|
November 4, 2008
HISTORY IN AMERICA
Barack Obama
Elected President
Fundraising Underway
for Historic Student Trip to the
Washington D.C.
INAUGURATION
TRIP
$25K Fundraising Effort
for Student Trip:
Letter for Potential Donors
Trip
Proposal
&
Tentative Schedule
Press Release
Contact Info
Election 2008
San Jose Mercury
News
Multimedia Presentation:
LIVING TO SEE IT
Election Night feature
on the 95-year-old aunt
of SJSU Journalism
Professor Bob Rucker
How Obama Won
Obama's White House
Chief of Staff
Outpouring of emotions
in
Chicago
Why Obama Won
Why McCain Lost
PRE-ELECTION
NEWS
Colin Powell stuns
GOP, endorses Obama
AP:
Obama leads in Ohio
Obama raises record $150
million in September
YouTube:
Pro McCain
African-American called
"sell out" & walks off CNN
Washington Post
endorses Barack Obama
Obama ahead in
critical national counties
Sarah Palin to be on
Saturday Night Live
3rd Presidential Debate
CBS:
Obama wins debate
53% to 22%
Poltico: 49%
to 46%
Obama narrow win
McCain fails,
Obama not rattled
'Joe The Plumber'
McCain's plumber
no ordinary Joe
Video:
Joe The Plumber
worries about Obama
Candidates have fun at
an NYC Charity Event
Videos of Funny Comments
McCain Apologies
Makes nice with LATE SHOW's
David Letterman
ABC
News Poll: Oct. 13th
Obama 53%
McCain 43%
88% Worried about
the Markets
44% Very Worried
Public
disapproval of
the job performance of
President Bush:
73%
*A
record. Higher than
Richard Nixon. *
President & Hillary Clinton
campaign with Joe Biden
Obama up by 10pts.
McCain favorability
falling
Alaskan Legislative Report:
Gov. Palin abused
her power
Palin denies charges of
abuse of power
2nd Presidential Debate
Videos
Polls:
Debate #2
Winner
CNN -
Obama
54%
McCain
30%
CBS -
Obama
40%
McCain 26%
Conservatives:
McCain came out on top
McCain Zings Obama
McCain: "That One"
reference to Obama
raises questions
"That One"
new business
takes
advantage
3rd
Debate - Next Wednesday
Election Pollsters
facing the perfect storm
3 Factors Uncertain
Politico:
McCain loses
by not winning
Newsweek:
McCain's
attacks fall short
MSNBC:
Both candidates
stretch the facts in debate
CNN:
Debate Report Card
Pre-debate poll:
Obama seen as more
compassionate
Age still an issue
for McCain
Huge
Absentee Voting
Concern in New Mexico
SJ Mercury News
endorses Barack Obama
Latest Election Polls
Election Tracker: Campaign
Ad Spending
Fundraising
Mc Cain pulling out
of
Michigan
VIDEOS:
Palin on Foreign Policy
Joint Interview with John McCain
Controversial Video:
CBS News'
Katie Couric interview
with Sarah Palin
Palin reads NY Times
& The Economist
Reactions to
Interview:
Prominent
Conservative
Columnist:
"Palin should step down"
Politico:
"Out of her league"
Republicans Growing
Concerns with Palin
Check it out...
Fall Debate Schedule
1st
Presidential Debate
September 26th
Sept. 26, 2008
Media & Public Reactions:
CNN Poll:
Obama Won Debate
51%
to 38%
ABC:
Fight Night - Round 1
Red State (Conservative) Blog:
McCain in a
Walk
CBS:
Obama benefits most
NY Times:
Post Debate
Shaping Public Perceptions
FactCheck.org:
Muddled Truths in the
Debate
Politico:
Obama stays
cool,
McCain goes on the offensive
You Grade Debate #1
New Polling System
$1 Billion
Spent on
Political Advertising & Counting
CNN:
Electoral Map
Calculator
FOX:
Ad about McCain
Cancer pulled off MSNBC
Other
Election News:
|
FUNDRAISING TO
SEND SJSU STUDENTS TO INAUGURATION
 |
“44 Years to the 44th President –
Connecting Our Past with America’s
Historic Future.” |
The
School of Journalism & Mass Communications
wants to send several
SJSU diverse students to the Inauguration of
Barack Obama Group to connect with
America’s civil rights movement in tour of
Southern historic landmarks.
