The front story Tuesday 11:30, is that Ohio begins voting. This is a big deal because not only is it a battle ground state, but it is also the first to open its polls. There are mixed feelings about this; Republicans believe that it is easier to have fraud, while democrats encourage it. The BBC does this thing, though, where they talk about about the race in a nut shell. When the BBC does it in this way, it says that, of course, the biggest deal in the election, is still the economic crisis. They say that while Obama has a lead in national polls, McCain is gaining in states such as Ohio and Indiana. However, he is loosing ground in states like Florida. I was looking at other sites, and they're all talking about Palin-Biden debate. The funny thing about this, is that the BBC doesn't do a feature on this, they do include this picture as the 'picture of the week'. It is showing that the VP debate is ready to go.
As far as framing, it again, seems pretty straight-forward. I did notice, today, however, on the main page, the main picture is McCain. I'm excited to watch to see how the BBC is going to watch and cover the VP debate, and wonder if they are using more of McCain's pictures because Sarah Palin is more of a celebrity this week....
As in other weeks, the BBC has been closely following the election this week. And, also like other stations, I'm sure that the economy has been in the forefront. The issues this week, include the following: 1. The Debate This in itself was an issue. This was a pretty big deal because of the other issues (economy, McCain, Palin), all fed into this. The economic crisis, the close second, could not be ignored. This became part of the debate, and was thus covered, and the fact that this was going to happen definitely making headlines. The economic crisis was a news story, and that related to the election was a news story... but the fact that this was going to be covered in the debate was the bigger story. 2. The economic bailout... The US is facing the worst economic outlook on Wall Street since the Great Depression. This has an effect on the entire world market. The measures that the government is taking, and the candidates' response has made headlines, as well. Economic & Foreign policiy is what is going to decide this election, because every American is concerned. the BBC does a pretty good job at telling what the candidates think without bias. 3. McCain suspending campaign This is a story, because it affects the debate and is directly related to the economic bailout. McCain, whose campaign slogan is "Country First," is fulfilling his duty as senator, putting his campaign second. Supporters look and say-- this kid mean business--- and Obama called him out saying that it is important that McCain be able to multi-task. The BBC said, "Republican John McCain said he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to deal with the crisis.
But Democratic rival Barack Obama said it was "more important than ever" for US citizens to hear from the person who would soon be "dealing with this mess"."
4. Palin's talks with world leaders.
Palin will face Joe Biden in a debate this week. Palin meeting with world leaders is important because, until this year she didn't even have a passport. Her experience with foreign policy consisted of her proximity to other nations. The BBC wrote the story in such a way that made it appear that these meetings were mostly in preparation for the debate.
The BBC, like others, liked to look at past presidential debates to compare this debate to. They talked about debates such as the 1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon, and even the Bentson-Quayle VP debate. The VP debate between Palin and Biden is expected to be a factor in the upcoming election, not something you see everyday in a American presidential elections. Also-- reminding everyone of the past election mess-ups, helps keep everyone looking for the current candidates mistakes.
This aligns pretty well with what my group of friends, and peers are talking about. I went home this weeknd, and not only was my aunt and uncle watching it (baby boomers), but so was my grandmother. I found it surprizing, though, that while my aunt and uncle decided a long time ago that they were voting for McCain, my grandmother hadn't decided yet. This debate, my family thought McCain won-- and the articles that the BBC wrote asking who won said that it was either a draw, McCain w/ a slight win, OR Obama winning by a landslide (those were few).
I feel like the BBC has done a great job with reporting this election, and I look forward to following it for the next 30 some days.
I had been waiting for this day... I wanted to see who the BBC was going to endorse, especially after the editorial about how some elected official said that if she were a voting American citizen, she would vote for Obama.
Now the thing about that, is that the BBC is very clear about what is editorials or OpEds, and what are actual news stories. So, I watched the debate, waited a few minutes, then looked to the BBC. Sure enough, the entire top half, or what the industry calls 'above the fold' was dedicated to the US presidential debate.
The article, entitled, "McCain and Obama spar in first debate" was complete with video clips was up and ready to go when I checked at 10:50 pm Friday September 26, 2008.
