Tag Archives: Politics

Did news coverage help elect Trump?

Posted on by

By NYAH TENNELL

In light of the recent election of Donald Trump into the White House, I have begun to evaluate the news media’s role in Trump’s apparent success.

Although a lot of us were sure that Trump’s rhetoric would keep him out of the White House, clearly, we were wrong. Which leads me to ask, how in the name of God, did Trump get voted into the world’s most prestigious and powerful position?

Well, let us start by considering the fact that, out of all of the presidential hopefuls, Trump received the most news media coverage.

According to a study conducted by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on media and politics, Trump received 34 percent of news coverage when compared with his other GOP candidates: Jeb Bush receiving 18 percent, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson both with 14 percent, Ted Cruz with 13 percent, and last, and most certainly least, John Kasich with a mere 7 percent of all GOP media coverage.

A New York Times article written by Patrick Healey in late 2015 notes that, Trump “had planned to spend $15 million on campaign commercials this summer but did not because of the “free nationwide publicity” that the cable news networks provided.

This is due to the fact that Trump’s main business plan during the course of his campaign was to manipulate the media and, in particular, monopolize airtime.

Far too many networks fell victim to Trump’s ploys, and every raunchy, explosive, or controversial thing he said became headlines, allowing Trump to use cable’s widespread dissemination and availability to do the advertising for him.

 US News refers to Trump as “The Master of Manipulation”, and as much as I would like to disagree, Trump has done an outstanding job in using his unprecedented rhetoric, scandals, and controversies to bank on airtime.

“Trump never stopped dominating the media,” reads the headline of Farai Chideya’s FiveThirtyEight article, and “the master” manipulator, Trump seems to second that notion.

“I’ve gotten so much free advertising, it’s like nothing I’d have expected,” he told the Times. “When you look at cable television, a lot of the programs are 100 percent Trump, so why would you need more Trump during the commercial breaks?”

Well, as difficult as it may be to leave, Donald Trump is indeed the next president of this fine country and, unfortunately, I congratulate him and wish him the best for the sake of ALL mankind.

A national self-analysis underway

Posted on by

By MARISSA VONESH

After the United States’ presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016, Donald Trump won the election despite political polls that projected Hillary Clinton to win by a landslide.

Major news outlets, such as The New York Times and the Huffington Post, made predictions that were wrong, writing off Trump and proclaiming Clinton as the absolute winner.

Once Trump won, many voters across the nation felt misled by mainstream news media. In an article from The New York Times, the media company explained how numerous letters came in asking why it was so off and proclaiming mistrust in the news and journalists in general. Furthermore, mistrust and disdain was heard – loud and clear – as subscriptions to The New York Times were canceled.

The news media outlets, namely The Times, have began processing what went wrong and how they can improve in the future.

Journalism is designed to create a well-informed voting public, and whether or not the American agencies did that this election season is up to question. Most of the election coverage had a liberal bias, almost all news outlets missed the views and representation of rural America – which ended up being a deciding factor in the election – and now agencies are covering more fear about Trump than potential policies and positives Trump could mean for the country.

America is not just the urban centers of New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. There is no need to spin more fear, more panic and more drama into the American public that already feels disheartened about this past election season.

The inconsistencies with current polling techniques are a large reason to blame for the surprise win of Trump, but more importantly, the way the news media are continuing to cover the aftermath of the election is disappointing. Opinions and emotion are exaggerated and objective opinions seem to be a thing of the past.

In a period in American history where it is absolutely vital for journalists to be objective, expose injustices and represent the public, media agencies have fallen short.

Potentially, Trump winning the presidency could help expose journalists to areas of improvement.

Editors and journalists are already confronting the change.

“If I have a mea culpa for journalists and journalism, it’s that we’ve got to do a much better job of being on the road, out in the country, talking to different kinds of people than the people we talk to,” Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said.

Baquet makes a point, the bubble of social media, community groups and families does not paint the whole picture of the story. My hope is that journalists continue to improve and continue to strive to serve and inform the American public.

