As American history was unfolding before my eyes last Tuesday night, and the electoral votes continued to pile on Barack Obama’s side, one thing caught my attention. I was unable to pick out who CBS wanted to win. Many stations will skew their coverage of events, especially political races, while they try to stay object and make sure to give ample time to each side of the race, however one can sometimes pick up trends as to what kind of news they display for each candidate.
During this year’s monumental election CBS along with anchor Katie Couric gave ample and comparable coverage to both candidates. As the election started to go towards Senator Obama’s eventual victory they did tend to offer a little more coverage of his campaign, but that only made sense due to the magnitude of the moment that seemed to be on the horizon. I felt that Couric did a fantastic job telling the stories and dictating what was going on, along with using political experts to help keep the viewers informed as the results poured in from each state.
Another aspect of CBS’s coverage was something that I noticed with many of the networks during their election coverage, and that was the use of technology. It seemed that all the networks were using large touch screen TV’s to help breakdown a wealth of numbers and data. They were able to look at different states and break it down even further to how each county was voting.
The combination of objectivity, Couric’s talent, political analysis and use of technology lead to a very good election show for CBS, they made the analysis easy for the everyday viewer to understand and kept it from being boring to watch.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Hardwood to Campaign Trail
Early morning wake ups. Carrying luggage and bags. Making sure your boss has everything he needs for the day of work. There are no weekends, or any vacations. Even personal time can be scarce. For a former National Champion and Duke Graduate, this is his life. His boss is Barack Obama. Reggie Love, a former walk on who found himself playing significant minutes as a freshman on Dukes National Championship run in 2001, now finds himself traveling the country as the personal aid of Senator Obama.
In 2005 Love’s resume made its way to Senator Obama’s desk, and although Love had been offered a job with Goldman Saks, the political science major took the pay cut and began working in Senator Obama’s mail room. “My first year I made $30,000” said Love in an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN’s E:60. The job would come with a promotion for Love.
A year later in January 2007 Obama selected Love as his personal aid for the campaign, an offer Love could not turn down. The two had an immediate connection. Although separated by twenty years the two had a love for sports and often had arguments over who was better, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. An argument Obama says Love stopped bringing up following Kobe’s loss in last spring’s NBA Finals.
Sports are a release for the two who began playing basketball on Primary Days as a good luck ritual and they now continue to play on days off. There’s no denying the two share an incredible bond one that is needed in order to spend up to sometimes twenty hours a day together.
So what’s next for Love with the election only two weeks away, possibly more of the same? “If Reggie wants to stay involved in my work then I will keep him for as long as I can,” said Obama when asked about Love working in the White House. He would go on to add that Reggie is like a little brother to him.
In 2005 Love’s resume made its way to Senator Obama’s desk, and although Love had been offered a job with Goldman Saks, the political science major took the pay cut and began working in Senator Obama’s mail room. “My first year I made $30,000” said Love in an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN’s E:60. The job would come with a promotion for Love.
A year later in January 2007 Obama selected Love as his personal aid for the campaign, an offer Love could not turn down. The two had an immediate connection. Although separated by twenty years the two had a love for sports and often had arguments over who was better, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. An argument Obama says Love stopped bringing up following Kobe’s loss in last spring’s NBA Finals.
Sports are a release for the two who began playing basketball on Primary Days as a good luck ritual and they now continue to play on days off. There’s no denying the two share an incredible bond one that is needed in order to spend up to sometimes twenty hours a day together.
So what’s next for Love with the election only two weeks away, possibly more of the same? “If Reggie wants to stay involved in my work then I will keep him for as long as I can,” said Obama when asked about Love working in the White House. He would go on to add that Reggie is like a little brother to him.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Making the Presidential Debate Fun
There is no question the Presidential debates are important, there an opportunity for the public to see the candidates go head to head and make their stand on different issues. These debates can also be very important for younger voters who may not watch the news and keep up with what is going on, they can throw on the debate for an hour and a half and get caught up. However many college aged students don’t want to spend the time doing this and are pretty busy. There is no question the debates can be boring, but why not make it fun. My idea is a way for college students to get caught up with the candidates and also get ready for a night out at the same time. For students over the age of this is a fun way to get a few drinks in you and be ready for the election all at the same time.
Rules:
1. Split your group into two teams, team McCain and team Obama, remember the team doesn’t have to be a reflection of political views.