I noticed that in the bolded sections of the article (unlike many news sites, the BBC breaks up their articles into subheadings), after the first subheading, each one was a quote--either directly or indirectly from McCain. This could have been for a couple of reasons. The first is that foreign policy is McCain's thing. This could also be because the fact that McCain was there was a big deal.
As was reported in days previous, McCain had vowed that he would not be debating if congress had not made significant progress in solving the economy problem. Luckily, 10 hours before, he said that he thought significant progress had been made, so he could be there.
This also sparked the first part of debate. This was supposed to be all about foreign policy, but there is no way that the moderator could ignore the crisis that our nation is facing. This doesn't seem to be a problem just for America though.
I thought that the BBC would focus on the issues dealing with foreign policy in their article. I thought this because they are one of our closest allies. They are the ones that are still in Iraq and Afghanistan with us, so why would they NOT be interested in this discussion.
Well, I believe it's because we are leaders in the economy, and our banking industry is facing the worst crisis we've seen since the Great Depression. And this isn't just affecting us; it is affecting the world.
Did they call a winnner? No. They, once again, have given us the facts, backed up with video... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7639070.stm
This Friday is the first presidential debate that is supposed to be focused on foreign affairs. We know that this is where McCain is supposed to shine; we also know that public speaking is Obama's thing. The BBC reports that the Obama campaign, though, is not pumping up this debate. Instead of setting Obama up for success, they are setting McCain up for failure. The BBC reports, "This debate offers [Mr McCain] a major home-court advantage and anything short of a game-changing event will be a key missed opportunity for him."
They couldn't ignore the still growing concern of the economic crisis. They actually touched on something that I hadn't been hearing in the news. they said, "The two candidates - whose campaign plans have both been knocked off course by the crisis - have taken increasingly divergent paths on the bail-out, although both are moving gingerly lest they be blamed for blocking the rescue."
Yeah, they'll comment, but they won't have a discussion about it. They tend to attack the other candidate, rather than talk about the issue.
And we can't forget about our favourite* female vice-president. Sarah Palin has managed to stay in the headlines. Someone had hacked into her email-- but the story got juicy. It turns out that invesigators believe that it was the 20-year-old student David Kernell, son of state congressman Mike Kernell.
They also have a special editorial that I found interesting; it was about the view the rest of the world will have of the United States if we face, again, what we did in 2000. The author talks about the chances that we get a 269 to 269, and how that would make America appear weak. They also provide a new electoral map, showing exactly how this could happen; and also how this provides a much better chance to see our first women presidet; Nancy Pelosi. They sum up what is important with one article. They said, "The candidates continue to give their responses to the US Treasury Secretary's $700bn economic bailout plan. McCain campaign managers lay into the media in general and the New York Times in particular."
This is what is important so far this week, but we'll certainly see how this changes as we grow closer to the debate, and election.
So, what is the world, and more specifically the BBC focused on when it comes to this election? 1. Economy 2. election finances 3. Palin's email hacking 4. psychology of Obama & Palin 5. Palin-Biden upcoming debate
How could the economy NOT be the most important issue? Although there aren't a lot of stories about this on the front page, they have many editorials about it. The story on the US economy is the one on the homepage, though. The economy was in danger of crashing earlier this week. The second set of stories, I think were popular because people are interested in the economy, and how much money that the candidates are spending ties in to that. Are they being more conservative when the economy is bad? (no)
Like I said on Friday, the BBC was comparing big-city Obama to small-town Sarah. This, again, was the chance for the media to focus on things other than the issues. That also fueled the Palin-Biden debate article. Rather than talking about the issues, they talked about Biden's popularity or lack thereof, or his comments about how Hilary should have his position.
The BBC does keep a profile of what the candidates think and plan to do about the issues, and I feel that the BBC will have actual issue coverage once the debates begin... but until then, I think that we're going to be looking at character and word wars...
WHAT? Again, the leaders of the free world's economy is crashing. We're staring an oncoming depression in the face. And... we're speculating who we would vote for if we were Americans?
I will give it to the BBC. I feel that the people at the BBC all have different feelings about Americans and our politics. This is because some articles seem down the middle while others lean a bit left or right.
