We are two days before the presidential Election Day, and the news stations are doing everything they can to create a good story for us Americans. Last Friday, in class, we held a minor discussion about the accuracy of major news networks polls’ on the race. As a result I looked up several different articles about who has the lead in the presidential race. Every network differed but it seemed as if they all held one thing in common. Every source tried to make the race sound like it was extremely close and exciting, and it was going to come down to the last vote. In reality, this race is no more exciting than any other presidential election. CNN's article is a good example of this type of news.
So why do this? Why should a news station try to make the election more exciting than it is, instead of just giving the entire truth? One reason could be to boost their stations ratings. The more exciting a race is, the more viewers it is going to get, and in turn, the better ratings that station is going to get. Why do you believe most sources of news make the election sound so close and exciting when in reality, it isn't. Also, how can we trust the information that we are getting now? If news stations aren't being entirely truthful, then where can we receive information that is reliable?
Tom this blog post is very interesting, and relevant to the Perilous Times projects we are presenting in class. You bring up a good point, what news sources should we trust and where should we get our information. In class when we were discussing integrating texts into our blog posts, we were discussion what are considered reliable sources. I believe that is an important concept to know, when you are reading news. You used an article from CNN as an example of an article that explained this "close election". But as we know CNN has both news stories and also opinion pieces, which is confusing to Americans. We need to read news with a critical eye, and realize like you said that media is just trying to get higher ratings and make "good stories" that cause people to want to vote, and feel more involved. This concept of the media lying to us was prevalent even in WWI with the CPI, which is why we must be selective with the vast media that we look at today.
ReplyDeleteI think that most Americans know in the back of their mind that the news source they get their information from leans one political direction or the other. That means that in order for that new source to keep the people coming back to check out their information, like you said. If the race was depicted as a blowout, then the public may perceive their vote as useless, so they may not vote either. To me, it is almost impossible to make news sources un-biased, it is just a question of if Americans know the bias or not.
ReplyDeleteTom, I agree with your point about how news networks lie about what is really going on in the election. I think they do it because they know that the American public has no other access to information and that they have come to them for answers. I agree with Aj's point about the constant keeping up to date and whether it's to increase ratings or sell more newspapers, it is downright wrong to lie to a whole society like that. Unfortunately, the American economy and stock market are in a bleak state now, and with a new election comes a new hope and chance to fix what is wrong, and make it better. If the news sources are trying to make the race seem closer than it is to encourage people to vote and make their voice heard in this trying time, I am okay with it. But, then again, I think one must consider the source and their bias first and foremost.
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