(San Jose, CA) - One of the west coast’s
most respected schools for journalism
education has begun fundraising to send a
group of selected students to history in the
making on January 20, 2009 in Washington
D.C. ”Before they get there, we want our Bay
Area ethnic
and cultural students to explore, learn,
connect and report back to their communities
the connection we share with the civil
rights movement which made the election of
the first
African-American as president possible,”
says Dr. Michael Cheers, who conceived this
cross-country learning experience for San
Jose State University journalism,
advertising
and public relations students. “Now we are
asking local individuals and businesses to
help
us raise the funds needed to pull off this
once in a lifetime opportunity to connect
California’s diverse communities with
America’s historic past.”
Cheers, an award-winning, internationally
known photojournalist and National
Geographic Fellow is the Coordinator of the
SJSU Photojournalism degree program. He and
his
students were inspired by a poignant online
multimedia election night presentation
featuring the life and the historic impact
of the Obama election for the 95-year-old
aunt
of SJSU colleague and former CNN
Correspondent, Professor
Bob Rucker.
The two
African-American journalists talked with
their students about covering the
inauguration in
a unique way. “They were excited about being
a part of history and finding their cultural
connection to the civil rights movement,”
Rucker says. “Some also saw the connection
to the ongoing struggle of same-sex couples
to have the right to marry as the modern
day struggle for equal protections and civil
rights.”
The two veteran educators believe by taking
a group of diverse students to
Washington DC in January, by way of a van
driving tour through Memphis, Tennessee
( home of the national Civil Rights Museum
), Selma, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia
(places Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made
famous with his voting rights marches in
the 1960s), Cheers and Rucker believe the
SJSU students will get a better
understanding
and an invaluable appreciation of the blood,
sweat and tears 44 years ago which set
America on the course to this year’s
“Change” election in 2008.
More than 600 Journalism School students,
representing nearly all Bay Area ethnic and
cultural communities, can apply for
selection by Cheers and Rucker to go on the
cross-country trip. Between six to ten
students will be chosen. “Each applicant
must identify
their understanding of civil rights history,
and demonstrate their skill at using laptop
and
new technology software to write multiple
news stories and shoot, edit and post photos
and video online as part of a daily
reporting assignment while on the trip,”
says Rucker. Cheers adds “this will be a
working trip, an ‘education on wheels’
designed to produce
work which can be shared with the Bay Area
community back home and people
around the world.”
To realize this goal, however, Cheers and
Rucker must raise a minimum $25,000
to cover the costs of student airline flights to Memphis where they plan
to start their
van tour through the South. They will also
need overnight motel/hotel accommodations
for ten days on the road, and insurance must
also be secured. Students will get
academic credit for their effort, but they
must pay that cost along with food and daily
expenses. “We are hoping local Silicon
Valley high tech companies and media outlets
will help underwrite this effort and sponsor
this historic caravan,” Rucker says. “It’s a
golden opportunity for local businesses to
showcase some of their new technology
and connect with Bay Area cultural
communities in a personal and powerful way
like the
San Jose Mercury News slideshow and audio
presentation about my 95-year-old aunt
and mother.”
LIVING TO SEE IT was produced by
photojournalist Pauline Lubens
at Rucker’s San Jose home on election night.
Cheers and Rucker are asking local community
leaders to help them raise the
funds and secure donations of new technology
before SJSU goes on Thanksgiving
break in two weeks. SJSU student
applications for the Inauguration trip
will be taken beginning on campus Monday,
November 17th in the
School of Journalism and Mass
Communications.
$25K Fundraising Effort
Student Inauguration Trip:
Letter for Potential Donors
Trip
Proposal
&
Tentative Schedule
Press Release
Including Contact Info
|
|
Know someone who can help us
fundraise for this
once in a lifetime opportunity for
SJSU students?
PLEASE CONTACT US:
|
 |
Dr. Michael Cheers
Inauguration Trip Organizer/Project
Coordinator
SJSU Photojournalism
School of Journalism & Mass
Communications
408-408-391-5343
|
 |
Professor Bob Rucker
Inauguration Trip
Organizer/Promotions
SJSU Radio & TV Journalism
Coordinator
408-924-3272 or
408-772-3655
|
Messages
also taken at the SJSU Journalism School office,
408-924-3240 or 3242.