2. First for every time your candidate avoids the question and doesn’t answer it directly, bottoms up for one gulp.
3. For each time you’re your candidate phrases a response with “Obama/McCain will say” take two gulps.
4. For each time Senator McCain says Maverick have a half a drink, but make sure you cheers with your team first, only the McCain team drinks.
5. When Senator Obama mentions “change” the Obama squad enjoys half a beverage.
6. Social: for each time “Joe the Plumber” is mentioned everybody has a drink.
Remember this is for those of you who are of age, but if you are underage feel free to substitute in a different non-alcoholic drink. Those of you that played during the final debate that team McCain ended up drinking more as both teams drank for the many Joe the Plumber comments and McCain referenced what Obama may say more often than Obama did.
Rules:
1. Split your group into two teams, team McCain and team Obama, remember the team doesn’t have to be a reflection of political views.
2. First for every time your candidate avoids the question and doesn’t answer it directly, bottoms up for one gulp.
3. For each time you’re your candidate phrases a response with “Obama/McCain will say” take two gulps.
4. For each time Senator McCain says Maverick have a half a drink, but make sure you cheers with your team first, only the McCain team drinks.
5. When Senator Obama mentions “change” the Obama squad enjoys half a beverage.
6. Social: for each time “Joe the Plumber” is mentioned everybody has a drink.
Remember this is for those of you who are of age, but if you are underage feel free to substitute in a different non-alcoholic drink. Those of you that played during the final debate that team McCain ended up drinking more as both teams drank for the many Joe the Plumber comments and McCain referenced what Obama may say more often than Obama did.
Monday, October 13, 2008
SNL Influencing The Election
Since the early days of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” one of the easiest targets have been politicians, most notably presidents and presidential candidates. In the early days it was George Bush and a common favorite Ross Perot. During the Clinton administration there were plenty of opportunities to create these parodies as he faced many controversial situations. Recently there has been a much larger rise in comical parodies of candidates and politicians during the most recent Bush administration. George W. Bush has become a very easy and often used target for these shows and most recently Frank Caliendo’s “Frank TV”.
As the race for office heats up in the presidential race so have the parodies. In the last couple weeks SNL has targeted vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, especially since her less than stellar interview with Katie Couric on CBS Evening News. Tina Fey who plays Palin, frequently gave answers not necessarily pertaining to the question and also in a skit imitating the Vice Presidential Debate often used the phrase “maverick” when referring to the McCain-Palin campaign, a term that has been quite frequently by the two.
But do these skits affect the election? While a vast majority of the SNL audience is younger people, many of its viewers will be voting for the first time, and with youth also comes a lack of knowledge when it comes to politics. “I don’t know much about politics and if it wasn’t for shows like SNL or The Daily Show and Colbert Report, I wouldn’t know anything,” said University of Southern Maine junior Anthony Dahms. This puts these shows in a position where they have the ability to persuade voters, giving a great deal of responsibility to these shows.
Another large aspect of these parodies is the rise of youtube. Now these skits are available anytime, not just during the air time. Some students do believe that these skits alter the way people vote. “I think the viral videos on youtube have a large effect because they reach a wide audience,” said Quinnipiac junior Mike Nairn. While students like Nairn feel that they do influence some others just believe it alters people’s perception of the candidates.
“I don’t think they necessarily influences the way people vote but it definitely distorts the candidate’s image,” says junior Greg House.
Whether or not it’s influencing the actual vote of the people watching these shows it is definitely creating an image of the candidates that because of the comedy associating with that image leaves a lasting perception.
As the race for office heats up in the presidential race so have the parodies. In the last couple weeks SNL has targeted vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, especially since her less than stellar interview with Katie Couric on CBS Evening News. Tina Fey who plays Palin, frequently gave answers not necessarily pertaining to the question and also in a skit imitating the Vice Presidential Debate often used the phrase “maverick” when referring to the McCain-Palin campaign, a term that has been quite frequently by the two.
But do these skits affect the election? While a vast majority of the SNL audience is younger people, many of its viewers will be voting for the first time, and with youth also comes a lack of knowledge when it comes to politics. “I don’t know much about politics and if it wasn’t for shows like SNL or The Daily Show and Colbert Report, I wouldn’t know anything,” said University of Southern Maine junior Anthony Dahms. This puts these shows in a position where they have the ability to persuade voters, giving a great deal of responsibility to these shows.
