My good bye

As this class comes to an end, I like to say how much I appreciated all the blogs and comments to mine. I think that I have learned more in these blogs than I did in any book. We were assigned these blogs as a purpose. Well Dr. D, I think that goal has been met. It has been exciting to see how we all viewed the world of mass media and politics. As citizen journalist, we may have not changed the world, but I can tell you that we opened the minds of our fellow classmates. Thank you all for reading and I hope I made my goal to show exactly how media supplements politics. Without any media coverage, politics would not exist because there would not be a need of persuasion. What we do is important and we have to stay objective. This is how things get done.

Almost over!

So my last two blogs were about how each party used television and social media to get out their messages to persuade the voters. In this mid-term we have what some people call the "6 year itch." This basically means that the president in power loses his senate to the opposite party in his 6th year. Not only did Obama lose the senate, but he also does not have the majority in the House. I believe this has only happened a few times in modern history with Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton. Now that is just only the presidents party that doesn't control both houses.
My point in this is that the media PLAYED a HUGE part in this election as well as the past few. The media gives us the opportunity to see the candidate by debates, pictures, events, or other engagements. We can hone in on the messages and make our decisions to use democracy to make our choices. Of course, there is the influence of other factors such as SuperPacs and such to help make a decision. That is where we get a lot of media commercials. Also, don't forget the MSNBC and FoxNews that also help us (this weeks discussion question).

The thing that I am lost on is President Obama's quote about 2/3 of America didn't vote. See he is essentially saying that 1/3 of the voters put the Republicans in control of the Senate. He said they ran well campaigns. Then if THAT is the case...then media supplementing politics had just turned into steroids because all of those ads and televised events gave the Republicans super human strength to get out and vote.
So before I go....why is it ALMOST OVER!!!!!
We have a run-off in Louisiana. And Alaska is still too close to call.
That run-off means....more television ads...more time on media....and more time to supplement politics!

Air Wars

As mentioned the other day, I will provide the opposite of the Republicans suing Obama. I left you with a video with the President saying his polices are on the ballot. This is perfect as to what we were discussing in class this week. All of the ads for the midterms are running like mad. Only a few days to decide who will control the Senate. With those words of Obama in the video in the last post, Republicans and SuperPacs have made commercials with those words against Obama and the Democrats, because a vote for Nunn is a vote for Obama.

I'll be honest. I absolutely love this! My blog is doing what it has been designed to do. Plus it goes along perfectly with class discussions.
I'm Jason Hutchins and I approve this message!

Tired of the same ole

I didn't notice anything much last week that I have already covered. Ebola, ISIS, campaign ads. Been there, done that. Still waiting on Dr. D to send my t-shirt! I started this blog to show how the media is a supplemental vitamin to politics. But what I'm finding are a lot of reruns. I was suppose to post last week. I wanted a story so interesting, so provocative, that it would blow you mind. It didn't come.

To fix last week I will mention old news and I will give a preview to what I will post Friday for this week...and it almost correlates the same meaning but with different parties.

Republicans to sue Obama. Republicans to impeach Obama. The Democrats are loving this one. Now, the lawsuit to this day has yet to be filed, and there are not mentions of any impeachment proceedings in the near future. What has been said is that Democrats are using those two ideas to rally their party for November.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) insisted Tuesday there were “no plans” for impeachment, calling talk of the subject a “scam” designed by Democrats to raise money. But the specter of the nation’s first black president being accused in the House of “high crimes and misdemeanors” is something Democrats hope will energize core voters, particularly African Americans. That could be important as Democrats look for ways to guarantee a strong turnout of their supporters in the November election. http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-boehner-impeachment-fundraising-20140729-story.html

Although this is old news, it still shows that media attention may ignite the fire needed by Democrats to win seats in one week. Even if this does not work, I am still right because I know turn-out will be higher.

Preview for the next blog Friday. 

New generation muckraking?

Okay. This week in Graber and the lessons we learn about muckraking. These investigative journalist go out dig up dirt and expose. But is there any muckraking? Does that term really exist? With the internet and social media putting everything at fingertips, I don't think there is much of anything that needs investigating. Sound bytes, videos, and pictures tell all the story that you need. A random thing happened this week. You know how we heard that say it ain't so Joe (Biden) has mentioned before that he thought about running for president? Well, you should probably know that Hillary is wanting to run as well. Now, who do think that the Democratic Party and their PACs want to win? Why yes of course, Hillary! So,  guess what? Joe Biden's son was  from the Navy for failing a drug test. Yep, cocaine to be exact.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/17/biden-son-discharged-from-navy-after-reportedly-testing-positive-for-cocaine/

The Wall Street Journal reported this. I do think that this was a secret planned attack from camp Clinton. Trust me, in politics family members are the first to be attacked.