-------------------------------------------------------
ELECTION NIGHT: SJ Mercury News: Multimedia
LIVING
TO SEE IT
Professor Bob
Rucker's
African-American family
elder,
95-year-old Georgia born aunt,
reflects on growing up in
the segregated South
and what
Obama's election means to her.
Special
thanks to
Pauline Lubens
for this extraordinary multimedia
presentation
Get the latest information about Election Night:
ABC
CNN
FOX
MSNBC
CBS
Politico
Yahoo Dashboard
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDIA ANALYSIS REPORTS
Week of:
Oct. 13th through 17th
Colin Powell
Endorsement?
The 'Joe The Plumber' Debate & Media drops
ball on Immigration Issue!
|
|
Media
Analysis by
Bob Rucker,
African-American, San Jose State
University
Radio & TV Journalism Coordinator
who is
solely responsible for comments
posted here. |
1. Sunday,
October 19th, former Secretary of State
Colin Powell will be a
guest on NBC's Meet The Press. One media
outlet online is predicting a possible
major
endorsement for Senator Barack Obama.
“It’s going to make a lot of news, and
certainly be
personally embarrassing for McCain," a
McCain official said. "It comes at a time
when we need momentum, and it would create
momentum against us.”
The political news website
Politico.com goes on to report,
"Powell’s unassailable national
security credentials could sway voters who
are vacillating about whether Obama
is ready to be commander in chief." Passing
that litmus test may be the last
huge hurdle for Illinois' junior
Senator who seems to be slowly building up
leads in both the national polls and surveys
in the key swing states.
2. No doubt
history will dub the third and final
presidential debate in the 2008
election as the "Joe The Plumber" debate.
John Mc Cain's tactic to invoke the
Ohio plumber's name and inspire him and Sen.
Barack Obama to reference the worker
more than 20 times during the 90-minute
debate Thursday may ultimately
backfire, however. Apparently the Arizona Senator's goal was to
highlight the plight small business owners
face as they try to do all they can to meet
their obligations.
Before the debate, when the plumber was seen on TV meeting Senator Obama
during a campaign swing through his Ohio
neighborhood, 'Joe'
questioned and challenged Obama suggesting
his tax plan could
unfairly burden small businessmen
nationwide. Sen. McCain apparently saw this
as a golden opportunity to personalize the
issue and score points in the 3rd debate.
But for the second time this fall, the Mc
Cain campaign highlighted their lack of
thoroughness in vetting a potential human
asset for their cause. Like with Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin, Sen. McCain, in the
nationally televised third debate,
embraced 'Joe The Plumber" before he had
fully checked out his background.
Predictably, within an hour of the end of
the debate, news media had converged
outside Joe's Ohio home and bombarded him
with interview requests. Within
24 hours, the media had uncovered some
unflattering facts about 'Joe The Plumber.'
As
Politico.com reported, "He owes back
taxes. He is not a licensed plumber.
And it turns out that (Samuel Joseph)
Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a
year,
which means he would receive a tax cut (not
a tax increase)
if Obama were elected president."
Whoops!
The golden opportunity was starting too
look, by week's end,
more like another surprising gift for the Democrats from a
GOP presidential campaign destined to be
seen as
one of the worst in American history.
3. CBS News anchorman and political
journalist Bob Schieffer
superbly moderated the final presidential
debate. Certainly he did the best job of any
of his TV news colleagues in that role in
the previous debates during the fall
campaign.
The veteran reporter and former anchor of
the CBS Evening News was more
forceful in getting the presidential
candidates to focus on more issues
and in a way the public is currently
thinking.
Scheiffer followed-up and worked hard as he
could to get each man to be
more clear about where they stood, and to
offer more specifics.
Bravo Bob Schieffer! That's what all quality
and conscientious journalists should do.
Also to
Schieffer's credit:
he raised the controversial issue of abortion and clearly prefaced
his question with facts, educating the
public about several current Supreme Court
Justices considering retiring from the bench
during the next four years.
New appointees by the next president, Schieffer said, could most certainly
change the current 5 to 4 court vote status
on the abortion issue, and possibly
result in the overturning of the landmark
Roe vs. Wade case making abortions illegal
in America again. While both candidates gave
limited and predictable general responses
about how they would pick Supreme Court
nominees based on their legal qualifications
and not political ideology, Senator McCain
did seem to offer a revealing comment.