Florida Amendment 1 fails, 2 passes

Posted on by

By ALEX GOLDMAN

The two prominent amendments on the Florida ballot were Amendment 1, which created an industry monopoly on solar power, and Amendment 2, which legalized medicinal marijuana.

Amendment 1, the Trojan horse of a pro-solar amendment, failed to receive a super-majority, or 60 percent, of votes.

Amendment 2 passed with 71.3 percent approval.

As was the case in past elections, The New York Times had a page detailing the results for each amendment, one for Amendment 1 and another for Amendment 2. Each page had results broken down by county.

Interestingly, every Florida county voted favorably to pass Amendment 2 and legalize medicinal marijuana. For a state that has been so backwards on marijuana categorization, that was a surprise.

As for Amendment 1, a decent majority supported the “yes” vote. Even so, the amendment was still 10 percentage points in the red.

The Miami Herald ran a piece that looked into the efforts that were put forth to defeat Amendment 1. In the article, Mary Ellen Klas quoted Tory Perfetti, chairman of Floridians for Solar Choice, an opposition group.

“We defeated one of the most egregious and underhanded attempts at voter manipulation in this state’s history,” Perfetti said, referencing the misleading nature of the amendment.

Amendment 1 cloaks itself as being pro-solar by protecting individuals’ rights to solar energy, but would effectively eliminate the market for solar energy in Florida by creating an investor-owned utilities monopoly on the energy source.

The Herald also had an article about the passing of Amendment 2. According to the story, Florida became the 26th state to legalize marijuana either recreationally or for medicinal purposes.

According to writer Michael Auslen, questions remain about how the medical marijuana amendment will be implemented.

“The Florida Department of Health has until July 2017 to pass regulations under the new amendment,” Auslen writes, and “by October, the state must start registering growers, dispensaries and other facilities and start issuing identification cards for patients approved to use marijuana.”

I’m interested in how Florida will transition to a medical marijuana state.

Will recreational legalization come next?

The Divided States of America …

Posted on by

By MADISON BROWN

The 2016 presidential election seems to have divided America more than it has united it. Both candidates have been the source of jokes and memes on social media throughout campaign season and people have not been shy about posting their opinions online.

Many Americans have joked that they would leave the country if Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.

However, as the results rolled in on Tuesday, what was once a joke started to become reality for some.

While President-elect Trump will soon move into the White House, some Americans will be moving out of their houses.

At around 11 p.m. on election night, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s website crashed due to a flood of users trying to visit the site at the same time. The federal government confirmed that the high traffic on the website caused the crash.

screen-shot-2016-11-10-at-6-01-04-pmThe website was still down two hours later.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Lisa Fillips said Shared Services Canada “worked through the night and continues to work to resolve the issue to ensure that the website is available to users as soon as possible.”

Twitter users reacted to the site crash while the votes were being counted.

Canada will accept 300,000 total new permanent residents in 2017, so it looks like some Americans might have to crash another country’s immigration site if they plan to leave the U.S.

Sports figures avoid election drama

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

After Donald Trump’s shocking victory over Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election, several major sports figures expressed apathy toward the result.

Nick Saban, head football coach of the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, said that he was unaware of the election.

“It was so important to me that I didn’t even know it was happening,” Saban said. “We’re focused on other things here.”

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a long-time friend of Donald Trump, sent a letter of congratulations to the president-elect, but asserted that the letter was not politically motivated.

“I have multiple friendships that are important to me and that’s what that was about.” Belichick said. “So, it’s not about politics. It’s about football.”

Even San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, said that the result of the election was irrelevant to him.

“I’ve been very disconnected from the systematic oppression as a whole,” Kaepernick said. “So, for me, it’s another face that’s going to be the face of that system of oppression.”

Kaepernick, who has received death threats for kneeling during the national anthem, has not shied away from the political spotlight in the past. Kaepernick’s apathy is surprising considering Clinton’s support of Black Lives Matter and Trump’s support of police.

However, athletes and coaches are constantly under intense scrutiny by fans and the sports media, so it makes sense that they would avoid increased criticism for their political opinions.

As the nation recovers from a divisive election season, the sports world will act as both as a distraction and as a unifying tool.