The headline today {10:53 Friday September 19} is about McCain criticizing the bailout. This is a headline because historically, he has sided with Bush about many things. Is this a tactic to demonstrate how he can disagree with Bush? A way to show that he is not the same old Washington? It certainly doesn't seem that way. There's no mention of that in the article. It also fits in with the Republican platform: get government out and let us be!
Democrats should be saying, we'll give you the rules, so we'll give you the assistance, but McCain is saying, it is time that we stop helping them and they take responsibility for their institute. Obama wasn't in the headlines... but he got a section to himself about this whole situation. He is again appealing to this small town; talking about saving Main Street.
Why is this? In another article on the BBC, they talked about Big-City-Barrack vs. Small-Town-Sarah. While we know that most of America is made up of city dwellers, why has SArah Palin become so popular?
It's simple: look at the battleground states. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia? Do you first think of Philadelphia? or Scranton? Columbus? or St. Clairesville? It's the small town voter that are hurting; and the ones deciding this next election.
I guess this array of articles makes it tough as to what really matters in this election... Will it be the (failing) economy that decides, or who can really rock out to John Mellencamp's "I was born in a small town" ?
Today I found the RSS feed that sends me all the latest updates about the election according the BBC. I learned that there were many more articles that were hidden from other correspondents in America. Today, for example four articles came out; for the past three weeks, there have only been around 4 main articles a week about the election. It turns out, that it's more about where you look.
But what's important? Well, the first story of the day focused on the fact that football moms at Barrington High in Illinois, and their affection for Sarah Palin. The writer quipped about the fact that none of these women that were excited about the woman on the ballot knew a thing about Palin's policies. They were also quick to say that although some women think she is great, others do not see her as a feminist; she is pro-life.
But this isn't the story of the day. Anyone with a television has heard about the economy; Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had to be bailed out; Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy; and Bank of America is buying Merrill Lynch. This is an issue that the candidates could not ignore. The entire country is feeling the heat. the BBC reported that this is consistently the number one concern in this election. What are they reporting that McCain & Obama are saying?
It appears that Obama is blaming Bush... again. McCain says that it is the fault of "ineffective regulation and management".
This article was super short; and it wasn't the last article for the day; the BBC went on to publish another story beforehand, as well as leave the two stories before that up. One was a story about how this entire situation was almost identical to one on the fictional show The West Wing. Newsworthy? eh... Interesting-- but what does this say about how interested the rest of the world really is in the American election?
I mean, really? Our entire financial institution is about to crumble. The Lehman Brothers made it through two wars and The Great Depression: we hit what those of us without homes thought of as a 'minor credit crisis,' and suddenly thousands are without jobs; the mayor of New York City is cancelling his trip to Africa, and the writers at the BBC are concerned about how our election is looking like a rerun of The West Wing? We're the leaders of the free world, and this is the article we're reading...
It makes it clear, once again, that although there are tons of issues, we want to focus on the ones that matter least.
Questions to be considered from the Maxwell reading and will be collected (typed out):
1.What is an Agenda?
a.Agenda, in this article, is “defined abstractly by a set of objects.”This is where we pick certain things about a topic to highlight to make people think about certain things in a certain light.For instance, we might have crime as an agenda, but instead of focusing of the declining crime rate, we might look at stolen identity and think that crime is getting worse.
b.A list of priorities that we should think about
c.A formal list of things to be done in a particual order
d.An underlying personal viewpoint or bias.
e.Therefore, to set the agenda means:
i.To be the major influence or force affecting something
1.For example, the media
2.Define Agenda Setting
a.Agenda setting is a theory “focused on the salience of objects, usually public issues, but sometimes other objects.” For the purpose of this class, we’re looking at what issues or objects are important in this upcoming election.This theory suggests that the media tells us not only WHAT to think about, but also HOW to think about it.
b.A list of priorities that we should think about decided by the news media.
c.Presumes that the media doesn’t tell us what to think (as did the Bullet” theory)
d.The media can be successful in telling us what to think about
i.This is also known as Agenda-setting’s first level.
e.How important is Mad Cow Disease?Well, it was really important in 2000—but we don’t really think it is important…
f.The tsunami received more help than the earthquake in Pakistan
g.Ford went down two years because of the tires fiasco.Bridgestone/Firestone
3.Define salience
a.Salience is defined by Merriam-Webster as a striking or point or feature.For example, the election might be a newsworthy issue, but we’re focusing on Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter.The media made it so that that object, her daughter’s pregnancy, was salient.He says that salience is identifiedwith three dimensions of this concept: attention, prominence and valence.