He suggested for years Pro Choice supporters
had "stretched the truth"
about health concerns for women in abortion
cases. He implied in some cases
women's health issues were more contrived
than real. That desired follow-up
scrutiny by the media. Senator Obama's
position should also be thoroughly examined.
4. My pet peeve
this election remains.
NO ONE FORCED THE CANDIDATES TO ADDRESS
THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE
AT ALL IN THREE DEBATES...How is that
possible?
Of course it is a hot topic and one which
could polarize the electorate.
Since when have journalists shied away from
their duties because the topic
was too controversial or potentially
divisive?
Just two years ago, we all watched on TV as
hundreds of thousands
of people were marching in major cities
coast to coast about immigration
rights and issues. Violence erupted in the
Los Angeles immigration protest
and led to a major police brutality
investigation. At a cost of millions of
dollars,
the federal government started numerous
projects to protect the borders, only to
see some stopped by construction problems or
land ownership lawsuits.
Most importantly, the Bush Administration and
Congress over the past eight years have
failed noticeably and miserably to
address the human rights concerns of the
border crisis. As a nation of immigrants
with proud words in our constitution about
respecting and protecting human life
and dignity, it seems, at the very least, a
colossal error by media people
not to force the 2008 presidential
candidates in ANY DEBATE to face this
firestorm
issue in some way, and get some insight on how the next president
would address and lead this nation and Congress on this issue.
It wasn't too
long ago media was pounding into our heads,
in print, online and
on-air, how undocumented workers were taking
a devastating toll on the nation's
economy through healthcare and other social
programs. Now with Wall Street, and
the economy as a whole, taking a daily
uncertain and nerve-wracking roller-coaster
ride, doesn't anyone in the media (other
than the human rights insensitive, so-called
independent Lou Dobbs on CNN) think
it's worth focusing some time on educating
the public on how the slipping value of the
American dollar is prompting
many undocumented workers to head back
across for better economic security?
During the past two years we were told many
American companies have
quietly been hiring and using undocumented
laborers for decades
to help keep their businesses afloat. Why have news media outlets
collectively failed to update this issue
during this campaign season?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Information
about Prof. Bob
Rucker
who is solely responsible for this weekly
media analysis
A West Coast Leader in
Journalism Education
Week of:
Oct. 6th through 13th
The Frenzy in World Markets &
Backfiring Campaign Tactics.
|
|
Media
Analysis by
Bob Rucker,
African-American, San Jose State
University
Radio & TV Journalism Coordinator
who is
solely responsible for comments
posted here. |
Media coverage
and response to the ever deepening financial
crisis has clearly
been inspiring fear and uncertainty among
the American public. More and more
people are openly expressing their growing
concerns directly with local and national
news outlets, and anyone else who will
listen. Politicians now experience the
heightened stress levels out on the campaign
trail, and some are being specifically
pointed to for inspiring public fears with their rhetoric. GOP
Vice-Presidential nominee,
Gov.Sarah Palin's accusations that Senator
Barack Obama started his political career
in the living room of a former anti-Vietnam
War domestic terrorist led the
the latest round of personal political
attacks in the presidential race. By week's
end, however, she found herself in the
headlines back home in Alaska with a report
by state lawmakers that Palin had "abused
her power" when she dismissed a state
official for refusing to fire the governor's
former brother-in-law, a state trooper who
was
involved in a bitter divorce from Palin's
sister.
Meanwhile this past week, world markets
began showing dramatic negative
responses to the American Wall Street
crisis. Sharp drops in international
exchanges
inspired by the continuing woes of the
American banking system
slowed credit lending to a nearly complete and unprecedented shutdown.
Millions of homeowners are trying to hold
on, nervously waiting to see how the
newly approved $700 billion U.S. government
bailout plan would provide them relief
from suffocating debt. Many have already
reached the point of losing their homes
because they cannot afford midterm
ballooning mortgage payments.
Boiling
and churning with all this news are
supporters and critics of both major party
candidates for president. Many of the
disgruntled are showing up at McCain and
Obama
rallies and boldly shouting out their anger
and disappointments about the
the economy and politics, many times
interrupting candidates and their surrogates
as they make their pubic pitches.
This alarming trend has been fueled by media
coverage which, by week's end,
was questioning the effectiveness of
candidates to control their crowds.