Protesters: ‘Trump is not my president’

Posted on by

By COURTNEY CHENNAULT

The results of the presidential election were shocking and painful to many people across the country, especially because Clinton won the popular vote.

Feelings of anger, fear and utter disbelief culminated last night as thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities reaching from New York to Los Angeles. According to NBC New York, at least 60 people in Manhattan were arrested during the protests.

Fox News reported that protesters’ signs said things like, “Trump’s a racist,” “Impeach Trump,” and “Abolish Electoral College.”

It seems that if any good can come of this situation, it is the uniting of minorities and oppressed peoples across the board. While broadcasting at a protest in New York, a Fox News reporter stated, “There’s a hodgepodge of so many different groups here.” Though their races, sexual orientations, ages, sexes and religions differed, the protesters’ message was the same: “Trump is not my president.”

I have noticed that people tend to protest the injustices that directly impact themselves. As a result, most of the Black Lives Matter activists are black, most of the LGBTQ supports are non-heterosexual individuals, and so forth.

On one level, this phenomenon is understandable, even expected. But on another level, this phenomenon is inexcusable. As Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Minorities should support other minority causes just as readily as they support their own.

With this in mind, it seems that standing up against Trump and his racist, homophobic, Islamophobic and misogynistic beliefs is today’s biggest opportunity for all minorities and marginalized groups to come together and form the most expansive civil rights movement yet.

Trump and the Supreme Court

Posted on by

By: FRANCESCA CIUFFO

With Justice Scalia’s seat vacant, it will certainly be filled by a conservative nominee next year. The court will now be tilted right, as it has been for decades.

The choice of the U.S. Supreme Court justice will soon belong to President-elect Trump, which supports Republican senators’ refusal to allow President Obama to choose Garland to Scalia’s seat.

Some liberals hope that even if the court is dominantly conservative, it could still hinder Trumps’s ambitions.

“Given that many of the conservatives on his list are more in the traditional conservative mold than Trump himself, they might not simply write him a blank check when it comes to actions and policies that threaten constitutional structure,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center.

The news media would cover a story like this because Trump’s presidency is not a good thing for liberals. Many are worried about what comes next at the Supreme Court. They almost had a liberal-leaning Supreme Court for the first time in decades and now they have to deal with yet another right-leaning court and liberals feeling overshadowed and nearly disappearing in the Supreme Court. This election is one of the most important and controversial elections there has ever been, so it is important for the news media to cover it and for the public to stay on top of what happens next.

In March, public-sector unions were threatened, but this could soon reach the court again, and this time, the challengers are likely to gain a fifth vote.

Trump is likely to undo what Obama’s approaches were to climate change, transgender rights, and abortion issues. A Supreme Court controlled by conservatives is likely to further secure gun rights and resume the deregulation of campaign finance.

The candidates on Trump’s list of possible nominees are almost all working judges and several served as law assistants to conservative Supreme Court justices. Many have judicial track records hostile to federal power, abortion rights and gay marriage, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Obama endorses Stockton candidate

Posted on by

By ALEX GOLDMAN

Stockton, Calif., mayoral candidate Michael Tubbs received a huge endorsement Wednesday.

It didn’t come from a union or a well-known local resident. No, it came from a much higher source.

President Barack Obama, in fact, was the endorser. The highest source of all one might contend.

Here is President Obama’s full statement:

“I am proud to endorse Michael Tubbs in his bid to become Stockton’s next mayor. Michael’s service as a Councilmember illustrates that he understands the need for every Stocktonian to have safer neighborhoods, stronger schools, and a voice in the political process. His story is the American story, and Michael will work tirelessly to ensure that Stockton reaches its full potential.”

How did the local news media cover news of the endorsement?

The Record, Stockton’s regional newspaper, had an article in their Wednesday edition. Staff writer Roger Phillips provided the coverage.

Phillips offered that it might be “a rare and possibly singular occurrence in Stockton political history.”

If that’s the case, it may prove enough for Tubbs to displace current Mayor Anthony Silva. Tubbs received less-than a majority of the votes in June’s primary, but a higher percentage than Silva. This resulted in a run-off, and Stockton will vote for their next mayor on Tuesday.

