Media & Democracy, Queens Edition

Media and the First Amendment

Democracy and active ciizenship require a free press.  There should be no limits whatsoever on the freedom of speech in a democracy.  What do you think?

Entertainers and Politics

As we watched and listened on the first day of class this semester, entertainers (in that case the Dixie Chics) often shape the political landscape in their comments and musical lyrics.  Bruce Springsteen has purposefully sought to contribute to the public dialogue, expressing his own political views and hoping to shape public opinion.  Click on the links below to read an NPR story on his efforts and then to read the lyrics from one of his songs.

     NPR Interview with Bruce Springsteen March 5, 2008

     Springsteen lyrics to "Long Walk Home" from Magic (Oct. 2007)

Do you think entertainers should use their public power to shape public opinion in politics?  Why or why not?  Do you listen to someone whose music has a political message?  If so, who is it and what was the message?  Were they effective?

This week, Barrack Obama gave a historic speech on race in America. Among the many extraordinary aspects of the speech was that Obama presented a complex argument that didn't talk down to his audience. Yet in a culture in which most Americans will not watch or read the speech in full (although it's widely available on the Internet) but will instead only see sound-bites of the speech or brief snippets of Obama's former pastor saying controversial things, can a complex argrument have an impact? 

As a political columnist for Time magazine Joe Klein writes, "Whether Obama survives now will depend on the most important and overlooked part of his speech—the final section, in which he challenged the public and, especially, the media to stow the sensationalism: 'We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day ... and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words,' he said. 'But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election we'll be talking about some other distraction ... And nothing will change ... Or, at this moment in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time."

"And that is the existential challenge of 2008: whether we will have a big election or a small one. Will we have a serious conversation about the enormous problems confronting the country—the wars, the economic crisis, the looming environmental cataclysm—or will we allow the same old carnival of swift boats and sound bites? The answer depends on the candidates, of course, and on the media—where cynicism too often passes for insight. But most of all, it depends on you."

What do you think?  Can we have a real dialogue in this election or just another mindless exchange of overheated sound-bites and divisive slogans?

Newsmap (Option 1 Week Mar 14-21)

Visit and explore Newsmap.  This website attempts to give a visual representation of the news being reported and viewed: "Its objective is to simply demonstrate visually the relationships between data and the unseen patterns in news media. It is not thought to display an unbiased view of the news; on the contrary, it is thought to ironically accentuate the bias of it."

What are some of the patterns and relationships it reveals?  What does it say about bias?

Reinstate the draft?

Right now, as the war in Iraq continues into its fifth year, virtually all of the costs of the war are being borne by the volunteers who comprise our military (and their families).  Is this fair?  Should these sacrifices be spread more equally through American society?  In short, should we reinstate a draft? 

There's been a lot of discussion on this blog about how the news media is too focused on trivial stories.  Instead of focusing on whether or not John McCain had an inappropriate relationship eight years ago, for instance, why not really examine his claim that the surge in Iraq is working?  But, really guys, whose fault is this?  Detailed information on policy issues is readily available, but we don't go looking for it because all we really want is to be entertained.

Is this true?  Are we in fact, as Al Gore has suggested, in danger of becoming "well-amused citizens" rather than well-informed citizens?  Have we all happily embraced the values of an entertainment culture?  And, if so, what should we do about it?

Week Feb 22-29 Option 2

Describe an instance where you feel the media is controlling the story rather than just reporting it.

Getting Started - (Option 2)

The novelist and essayist George Orwell once defined politics in "the widest possible sense" as a "desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society they should strive after."  For Orwell, no book -- or by extension any work of art or commentary or reporting -- coudl be "genuinely free of political intent."  According to Orwell, even the belief that some form of expression "should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude."

Do you agree with Orwell's views?  Why or why not?  How would you define "politics"?  Is it desirable or even possible to try to "have nothint to do with politics"?

Getting Started - (Option 1)

Answer this question:

How do you plan to participate as a citizen in this election?