One incident in
particular has been showed over and over on
television and online
this past week, reminiscent of the media's overplay of the Rev. Jeremiah
Wright
comments this past spring. The latest
spectacle highlight shows an exchange at a
GOP rally between an elderly woman
dressed in red and Presidential nominee John
McCain.
The white haired lady tells McCain she cannot trust Senator Obama
saying quote "He is an Arab." McCain, who
first nods in agreement with the
the distrust comment, quickly disapproves
and abruptly takes the microphone away from
the woman when she makes her final
assertion. McCain immediately knocks down
that comment saying "No Mam, Senator Obama
is a decent family man and citizen" who
he has fundamental differences with, and
that's all.
With media
repetition, this short but telling exchange
is being riveted in the
minds of Americans and no doubt will become
one of those historic "defining moments" of
the fall 2008 campaign. It seemed to
exemplify how the campaign's efforts had
come full circle.
The media connected this woman's misguided
belief to McCain's
latest tactic of ratcheting up the pressure
on Sen. Obama by
questioning his character, a code word for
patriotism and loyalty.
By Monday, Oct.13th, a new public survey was
indicating the tactic might be
backfiring on McCain himself. An ABC
News poll suggests 88% of the people
nationwide are worried about the direction
of the financial markets, half, 44%
say they are "very worried." A new high 73%
disapproved of President Bush's
handling of the economic crisis, the highest
disapproval rate for any sitting president
including Richard Nixon.
Obama had opened up his lead over McCain: 53% to 43%. This
double-digit advantage for the Democrat was his first in ABC's
polling this fall.
As chief political correspondent George
Stephanopolous pointed out,
no one in history with such a big lead three
weeks from an election
has ever gone on to lose.
As lawmakers in Washington continue to
scramble to resolve the economic
instability, clearly the traditional pattern
of the public to affix blame is taking hold.
Usually the party in power is held most
responsible, and the latest ABC News
polls now strongly suggests this is
happening. Against this backdrop of growing
uneasiness and financial uncertainty, both
candidates for president now
prepare for their third and final
presidential debate this coming Wednesday.
Meanwhile, top Bush Administration officials
in the Treasury Department
continue to say their efforts to infuse
billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars will
eventually help settle the slumping
markets. The interim Assistant Treasury
Secretary warns, however, that normally such
a huge financial effort would be
spread out over one or two years, but these
billions are needed right now just
to slow down the perception of an endless
crisis. Already presidential
candidates, economic experts and media
pundits are all openly saying this
is the worse economic crisis since the Great
Depression.
More than ever, the American media must work
to calm the nation by focusing
less on the inflammatory rhetoric about the
markets or the campaigns. While the
candidates themselves should step up and
reign in their surrogates,
media professionals should focus their
efforts more on explaining, in plain
English,
the facts and nuances of complicated issues
and connect how they directly
affect the average taxpayer, homeowner and
voter. We don't need more
hyperbole and heated rhetoric to attract and
hold public attention, get ratings
or sell newspapers and magazines. Americans
are paying full attention and
want to media to deliver answers with candor
and truth.
It's time for all the other nonsense to just
stop.
Information
about Prof. Bob
Rucker
who is solely responsible for this weekly
media analysis
A West Coast Leader in
Journalism Education
Week of:
Sept. 29th - Oct.3rd
Public Outcry Blocks Historic
Bailout &
The Rush to Judgment of Sarah Palin & Joe
Biden
1. Media
obsession with dramatic characterizations of
the current financial situation
on Wall Street continued to focus on
hyperbole this week. Local experts like
Joshua Miller,
Senior Financial
Advisor and
Employee Stock Option Specialist for
Ameriprise Financial Services in San
Jose, offered an extraordinary interactive
guest
lecture at SJSU Tuesday evening. He pointed
to media hysteria and "ratings grabber
headlines" as one of many reasons why so
many Americans feel stressed
and uncertainty about the nation's economy. He suggested when media
uses
terms like "bailout, crisis, or meltdown"
to attract more readers and viewers to media coverage, overall the
impact
works against the public's best interest.
While taking numerous questions
in the MCOM 139: Media and Election 2008
class, Miller insisted the media
has, as a whole, yet to fully and carefully
explain and clarify, step by step,
how Wall Street got into its current mess,
and how the average investor,
would-be home buyer and large loan applicant
collectively,
by their decision-making, helped create the
current financial uncertainty.