Another large aspect of these parodies is the rise of youtube. Now these skits are available anytime, not just during the air time. Some students do believe that these skits alter the way people vote. “I think the viral videos on youtube have a large effect because they reach a wide audience,” said Quinnipiac junior Mike Nairn. While students like Nairn feel that they do influence some others just believe it alters people’s perception of the candidates.
“I don’t think they necessarily influences the way people vote but it definitely distorts the candidate’s image,” says junior Greg House.
Whether or not it’s influencing the actual vote of the people watching these shows it is definitely creating an image of the candidates that because of the comedy associating with that image leaves a lasting perception.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Lost Remote, A big hit
There are many things I enjoy about lost remote, but most of all its the opportunity for anyone to contribute to their articles. I like how they can all be commented on, it gives every day citizens to voice their opinions and helps let the reporters know what is of interested to the general public, putting them in a position to adhere to the likes of their viewers. Also on the right side their is a list of the most commented articles. Theses may be issues of interest or controversy to people and for someone who wants to quickly see what articles are spiking an interest with others its easy for them to access. I would however like to see more visual items. I noticed only one maybe two video's and no maps/graphs/pictures.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Local Race
While the Presidential election rightfully garners the majority of the attention, not only of the press but also the voters, there are plenty of other races going on when Hamden residents enter the polls on November 4th. One of those races will be for the Republican State Representative for Connecticut’s 103rd District which covers portions of Hamden, Wallingford and Chesire. The two republican candidates are Al Adinolfi and Elizabeth Esty.
Adinolfi who is currently serving his fourth term as the representative of the 103rd District is poised to continue to lead and serve the people of his district. The 2006 “Legistlator Of The Year” from the Connecticut chapter of the American League, and Korean War era veteran as part of the U.S. Air Force has worked hard for veterans’ and senior issues. Adinolfi is working towards higher education standards and to make sure area schools get a fair share of the education budget. A strong supporter of lowering taxes Adinolfi passed the “No Tax Increase” state budget last year.
In a contrast to Adinolfi’s experience Esty comes from a long line of education. The Harvard graduate spent time overseas on a Rotary International Scholarship before returning to the United States where she attended Yale Law School. Esty has served on several committees and looks forward to being able to serve the Hamden, Wallingford, and Chesire area. An accomplished educator and mother of 3, Esty has had plenty of experience dealing with and coping with problems. She spent time working with a private law firm in Washington D.C. working on a variety of cases, many of which were heard by the Supreme court.
Whether it’s the older experienced candidate or the younger candidate with a varied back ground of education and work, this race has a candidate for you; both are looking to the future and hope to be the winner on November 4th.
For more information on either candidate you can visit their websites at:
http://aladinolfi.com/
http://www.elizabethesty.com/index.html
Adinolfi who is currently serving his fourth term as the representative of the 103rd District is poised to continue to lead and serve the people of his district. The 2006 “Legistlator Of The Year” from the Connecticut chapter of the American League, and Korean War era veteran as part of the U.S. Air Force has worked hard for veterans’ and senior issues. Adinolfi is working towards higher education standards and to make sure area schools get a fair share of the education budget. A strong supporter of lowering taxes Adinolfi passed the “No Tax Increase” state budget last year.
In a contrast to Adinolfi’s experience Esty comes from a long line of education. The Harvard graduate spent time overseas on a Rotary International Scholarship before returning to the United States where she attended Yale Law School. Esty has served on several committees and looks forward to being able to serve the Hamden, Wallingford, and Chesire area. An accomplished educator and mother of 3, Esty has had plenty of experience dealing with and coping with problems. She spent time working with a private law firm in Washington D.C. working on a variety of cases, many of which were heard by the Supreme court.
Whether it’s the older experienced candidate or the younger candidate with a varied back ground of education and work, this race has a candidate for you; both are looking to the future and hope to be the winner on November 4th.
For more information on either candidate you can visit their websites at:
http://aladinolfi.com/
http://www.elizabethesty.com/index.html
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lost Remote: User Friendly
As I scrolled down the page of lostremote.com I found it very user friendly, each article gives you a short little synopsis making it easy for a user to decide if he/she wants to read it or not with out having to either skip it entirely, or spend time reading something they're not interested in. The right side of the page has the local spotlight followed by their articles featuring the most comments. I liked this feature because some people like to look at articles that are stirring conversation, and for the local ones you don't have to sort through all the articles. Overall lostremote was very user friendly, simple and easy to read.
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