With the elections only two days away I am sure that there are many Americans scrambling to get the facts and figure out who they will be casting their votes for. I am also sure that there are many Americans out there that don’t care for the election, and won’t even try to look for the facts. Why is it so hard to find the facts in this election? Looking deeper into the question I found two different answers to the question.
According to our Political Communication Research handbook the facts are hidden behind the media’s own agenda and political bias. I think we all know the bias stereotypes; fox news is very conservative while most other news channels are very liberal. Throughout the election I have seen stories that favor one candidate over the other, and I know that as an undecided voter it made it very difficult for me to learn the facts. I would always by questioning myself, asking whether what I was hearing didn’t carry a bias. Even when I wasn’t hearing a bias I was wondering if I was hearing the full story as most coverage seems to favor one candidate over another. According to Girish Gulati, Marion Just, and Ann Crigler news coverage has been more favorable for certain candidates, they state: “This does not mean, however, that the coverage has been neutral. Some candidates received more favorable coverage than others. For example, Lichter (2001), Lowry and Shidler (1995), and Zeller (1995) have found that Democrats have received slightly more favorable coverage than Republicans in the last 50 years, yet it has not been unusual in particular elections for Republican candidates to receive more favorable coverage than Democrats” (Gulati, Just, Crigler 239). With media bias and coverage bias it seems to be harder for the voters to get reliable information, however this is just one viewpoint on the problem.
According to Hart we voters are part of the problem; “Not only do we know less about politics, but we also seem to care less. In 1967, 35% of the American people described themselves as ‘very interested in public affairs.’ That same statistic for 1988 was 23%. In 1967, 73% of the population read a newspaper each day; today, that number is 51% and falling” (Hart 55). I myself haven’t been as politically active as I could be. While I have been reading up on the issues on various websites I still haven’t learned everything I can, in fact I wonder if I would be as knowledgeable if it weren’t for this class. I feel that many people feel that way, not only in our class but across campus as well. In fact I worry that many Americans our age are even less politically knowledgeable than we may be. At least I look up the issues from time to time; I am willing to bet there’s a good amount of people my age who don’t even care. So the problem may be our own political apathy, is it our faults for not attempting to seek the truth in the first place? To test the theories I went online to look for two similar articles on two different websites. The websites would be different in that both websites would be branded as “biased” towards a certain side of the political spectrum. I found my two articles on CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/01/campaign.wrap/index.html?iref=newssearchand) and Fox News (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/02/candidates-urge-voters-polls/). Both articles talked about the candidates campaigning in “battleground states”, yet they did tell the stories in a different fashion. The first little detail that I noticed was simply the name placement and who the articles talked about first. On CNN Obama’s name was first in the title and the stories first paragraph talked about Obama; however on Fox News McCain’s name was first and the first paragraph talked about McCain. A simple little switch but it conveyed minor bias. However as I looked through to articles a bias became more apparent. For example, on the top of the CNN article under “Story Highlights” the article reads “Sen. John McCain says northern Virginia is key to winning the state. Sen. Barack Obama: Cheney "delighted to pass the baton" to McCain. Sen. Joe Biden says McCain's campaign has gone "over the top". Gov. Sarah Palin attacks Obama on tactics in Florida” (Cnn.com 1). This would seem to be an example of the media’s coverage bias as the “story highlights” shows mostly negative coverage towards McCain. However the Fox News article showed some bias as well, as the first paragraph of the article read: “Republican John McCain set out Sunday on a dizzying campaign charge through three battleground states, promising supporters a come-from-behind victory just two days before the election. Front-running Democrat Barack Obama looked to land a knockout blow with a swing through pivotal Ohio” (Fox News 1). Notice the word “front running” a negative term that is used to describe Barack Obama in his campaign. Both articles show bias and it seems that there is some validity in the idea that media bias can defiantly hinder our ability to find the truth. However I also took into account this fact: would I have even looked for these articles if it were not for this class? The answer is no, maybe the problem is the fact that I am not seeking the truth as much as I could be.
Now that this election is coming to an end look back at the political knowledge you have or haven’t gained during this election and answer these questions: do you feel, with this election in particular, that it is hard to find the true facts? Is it media bias and coverage bias that hides the truth from us? Is it our own political apathy that hinders our ability to find the facts? Or is it a combination of both that is preventing a lot of us from knowing what we should?
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With this election in particular, to find the basic facts about each candidate, what their stances are on the issues that are most pressing to the country, it is easier now than ever. The internet is too influential to ignore and if someone wanted to simply know the issues. They could easily google that sort information. However, it must be said that researchers must be internet savvy and recognized a credible site from a site that has an agenda. Someone could never just simply rely on advertisements to learn the truth because there is no such thing as an unbiased advertisement. It is their purpose to persuade. The tactics chosen are up to the candidate and Kaid states on page 172 that, ““Positive ads are more effective than negative or comparative ads at enhancing attitudes towards candidates.” Barack Obama’s half hour infomercial could be a good example this, he did not mention McCain once. I also believe that it is a combination of both apathy and media bias that leads to a lack of essential knowledge.
Our country has fallen away from how we were during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's term in office. We were a great nation then. When we got involved in World War 2 he asked our people to help by giving to the needs of our soldiers and so many people were willing to help. People sacrificed so that we could win the war. Today when the President asks for help one political party is hard at work trying to meet our people's needs, but the other party turns their backs on us. They want to have control over everything. Why aren't they helping to control major needs of our people for our betterment? When the majority got in power they have radically changed from a concerned and caring Party into one that has become selfish in what they do, a Party that has turned their backs on improving people's lives and bringing tougher hardships for the middle class and the poor. Those who are wealthy should give of their plenty to decrease the deficit, but they want to hold onto it and gain some more. It's time that EVERYONE, the wealthy, our national sports teams, the major movie studios and major industries do their part in getting our country going in the right direction. Why are the wealthy living happy and prosperous lives while the poor and the middle class have barely enough to get by? Our country is One Nation under God, INDIVISABLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL WITH UNALIANABLE RIGHTS WHICH ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. It's time for us to become UNITED, NOT DIVIDED.
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