Miller said quick fixes are not necessarily
the solution for the federal government
or the average citizen, that taxpayers have
a right to expect some financial return on
any $700 billion Wall Street package,
and he urged everyone to stop and
"just breathe, slow down, think
clearly and long term." Miller said
panic
and runs on banks to recover financial
savings.are based largely
on a lack of understanding and fear of the
unknown.
2. The national
public outcry, pro and con, about federal
government proposals to resolve
the Wall Street economic mess dominated the
actions of both the media and
Congress this week. Tens of thousands of
e-mails clogged the House
of Representatives online server,
threatening to crash their system.
Telephones lit up constantly in
Congressional offices signaling public
determination
to be heard. Media outlets also got the word
which slowly inspired more reporting
on the possible long term ramifications for
on taxpayers. The end result was the
House first rejecting the original Bush Administration so-called $700
billion
"bailout plan," forcing lawmakers on Capitol
Hill
to take more time to think through options
and their possible repercussions.
By Thursday the Senate had revised the plan,
putting in more taxpayer
safeguards, and Friday the House finally
approved the package.
It will be years, however, before we will
know if the actions taken these past
two weeks by politicians and media were
truly appropriate.
3. So for the second time in eight years,
the people were asked to give the
executive branch in Washington D.C.
extraordinary power to rush to act on
a perceived threat to America. Unlike with
the 911 attacks and the decision to
go to war in Iraq, the people rose up and
questioned the plan to rescue
wealthy financial institutions simply
because our government told us it was
needed.
Stubborn and relentless push back by people
empowered enough GOP House
members to break with their party's
president and say no the first time,
resulting in a
failed vote on Mr. Bush's plan. This
historic move not only confirmed the
lame duck political status of President
Bush,
it also showcased how democracy can and
should work all the time.
If the public feels strongly about any issue
at any time, it should speak up!
. Collectively it's voice make a huge
difference
if and when "We The People" demand to
be heard.
4. Rush to
judgment by the media was also obvious and
overwhelming in the run up to
the first and only Vice-Presidential Debate
Thursday. Three network TV news
interviews with GOP Vice-Presidential
nominees Sarah Palin inspired widespread
doubts about her knowledge and intellectual
capacity to handle the job in Washington.
Her repeated gaffes, repetition of practiced
lines, uneven spoken English, and glaring
lack of depth and command of the facts and
history inspired all media to
repeatedly focus on those TV interviews and
have pundit after pundit justify
Sen. McCain decision to choose her. Well
known
members of the conservative media, who tend
to support the republicans,
went so far as to call for her to step down
from the ticket before
the debate took place. On the eve of the
debate, the universal media perspective
was Palin had to prove herself or else face
disaster, and Democratic VP
nominee Joseph Biden was constantly being
advised to back off so not
to face charges of sexism. Some pointedly
advised Biden not to
attack his opponent, even though that is the
traditional role and
responsibility of both VP candidates in a
debate.
5. All week Joe
Biden was openly scolded by numerous members
of the media
for his perceived tendency to "run off at
the mouth." Wolf Blitzer even
suggested
live on CNN, he "sometimes takes liberties
with the truth." While there is significant
evidence of Biden misspeaking on the
campaign trail and during his
many decades in Congress, media went far
beyond the responsibility to
report those incidents. Also mentions of
Biden and his role and
expectations in the VP debate were
noticeably far fewer than numerous
reports on Gov. Palin, leaving the clear
impression by the media that Biden's
experience needed less detailed exploration and scrutiny. It should be
noted,
however, while Biden is well known among
people who follow
Washington politics. most people, especially
millions living west of the east coast,
still know little about his accomplishments
as a United States Senator. SJSU Students,
when asked, quickly volunteered this week
they knew only he was caught
plagiarizing in a speech once, and that is
first wife and a child
were killed in a car accident.
6. The national
media inspired interest in the VP debate
lead to tremendously
high interest nationwide. The new reference
term, "watch group parties," emerged
in
media messages. Local and national news
outlets found themselves in
the unusual situation of have more locations
to cover on debate night than
ever before. Extremely high public interest
in this year's election has also been
seen in national news reports about early
voting in some states. Long lines
now at some local election offices across
the country are confirming that people want
to
heard this year, and they apparently believe
voting now lowers the risk of not having
their vote count come Election Day. It
is truly extraordinary that millions
of American voters are willing to focus on
politics like never before and
some are willing to alter their life
schedules now and accommodate voting now
to make sure their voice is heard on
Nov. 4th.