Race for November

By now, you have seen the campaign ads rolling away on print, TV, and social media. Its the midterms and apparently there is a lot at stake. The biggie is the control of the Senate. If the Republicans can score a majority, then they will have total control of Congress. Georgia is a player in that where David Perdue and Michelle Nunn battle for that US Senate seat. Georgia also has the gubernatorial race with incumbent Nathan Deal against Jason Carter. Both of these races are really big for Georgia. So with that comes the attack ads. These are not uncommon, in fact they are becoming the norm. Paint your opponent as the most unfit, unpleasant, and undeserving candidate and maybe that will get you a boost right? No so fast! A lot of voters find these negative ads as a turn off to a candidate. But you see, usually the candidate themselves do not put out those negative ads. Its usually a PAC of some sort, making their message clear but at the same time, somewhat hurting the candidate. Sometimes, it actually works out. But with so many ads out there, and so many spins on what the candidate says, who do you believe? People shouldn't have to toss a coin in the air just to choose a candidate. CBS 46 news along with KSU political science department sorts some of those ads out.

I am in a truth-testing class run by Dr. Pieper. Every week we get a political statement from a candidate and do crap tons of research and give it a grade. A-F, with A being undoubtably true and F flat out no truth or merit. We are doing week 5 at the moment and I can tell you that media is all politics. Just as Graber mentions about private surveillance, our truth-test can be unflattering news for a candidate. I have noticed that things aren't complete lies....they take the truth and stretch is as far as humanly possible. That spin, really is unfair to the voters. But thats what happens in politics.



Truth Test No. 3: Nathan Deal on education - CBS46 News

Ebola, media, and politics

By now everybody has heard of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. If you have been living under a rock then....find some Internet my friend! So why do we care about this disease? According to WHO; The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated.The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is 2 to 21 days. Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms. First symptoms are the sudden onset of fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding (e.g. oozing from the gums, blood in the stools). Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.No licensed vaccines are available yet, but 2 potential vaccines are undergoing human safety testing.
The media is on this like white on rice....oh man so cliche. Since the first American that contracted this disease, media has followed it around...hungry like the wolf. Heck, its a dang story that won't go away. It's the I told you so. Yes, when those infected Americans came back home to get treatment...some of the public were not too happy. They were afraid that this would bring the virus here. Do you blame them? Nobody wants to die...especially from a virus. But it was the media that fueled this fire. Everybody from the CDC and the president said we have nothing to worry about. Then it happened. That guy got on a plane....lied about his health and carried Ebola all the way to Texas. In that transit the guy had direct contact with 80 people. So apparently it won't spread with out body fluid contact. 
Back to the media. Citizens to lawmakers have addressed concerns about Ebola outbreak and taken to broadcast and social media to deliver their messages. But is the media way overblowing this whole thing? What about the media with an agenda? Both Fox and CNN have been decently critical of the CDC and the president to do something. Closing our borders was a suggestion....but that may be over the top. So with some pressure from the public through the media (once again supplements politics) the president has made a statement.

President Obama announced Monday, after meeting with top health and security officials about the Ebola outbreak in Africa, that the U.S. government is preparing additional measures to screen passengers in the U.S. and overseas as part of the expanding effort to contain the virus. 

"We're ... going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening both at the source and here in the United States," the president said. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/06/obama-advisers-weigh-extra-ebola-screening-for-travelers-at-us-airports/?intcmp=latestnews

Redemption part 2 but at a cost?

So the rolling numbers for the 3 day average for President Obama, Sept. 21-23 is at 44% (Gallup). After announcing to the world that America will not tolerate the harming of US citizens, the Presidents approval rate began to rise. Now almost two weeks later, we hit Syria with airstrikes to take out tactical positions of ISIS. Destroying the terrorist infrastructure is a winning goal, a "gold star" to the President by the public. This can show a correlation to the rise in his approval numbers. For the President, that is a good thing. Media attention, getting gutsy, and having a plan worked out for Obama. That again proves my theory of supplementation.  But, this approval rating....is that what we want? Should the President care? Now that we have shown the world that we will fight terrorism once again, that once again has made us targets again.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we, the liberal West, will always be a target of radical Islam. No matter what we do....we will have that threat, I am certain, for a very long time. So here's the deal now.....

American airstrikes in Syria overnight halted the threat of terrorist attacks in the U.S. homeland from organized groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, but raised the specter of angry lone-wolf sympathizers carrying out an attack on their own, federal authorities said today.

The American airborne offensive could potentially embolden self-radicalized terrorists to strike inside the homeland, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI say in a joint bulletin issued to local, state and federal law enforcement late today.

That is from ABCNews. 

Damn it. Just when you thought that removing the cancer of those terrorist, we now have to worry about these guys. So, did we do the right thing? Piss off lone wolves? I think we did. There is probably a saying somewhere that says something about losing a few to save thousands? 

What Headline?

