This here blog will focus on the news, mass media, and its effect on the world around us. First thing's first, there is news abound.
Recently the Barack Obama campaign did something interested, new, fascinating, incredible, unheard of!.... If you submitted your cell phone number or email address the Obama campaign would text or email you Senator Obama's running mate BEFORE the news announced it!
*GASP*
Upon hearing this Wolf Blitzer promptly turned into the Hulk and destroyed half of the Situation Room set.*
"How can they do this!?" Blitzer screamed as he tore down the desk in front of him.
John King using his fancy touch screen TV gave Blitzer a seemingly intelligent answer. "We can beat them," King promised.
The Hulk calmed down.
In all seriousness folks, the Obama campaign wanted to transcend that need for the mass media to report information. With much of Obama's organization started using the internet, this seemed a no brainer. How could we be so naive? To think the news would not get a hold of the information before the general public did was ridiculous, but many of us bought into it anyway.
Friday August 22nd seemed to drone on, especially for those on television hoping Blitzer wouldn't explode with rage. Obama had made his decision, that much was clear, but no one knew when the text/email would go out or who exactly the choice was. All indications pointed to Governor Tim Kaine of Virigina, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware being the final three in this race. Day turned into night, information started coming in.
The news networks were getting confirmation from Democratic Party sources that Governor Kaine and Senator Bayh were out of the mix. The rumors about Biden increased. The media was staked outside of Biden's home like it was the Britney Spears scandal. All I could think of was where in the hell my text message was? Obama is something new, refreshing, he'll get the information to loyal supporters before the media gets a hold...right.
CNN began getting unofficial reports that it was in fact Joe Biden. Again, no email, no text message, nothing. CNN reported that Biden had gathered with his family. No message. ABC confirms that the Secret Service had been dispatched to the Biden residence. Still...no message. CNN now confirms that Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate.
Dear Senator Obama,
Where the hell was my text message?
Love,
Joel
In all seriousness, the mass media couldn't lose. They had to report information first. The Obama campaign tried to prove that we didn't need mass media to provide the American people with crucial information. They were wrong. We were wrong. I believed in the campaign's promise. I received my confirmation from the Obama campaign.... at 4:48AM Saturday. Nearly five hours after CNN reported that Joe Biden was in fact Obama's running mate.
This event proves one thing. While we might not NEED mass media to provide us information, they are too entrenched in our political system to allow us direct access to information from campaigns and government. It was the ultimate goal for the mass media to prove they still had the leg up on us and they did. Maybe this won't be the case in the future, but for now we'll be stuck with them, up to and including Wolf Blitzer's beard.
Hope everyone enjoys the insanity that will undoubtedly occur throughout these posts, especially with the election on our doorstep....I would keep posting but Barack Obama is on TV getting ready to introduce Joe Biden as his running mate....this might be important.
*There is no evidence that Wolf Blitzer turned into the Hulk. This was a story floating around the offices of Fox News. Upon hearing this, Chris Wallace laughed so hard he choked on a pretzel and Bill O'Reilly blamed Blitzer's transformation on liberals loving science.
3 comments:
I think the "text" was a strategy to do a few things. First, as Dr. DeWitt mentioned in class...to poll. It did a great job of generating hype in the mass media. Also, to create a deeper connection with his supporters...Emotional Branding 101. It's the modern day door-to-door handshake. I am waiting for holograms of politician kissing babies to be sent in the future. :)
I completely agree. Definitely a polling strategy. Still, it was great watching the talking heads wait with giddy anticipation. I'm planning on dedicating an entire week to watching Fox News and report on it.
I think that this is a perfect example showing that a free, profitable, and even possibly biased media works and works well. The media found out who the pick was and did so while forces were trying to stop them. You just cannot beat the media. Especially when people are being paid--a lot of people and a lot of money--to find out everything. I personally did not care whether or not I found out first, but apparently
the media did; and this shows that
competition works.
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