Truly this is an extraordinary year in
American political history.
Information
about Prof. Bob
Rucker
who is solely responsible for this weekly
media analysis
A West Coast Leader in
Journalism Education
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Week of:
September 22nd-26th
Drama, Media Shows Backbone,
Gov. Palin & David Letterman
1. Drama once
again won the ratings in the minds of media
decision-making this past
week. Heavy focus was put on the moves and
counter moves of the President,
Congress and the two political campaigns
dealing with the economic crisis, versus
digging deeper and reporting more on the
next victims of the on-going money meltdown.
As a result, many Americans learned late
Thursday surprising news that Washington
Mutual, another major banking institution in
many local communities, had been seized by
the federal government and sold immediately in an effort to protect
and insure customer savings.
Who's next? Economists keep saying a few
more institutions may also be
teetering on the verge of collapse. More media focus and resource
commitment is
needed for the time honored practice of
anticipating news developments
important for society.
2. Media as "pedagogy," or media as
"society's teachers" continues to be put to
the test
over the Wall Street economic meltdown
issue. While online, print and broadcast
media
have tried to explain the complicated mess
the country is in, more creative efforts are
still needed. Many people still don't get
it, and that's no surprise. Economics has
never
been an easy study. Detailed research
combined with new technology tools should be
incorporated more, with clear and precise
clarifications which walk Americans
through
the history and background on how this
crisis came to be. Watergate was a very
complicated story too, but, in 1974, Walter
Cronkite & CBS News took time in primetime
and taught America, step by step, how
the break-in was planned and bungled, then
connected it directly to the White House and
President Richard Nixon. That came after
the Washington Post newspaper broke the
story and documented the same information
carefully in print. A similar creative
effort is needed by media with the goal
being to
reach all target demographics.
3. Collectively this week the media stood up
to the McCain campaign and forced the issue
of access by journalists to
Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. By
refusing to cave-
in to arbitrary campaign restrictions
designed to protect the candidate, print and
broadcast journalists collectively stood up
for America's right to know more about about
Palin's command of the issues when talking
to world leaders.Media should always push
back and
not worry about campaign attempts, on either
side, to make them look bad or feel sexist
or racist. The electorate needs the free
press to have guts, do its job and
insist on truth telling with a collective
voice.
4. Comedic efforts
continue to educate Americans about the
presidential candidates and
affect public opinions. Certainly CBS' David
Letterman fully recognizes this as an
opportunity to showcase something about one
presidential candidate. When the GOP
Presidential nominee cancelled his
appearance on the late night CBS talk show
Wednesday, Sen. McCain set himself up to be
caught in a lie. Letterman said McCain
called in advance to excuse himself because
he had to rush back to Washington to
do his part in the bailout negotiations.
During the late afternoon taping of
Letterman's
show however, show producers let Letterman
know McCain was actually on the CBS news
set down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Letterman later
found out the
Senator stayed in New York overnight before
leaving for the capital. The so-called
Letterman snub was joked about the rest of
the week on Late Night and gave mainstream
media another way to address the question on
many voter's minds...
how trustworthy are these candidates for
president?
5. Katie Couric's
interview with Sarah Palin on CBS was the
most impressive of any
attempt so far. In addition to reconfirming
the great talent, poise and style of one of
television's best feature interviewers, the
uneven, sometime unclear & rambling
responses given by Palin helped viewers
assess the Alaska governor's qualifications.
Palin displayed a lack of depth of
understanding of basic foreign and domestic
issues.
The inability of this candidate to speak
coherently and meaningfully using simply
sentences was stunning. It took more than a
veteran woman journalist to question
this
woman candidate effectively. Ms. Couric's
tremendous personal and professional
skill at being genuinely kind, warm and
engaging helped create an interview
environment for Palin to open up and
candidly showcase what she is all about.
Couric demonstrated the importance of being
a good listener and explored Palin's
views carefully, aggressively and
respectfully. The end result for viewers was
keen
insight into the level of critical thinking
and intellectual accomplishment of this
candidate. America voters always have the
right to know where candidates stand on key
issues,
what they bring to bear in depth of
knowledge and pertinent life experiences,
and what they don't.
Information
about Prof. Bob
Rucker
who is solely responsible for this weekly
media analysis
A West Coast Leader in
Journalism Education
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