Posted on behalf of Steve Halas:
Since the dawn of the television age media coverage has helped people to form their opinions about politics and world affairs. But where do these ideas and opinions really come from? Are they the public’s ideas that are solidified by media coverage, or is it the points of view of politicians and reporters that make up the public’s mind? How do any of us claim to have our own points of view about politics if the only place we get our information from is the television set and internet videos?
In chapters 1 and 2 of “Seducing America” Hart discusses the effects television has had on Americans and their political opinions. On page 5 of his book he writes, “Television, I shall now argue, tells us how to feel about politics, producing in us a swagger whereby we tower over politics by making it seem beneath us.” If this is true, that television tells us how to feel about politics, how much do we really know about the government and politicians? How much of what we think we know is shaped by the mind’s of political types and figureheads who strive to gain public favor through the use of flexible mediums?
As we near the time to elect a new president the television and internet has been flooded by images of candidates, their commercials and tons of speeches. With this storm of information comes loads of mixed messages from different sources, but where do our opinions come in?
The following is one of Obama’s campaign videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCMVL5tXLGQ
This video was obviously made to help support Obama and criticize McCain but are there aspects of it that are misleading? It’s part of every politician’s game plan to make him or herself sound like a man or woman of the people, but how much do we really know about McCain and Obama? A little bit about their family lives, where they went to school, where they grew up? The media sure has a way of telling us a lot without telling us anything at the same time!
This second video is of Hilary Clinton’s speech on august 25th at the Democratic national convention. Just listen to the first three minutes and thirty seconds of this thing if you haven’t already heard it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268ncnoitEc
Hilary got rave reviews for this speech, but what do you guys think of it? Does it sound misleading or do you feel as though it’s an honest depiction of her political agenda and personality?
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2 comments:
I think that the role the media is playing in this election is a great example of how media coverage helps to shape people's opinions about the world, and especially about politics. It definitely is a chicken and egg kind of situation...that is, does the media influence what we think about politicians, or do politicians say what they think we want to hear based on our media habits? I'm confused already.
Because of everything that we hear from the media, we develop a feeling of intimacy with the candidate. Hart says on page 26, "When we become familiar with a person in these day in and day out ways, we develop the sorts of expectations that any intimate associate promises...television gives us a new, more vulnerable soul to probe". I think this has to do with what you were saying about the candidate's backgrounds. How can we possibly know the truth about what goes on in their lives? It's impossible. I think that we can make judgements about how real or true to self Hilary Clinton was being based on the fact that the media makes us feel like we really know her. Lately with the criticism of Sarah Palin's family, I can see how sometimes becoming too intimate with a media figure can be bad, but that is not to say that the things that come out in the media do not affect us. No matter how we choose to take what we see and hear, we are exposed to it and it has an effect on us.
I think that the book is accurate in stating that television molds what we think of people. Obviously, this example has no relation to politics but when Britney Spears was going "crazy", the public automatically seemed to think they knew everything about her and that she would never make it back from her downward spiral. It was because the media portrayed her in such negative ways. Then, when the media started showing her "shaping up", suddenly America "knew" that Britney was getting better. We were shown positive images and so we began to think positive things. In reality, nobody really knew what was going on with Britney except Britney herself and perhaps friends and family.
Hilary looks thrilled in the video, as though she couldn't be happier that Obama was running instead of her. Yes, I believe that Hilary was happy to be supporting a democrat because that is her party. However, none of us really have a way of knowing what she was truly thinking and if she meant half the things that she said. In the public eye, important figures know that image is everything. The only people who really know what Hilary thinks and believes are again, probably just Hilary as well as her family and friends. If we were going just from the video, then yes, Hilary seemed very happy about the way things were going. But again, realistically, the only person who really knows what Hilary was thinking is Hilary.
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