I was just reading an
article saying that Sen. Barack Obama plans to air a 30 minute political commercial. Too me this seems a bit over the top. What more could this commercial add to the campaign? Personally, I think that overall it will not be all that well received. I think many people will be irritated that their regular programming will be preempted for the spot which might hurt him in a close race. Short commercials are one thing but a whole 1/2 hour may come off like he is flaunting the money he was able to raise for his campaign. I guess he is still concerned that the race is still close and he has to get the message out there.
I will have to say, this election has been the most interesting I have watched in quite sometime and I have learned a lot about the process and even some about the issues this country is facing, but I think I am getting wore out with the campaign messages at this point. Let's get someone elected and get this country back on track.
Labels: elections, media, politics
Media Bias on Personal Blogs?
There is a "professional" blogger who goes by the pen name of "dooce." She has a blog that many people read. So much so that she actually makes a living off of the amount of traffic that runs through her site. She, at one time, had your typical 9-5 job but was fired because she would post negative blog posts about her workplace.
Anyway, the reason I am posting is that she represents one of the problems I have with our political system as it stands today and how media bias can be used to feed this problem. She makes no secret that she is about as liberal as it comes and lives in a very conservative part of the country. To me, she is no better than some of these conservative crack-pots that rant their own points of view and go on and on about how you have to be a fool not to see it from their perspective. Her most recent post is about a liberal writer who makes fun of undecided voters and how there is no reason for people to be undecided because the choice for president should be very obvious at this point. Personally, I know who I will be voting for, but I think this is an unfair depiction of undecided voters. I actually admire some of these folks because they are not blindly pulling the voting lever for the party they have chosen to align themselves with. To me they just want to make sure they have all the facts (which aren't always easy to find in elections) so they can use that wonderful voting liberty that has been bestowed upon them.
So I pose the question, given the popularity of blogs, especially those that have such a high readership that the creator makes a living off of them, is there an obligation to be more unbiased? There are a lot of blind lever pullers out there, many of whom get their information on candidates and elections from their favorite media source and believe that this source would never be biased or lie to them. So what do you think? Do most readers see these sites as merely entertainment and recognize bias when they see it? Or is there a danger of herd mentality in these situations? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Labels: elections, media, politics
