports left me wanting more. I wanted to hear the full expressions. I wanted to know what people really thought and I wanted to hear what they really had to say. The Mitt Romney issue of being a Mormon as reported on CNN talked about Pastor Robert Jeffress' comment that Mormonism is a cult. They then brought on some CNN contributors to state their views as to whether or not religious affiliation should matter in a presidential election. They also brought on some other presidential candidates to voice their views on the matter such as Michele Bachmann who danced around answering the question and stated that this isn't what people are talking about. The following day CNN took the angle that the Mormonism cult comment could have been an arranged attack on Romney by Perry's campaign. Oh boy...here we go.

While the news on CNN was a little dry Fox News was like sitting in front of someone squeezing an orange. It was juicy, more exciting, and like a controversial reality show. It seemed like the Fox News reporter was baiting the interviewee only to make statements to debunk him or prove him wrong based on what he said. I watched an interview with republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He was distinctly and rather abruptly asked about his views on Mormonism being a cult and how he felt about the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" issue regarding free homosexual sex orientation expression in the military. When asked if he thought Mormonism was a cult Santorum replied, "no." When asked if he thought Mitt Romeny was a true Christian he replied, "If he says he is I believe he is what he says he is." He also stated that the presidential race should be based on qualifications and competency to do the job and not necessarily on religious affiliation or beliefs. His interview which was more like a debate seemed to prevent a slight struggle when it came to the question on gay rights in the military. Previously he had been questioned by soldier Stephen Hill serving in Iraq if he planned to reinstate "Don't Ask Don't Tell" if he were to come into the office of president. His response was of such that he was in favor of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and he expressed his firm beliefs that sexual orientation equality as a behavior and racial equality as a skin color issue are clearly different and not in any way the same. Santorum also verbalized that knowing someone you are serving with in the military is openly gay can affect a person's living and performance since heterosexuals are in close living quarters with homosexuals whom they bunk and shower with, etc. 

The Fox News reporter brought up a quote by Colonel Eugene Householder who was in the Army general's office in 1941 when he said, "The Army is not a sociological laboratory. Experimenting with army policy in a time of war would pose a danger to efficiency, discipline, and morale and would result in ultimate defeat." Colonel Householder made this statement when he was arguing against racial integration in the military over 70 years ago. Fox News was definitely more edgy, confrontational, and challenging. It was almost like the interviewer was working to trap the interviewee. CNN reporters operated in a largely different fashion from Fox News reporters. When civil rights activist Reverend Joseph Lowery was questioned on CNN about same-sex marriage and gay rights he wasn't pressured or patronized but was simply allowed to answer the question in a non-debate setting. His reply I'm sure was shocking to most as a man of the cloth voiced the evolution of his views. He expressed that equal rights are equal rights no matter what the issue is and that every person has a right to choose how they live and what they opt to do with that human-afforded power of choice. He proclaimed equal rights for all. 

Local Main Streets to the most popular avenues in Washington, D.C. seem to have been turned into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Politicians are stars, news is skewed, and humility hides in the back alleys of truth as presidential candidates smile for the paparazzi. Cable news networks do the unspeakable as they fight over ratings as candidates do something similar leaving opponents lying in pools of blood in a fight to the death for popularity and prestige where the murder weapon has been their smoking mouths shot off like guns fully loaded. There was a movie called Bruce Almighty where a news reporter gained the powers of God for a period of time. During this time he learned some valuable lessons about responsibility and the abuse of power. His tag line became, "And that's how the cookie crumbles." Some people like their cookies crisp and some like them soft, but I think all prefer them made with naturally wholesome ingredients like I'm sure they wish the news was made of. Too many journalists think they are "God" these days and that the political sun rises and sets with what they have to say. I don't know all the answers and all that Deneene Says today is...

That is the way is was, is, and will be. This is Deneene Collins signing off with News for an America that really wants to know the TRUTH. Reality TV is a broadcast phenomenon which I believe is scripted from time to time no matter how real it seems.