b.Early attention was on the transfer of salience from the news media to the public
i.Salience: the quality of being particularly important.
c.Early studies (McCombs & Shaw, aka the Chapel Hill Study, 1972) therefore was concerned with determining what issues were important to the public and did the news media have anything to do with this public “agenda”
d.It is important to remember that the media landscape in 1972 did not include the multi-channel world of Cable and Satellite and the “new media” channels introduced by the internet.
e.The definition of ‘news’ today is different than in 1972.
f.There are like 10 news companies.
g.WHO OWNS
4.What does the author mean by the assumptions that behavioral changes which have led to fragmented audiences suggest an end to agenda-setting?
a.He talks about the internet, and the fact that people are looking at things that matter to them.Before, we all got our news from newspapers and the 6 o’clock news.Now, with blogs and specialized news sites, we aren’t necessarily married to those media sources. We’ve, thus, fragmented ourselves because we all have different things that we care about, rather than letting the media lead us to believe that we care about other things.
b.Behavioral changes which have led to fragmented audiences suggest an end to agenda-setting as it has been understood.
i.Heterogeneity (diversity) is a prime culprit, in difference to the highly redundant news presentations of the past
ii.The Chapel Hill study, for example, founda +0.71 median correlation of similarity among nine news media agenda
c.The central question remains: regardless how many channels there are available, what is their frequence of use?
i.H1: Since web access allows large numbers of people to visit many differenct sites for information, audiences have become highly fragmented.
1.However, even with the suggested growth, the top five online newspapers account for the 41.4 percent of all…
ii.H2: agendas in the online world are highly divergent and not highly redundant as is the assumption with traditional media.
5.What is an “object” according the author?
a.He says that “the term ‘object’ is used here in the same way that social psychologists use phrase ‘attitude object’ to designate the thing that an individual has an attitude or opinion about.”
b.The salience of objects
i.Objects designate things (attributes) that individuals have an attitude or opinion about.
ii.Agendas are defined by a set of objects
1.Objects have attributes
a.Attributes are characteristics or traits that describe them
c.
6.What is agenda setting’s Second Level?
a.The first level is telling us what to think about.
b.The second level of agenda setting claims that not only can the media tell us what to think about, but also HOW to think about it.They say, you should think about the economy—but you should think about it in terms of our leading mortgage leaders are failing.This level involves both attributes and frames.
7.What is Framing?
a.The author writes that “A frame is an attribute of the object under consideration because it describes the object.” The author gives the example of a situation in Texas in the 1990s when intensive crime coverage was happening, and was generating a high level of public concern, because the media was framing in a way that made it seem urgent.
8.“Orientation” is defined by what concepts?
a.It is defined by relevance and uncertainty.If it is relevant and your uncertain, then you will be more prone to be swayed.If it isn’t relevant and your uncertain, then it doesn’t matter.If it’s relevant, but your certain, then it’ll be harder to sway.
List some newsworthy items
·Hurricane Ike
·Hurricane Gustav
·Gas prices
·Decline of our financial institutions
·Lehman brothers
·Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
·The US election
·War in Iraq
·French election
·Preliminary rounds of world cup
·Fraternities
·West Nile Virus
·Fashion Week in New York
·Pittsburgh Pens Pre-Season
·Issue
The first level is telling you what to think about.1938, Mars is attacking Earth.It was at this time that we thought that the media are telling us what to think.Then in the 1940s, we start seeing propaganda from Germany.What happens, back then, this is all we hear.Now, we have many different ways of getting our information.You’re going to call, text, get online… what to think is no longer substantiated.
West Nile Virus was never eradicated.SARS never eradicated.We have a funnel.Everything that might be important, goes through the funnel, and the media spits it out.Which one is the most important thing…
I was looking at other sites, and they're all talking about Palin-Biden debate. The funny thing about this, is that the BBC doesn't do a feature on this, they do include this picture as the 'picture of the week'. It is showing that the VP debate is ready to go.
