Media Disgrace
More coverage than O.J. More coverage than Diana. More than Oklahoma City, and more coverage than even Monica Lewinsky. You guessed it, Election 2000, and the media loved every minute of it. Savoring the proverbial field-day, U.S. journalists greatly assisted in dividing the country, destroying the people's respect for the American legal system, embarrassing the world's superpower, and simply annoying the crap out of everyone. To put it simply, the media didn't do it's job, especially when it came to the really focal points of the recent election: pre-election coverage, election-night coverage, and post-election coverage including the Florida recount. In order to obtain more ground to cover, the media started off by telling the people just how different the two major candidates were (always relishing partisanship), when in truth, they aren't that polarized. Of course, they have vaguely different views on how to accomplish certain goals, but for the most part, those goals are the same. It's the usual, strengthen our economy, preserve social security, improve education, yada yada yada; the candidates just occasionally differ on how to do so -- leading to an enduring joke about the American people not really wanting either candi
Maybe the ignominy won't have been forgotten by the time we realize the error of our ways, and, hopefully, put a stop to this perpetuation of journalistic malpractice, otherwise, that elections only come every four years is the only thing we'll have to be thankful for. Bordering on pop culture, the phrase "The Florida Recount" has been branded into the minds of almost every American. This pre-election irresponsibility threw everything off-kilter and, simply, it got even worse. When it was passed again in 1997, the bill's support was strong enough to withstand his threatened veto. " But "we" turns out not to mean his state government-- it means anyone within the boundaries of Texas, including federal government officials. The media compounded these problems by not being able to decide whether to be responsible enough to analyze these campaign claims and when they half-heartedly made any attempts they were often off the mark. 7 billion a year on the uninsured in the state of Texas. While many reports chalked it up as another Gore embellishment, few journalists acknowledged that the story was essentially accurate, and could have been easily confirmed through a local newspaper. In contrast, the media seem less interested in Gore's distortions when they are directly connected to public policy issues. It is amazing to hear people exclaim "I don't care who the next president is, I just wish they'd pick someone". Bold post-election headlines, including "The Florida Circus: Election by Lawsuit", "Gore's Last Stand", and "537", enthralled American readers to the point where it snowballed and the inevitable occurred: we stopped caring. We became so agitated and impatient that we stopped caring whom the most powerful man in the world would be. David Eisenhower of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Center found a curious pattern of networks calling Gore states quickly, but Bush states slowly. The media failed to satisfactorily perform their duties this election, if anything they compounded upon the chaos. Yale professor John Lott estimated that 10,000 voters in the Florida panhandle could have been discouraged from voting by the networks' premature Goregasm in Florida.
Common topics in this essay:
Gore's Stand,
Monica Lewinsky,
Gore Bush,
South Africa,
Alabama Bush,
Sarasota Florida,
Punch-Card Hell,
Florida Recount,
Texas Legislature,
Annenberg Center,
patients' bill,
election night,
patients' bill rights,
florida recount,
bill rights,
add fuel fire,
stopped caring,
add fuel,
continued add,
media failed,
campaign claims,
contrast media,
continued add fuel,
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Acceptance Essays
