For Class on 5/1: Going Public

Political leaders have a love/hate relationship with the media. They love getting support and the ability to speak to their constituents and set the agenda, they hate being scrutinized, investigated, and antagonized in public. As a result many have used used technology to circumvent the media in order to talk directly to the people. This strategy is generally referred to as "Going Public." All politicians in the modern era do this to one degree or another and some do it much more effectively than others.

One modern version of going public occurs everyday on Twitter. Take a look at who is active on twitter and who is not. My guess is that most of the national politicians that you know are tweeting pretty regularly. You can also take a look at how politicians use good old facebook here along with going to individual politicians sites.

Finally take a look at how President Obama goes public all the time. You may or may not be aware of the fact that the President makes a weekly address each week (like a modern day fireside chat). Take a look at his latest one (and others if you want) here (click on photos and videos on the top left then look for the most recent weekly address).  You can also look around at other ways that he tried to directly connect with the people by going over and around the media.

After looking through much of this use the following questions as a jumping off point for your discussion:

1. What do you think are particularly successful examples of going public which are being utilized today by congress? Other politicians? Political organizations? Obama?
2. What do you think of  the weekly address? Why might this be a good/bad strategy?
3. How might you advise politicians who are trying to use the strategy of going public?

For Class on 4/24: Important Political Issues

For the blog this week we are going to take a step back from the class reading and look at the major issues that have dominated recent political headlines. The President and Congress have many issues that they are dealing with along with the never-ending look toward the next elections. I am interested to find out what you think is important to address and, by extension, how you think the media is covering these issues and how the government is dealing with them.

Start by taking a survey similar to those conducted by polling companies and news organizations regarding what issues are most important to you. you can find the survey here.

Next take a look at how your responses and the responses of your classmates compare to national polls here

Then you can test your knowledge of recent news based on news quiz from The New York Times.

Finally please post a comment describing your reactions, reactions to your classmates comments. You can use any or all of the following prompts as a starting point if you wish.

1. Choose one of the items you listed as extremely important (or less important) and explain why.
2. Are the issues that seem to be the most important to you (or to the rest of America) being covered well by the media?
3. How did you feel about taking the the news quizzes, what was covered, how you did, and how those topics are or are not covered by the news?
4. What conclusions can we draw from the way that the issues that dominate the polls and media coverage are similar or different?

For Class on 4/17: Are Newspapers Dying

This week we are continuing to look at the state of journalism in American today, its influence and its future. The problem is that the future of newspaper reporting and journalism as we know it is on the endangered species list. Newspaper ad revenue is dwindling quickly as people stop subscribing to the paper and start reading the mostly free news online. The reality is that the newspaper industry and journalism in a broader sense is probably not dying, but it is evolving, and those involved in the change must get on board or get out of the way. What this means for the power of the media in our lives and the role that it plays within our political context remains to be seen. For this week's blog take a look at the stats on the "dying" newspaper industry here and an interesting inside look from the managing editor of TIME magazine here. Also, if you want, you can take a look at an interesting New Yorker article on the subject here, then start a discussion based on the prompts below.

1. What does the changing nature of journalism mean for the American public?
2. Is the transition to more digital, interactive, and citizen generated news content a positive or negative development for politics and/or political news reporting?
3. If you feel like saving the world, you can also feel free to weigh in on what newspapers and traditional media can do to survive and make it off the endangered species list.

For Class on 4/10: The Watchdog

The media is, without doubt, both a political and economic institution. However the roles that it plays within the American political system are broad and uneven. One of the most consistent roles that the media has played within the political world  is that of watchdog: monitoring the actions, policies, and words of politicians and political elites. The reality is that most of what occurs in politics takes place largely out of view. Investigative journalism helps to make American politics more transparent, expose corruption and lies, and generally keep politicians honest. This is one of the major reasons the media is often referred to as the 4th estate in American politics, an unofficial but necessary institution within our political system. However the media's watchdog track record has been...well...inconsistent. 

First, take a couple minutes to skim through some of the efforts by various media outlets to act as a watchdog during the 2012 national conventions: 

The media as watchdog of the Republican National Convention:

• Edited clip of various news sources fact-checking of Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican National Convention created by the Obama campaign
• Fact Checking the speech by factcheck.org, run by the Annenberg Policy Center (great resource)

The media as watchdog of the Democratic National Convention:

• CNN evaluating the claim that Obama saved the U.S. auto industry, and that Romney advocated letting it go bankrupt.
• Democratic Disinformation at DNC from fackcheck.org

Next, read the first webpage of an interesting report from Pew Research Center for the People and the Press about public opinion regarding the media's use of the watchdog role. 

1. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the media as a watchdog?
2. Are there any media outlets that do a particularly good or bad job fulfilling the watchdog role of the media?

For Class on 4/3 - My Political Media Profile

As they say in Sound of Music, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." Before we can dive into all the ways that the media is affecting citizens and the political process or how much politicians and political organizations are trying to influence the media, we need to start with ourselves. What kinds of political information are we consuming? What sources do we use more or less? What do we trust? How does all of this affect our political ideology and our ideas about particular political issues? There is a lot there. 

We know from many interesting studies like this one from Pew Research that people typically get news from a variety of sources using a variety of formats. We will explore what all of this means throughout the course. But first we need to analyze our individual media exposure. Please think about yourself during a "typical" week and try to honestly describe your political media profile using some or all of the following prompts to guide you:

1. How much time during an average day or week do you think you consume news?
2. What sources (NYTimes, Buzzfeed, NBC News, FoxNews...) and formats (TV, internet, radio, newspaper, magazine...) do you use the most? Are you a newspaper or blog reader, do you watch local or national or cable news, what channels, what radio stations?
3. What role does the internet/social media play in the news you consume?
4. How do you find news sources?
5. What sources do you trust? Why?

Please note that this is not designed as as opportunity to brag about how much political news we watch or lie about how little we consume. It is simply a time to be honest so we can have a sense of what is out there.

Remember: Your responses should be approximately one long or two short paragraphs and no more (around 150 words). No research is necessary but think carefully about what you want to write and respond to the ideas presented on the blog, not the people. The goal is to use these prompts to start a dialogue that can evolve through the week. You should post your comment(s) by 8pm on Wednesday. Everyone should skim the discussion before class on Thursday.

Welcome

Welcome to your Mass Media and American politics poliblog experience! Each week you will be required to read the post for that week (which may include a news article, question, comment, multimedia clip, controversial issue, etc.) and respond with your comments. Each of your comments should be no more than 1/2 page (approx. 1 long paragraph or two short paragraphs) and must be posted by 8:00 Wednesday night. You do not need to do any outside research in order to respond, just reflect on the topic of that week, the other comments posted on the blog and make an argument presenting your views. The goal is to create an online dialogue that we can then bring into class. You must post at least one comment on 8 different weeks (NOTE: you do not need to write a comment every week). But you MUST read the post and all comments either Wednesday night or Thursday before class each week. Enjoy!