As I learned about the lesson this week, I thought that news was news for information.  Many people have mentioned, why do we care about things that don't affect us personally? So when the news papers print a story about Ebola in a country thats 5500 miles away, who wants to read it? What about printing the story of ISIS beheading innocent people? Why read about it? Unless you are infected or kidnapped then why bother right? A funny thing, we say we don't care, but I think we do.  Then what is our problem, our justification, in saying that made headlines? The simple answer is mass broadcast and social media. We heard the story already. We know the facts and by the time it makes print....we don't care.  News becomes old news because its not new at all.  So what about a story like this......
Police found him “in a somewhat compromising position… in a back room of the club” — alone with a topless stripper wearing only a G-string. Davis was forced to the ground at gunpoint by police after they interrupted his lap dance. He kept to his “sitting position” the first time he was requested to hit the floor and had to be ordered a second time to lay on the ground before complying.
That is a story about a Democratic gubernatorial candidate. That happened in 1998 where he said he was just at wrong place at the wrong time. Did this hurt him? Well considering it was a small news story and not really broadcast nationally. What about the incumbent?........
Davis currently has a slight lead over Brownback in the contentious gubernatorial race. He hit back at the current Kansas governor in his statement to Politico by pointing out allegations that associates of Brownback are under investigation by the FBI for involvement in an influence-pedaling scheme surrounding the governor’s attempt to privatize the state’s Medicare program.
Seems this story has in fact helped the challenger gain a few points....he was only covered locally for the most part and people tend to forgive and forget.

A small redemption

With an approval rate hovering around 38%(Gallup.com), President Obama needed something. As our world watched ISIS behead two Americans, many people wondered what would the President of the United States do. Well, to start, he didn't have a strategy. It seemed as this terrorist group once again used mass media of social media to show their evilness and willingness to kill innocent people and deliver their message that they are in charge. The families have asked the public not to watch the beheadings so that ISIS can not win and show them we are not falling into their dark world. Mass media around the world has their attention on ISIS and what the West will do. On September 10th, President Obama addressed the nation and the world on ISIS.





Many politicians are still skeptical of this plan. Many more are glad that Obama had stepped up. This also includes the public and their ever evolving view of the president.

Even Newt Gingrich (R) said that this was the most pro-American thing the president has ever said.

This is what the president needed to get a small bump in his approval rating, now at 40% (Gallup).

Indeed, what we see here is that the addressing of mass people using media once again gave a strong dose of vitamins to the politics of the American President.

Democrats personal stories

We need to get a message across and the way to do it is mass media. When a person appeals to a certain group, they are almost always likely to win their support. In today's case of media supplementing politics I looked at Texas gubernatorial Wendy Davis. Ms. Davis had written a book and in that book she reveals that she had not one but two abortions. Well, this is the liberal ideology at work where they believe in Pro-Choice. There were said to be a medical problem as to why she chose to terminate. I am not to judge her. But in a red state as a democrat, what do you do to get support? Throw that personal story in a book and then expend it the mass media of course. This is sure to get a liberal voting band together to support a female candidate with abortions. Ms. Davis using media is sure to get a stronger "vitamin" support from the democrats in the state.
1tbdUMj

Back in 2012 at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama wooed the crowd with her own personal struggles and then expanded on Barak's struggle as he has been where we are today.

The message was that Obama comes from struggle. He understands what you're going through. Ann Romney talked about tuna fish. Michelle Obama took her details further. The car that was rusted out, the coffee table rescued from the dumpster, and the pair of decent shoes that were a half size too small. “For Barack, these issues aren’t political–they’re personal. Because Barack knows what it means when a family struggles. He knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids.”
The first lady’s task was to reflect what she sees in the nation and then show how that vision is reflected in her husband. This is what Ann Romney also did as she told the stories of those who struggled with high gas prices and extra jobs. Michelle Obama ran through the same kinds of stories, about the teacher who had to buy the school supplies and the blinded soldier who would have done it all again.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_breakfast_table/features/2012/_2012_democratic_national_convention/michelle_obama_s_speech_tied_barack_obama_s_personal_story_to_the_way_he_governs_as_president_.html

Those stories, viewed and heard by millions...is what makes politics stronger. The voice for Obama was heard and he was elected again as President. There is power in the media.

Changing media

Looking back on class assignments, I can for sure say that media will always evolve and politics with go with it. One day on our smart.....whatevers, we probably will see a hologram image of live events happening. Technology will forever change how we get our daily or minutely news. Media and social media have become an important aspect of our daily lives. It's like we can't put our phone down long enough to enjoy the moment. We have to be in the "business" of the word. Politics and political events have become right to our finger tips. We can "like", "retweet", or start or join a hashtag for a cause. Mass social media has become a voice of the world. When Boko Haram kidnapped the school girls, social media exploded with #bringbackourgirls, prompting governments all around the world to get involved some way to condemn the actions. A global community brought together by the evolution of media. That is how media is changing forever and the world changes with it.

Media Blogging for Dummies

I think the first blog should count as a learning experience. What does this first-timer have to do with media and politics? Quite simple really. You see, online blogs are a part of media. Although, it really is nontraditional, it can very well send a message. I am a blogging rookie. This is my very first blog. Will it supplement politics? Probably not today. But, when and why? If my readers are one bit fascinated or intrigued by my post, then the media (blog) may well in fact persuade a person to a party or ideology. Now, as a person, I will not try to influence anything. As a form of media, I will try to link a possibility that media is a vitamin to politics. I posted that my definition of politics was the influence over others. Now, if politics were a physical form in the gym, the best way to get stronger is to take a supplement. Here, you get the connection between media supplementing politics. The movie, "Citizen Kane", is a great way to see how print media was able to raise a person to the top and then also destroy him by the very same tool.