Tubbs was part of a four-month internship at the White House in 2010, according to Phillips. I can’t help but wonder what kind of impact Tubbs had over the course of his internship, and if any impressions he made during that time led to this endorsement.

Also of note, Tubbs gave a speech at my high school graduation in 2012.

Several other local news outlets had stories published on their respective websites, including CBS Local, FOX 40, and ABC 10.

Trump cuts into Clinton’s lead

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

With Election Day four days away, the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has tightened significantly.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Clinton now has a 66 percent chance of winning the presidency, down from 86 percent in the middle of October.

Trump’s resurgence can be attributed to FBI Director James Comey, who wrote a letter to Congress indicating that the FBI was reviewing more of Clinton’s emails. Comey wrote that, while the investigation has been reopened, it is unknown whether or not the emails contain any relevant information.

Comey was chastised by the news media, Democrats and even some Republicans for interfering with the presidential race so close to Election Day.

Daniel Richman, an adviser to Comey, criticized the news media for blowing the letter out of proportion. Richman argued that the letter explicitly expressed the uncertainty of the case and that the news media took the information out of context.

“It would be really nice if members of the media and members of the public realized that there’s a real possibility that there will be duplicates,” Richman said in an interview with The Huffington Post. “Since they haven’t been checked, the bureau can’t say, but we can guess from the outside.”

Richman’s argument, while logical, ignores the fact that the news media has an obligation to report on issues relevant to the public.

Considering the amount of uncertainty in the case, Comey should have kept the information within the FBI and written the letter after determining whether or not there was significant information. The news media is not to blame; the vague, ambiguous letter is itself misleading to the public.

Comey’s letter and its subsequent coverage has impacted voters who already consider Clinton to be untrustworthy. In addition, it has distracted voters from the sexual harassment allegations that nearly sunk the Trump campaign in October.

Trump: American vs. Russian coverage

Posted on by

By ELIZABETH GELBAUGH

Donald Trump, who is quickly becoming one of the most controversial presidential candidates to date, is not always represented in a positive light in American news media. However, the Russian news media seem enamored with Trump’s outrageous behavior and unprecedented campaign strategy.

Trump’s policies are often overpowered by his cult of personality and American news media end up dedicating more time to covering his contentious antics and rowdy yet fiercely loyal supporters.

With the exception of Fox News, most major news organizations condemn his attitudes toward women, foreigners and Muslims. Since accusations of Trump sexually assaulting women hit the press, U.S. news media have had a difficult time focusing on anything else.

Even student news media at American universities, which typically ensure both liberal and conservative views are equally represented, are swaying from their neutral positions and writing critical pieces on Trump’s bizarre and offensive outbursts.

The Yale Record published a satire, You Dumb Motherfuckers, By James Madison, referring to Trump as a “misogynistic turkey leg that somehow escaped the state fair, fell into a bale of hay, and inexplicably managed to bankrupt six companies,” and shuns the American public for dismantling the safeguards put in place to protect against an “insane demagogue [who] might incite a populist rebellion.”

Even The Miami Hurricane has made the editorial move to officially endorse Hillary Clinton because of Trump’s inability to serve the generation about to enter the job market and shortcomings that are “dangerous, indisputable and increasingly evident.”

“Trump promises to create jobs but built his own career by destroying others’,” TMH editorial board wrote. “He promises to bring jobs back to America, yet his businesses shipped them overseas.”

Russian media, however, praises Trump, particularly his pro-Russia stance. Russian government paper Rossiskaya Gazeta apparently finds his outbursts and offensive dialogue refreshing compared to Clinton’s socially conscious statements, as Steve Rosenberg of BBC News pointed out in Russian media’s love affair with Trump.

“The political coup against him has failed,” Rossiskaya Gazeta wrote. “Trump’s speeches are unpretentious, without the kind of hypocritical political correctness of the conservative establishment.”

In stark contrast to American news media, Russian media presents Trump as the far more sensible candidate in this year’s election.

“I officially declare that Clinton is a cursed witch,” Russian MP Vitaly Milonov said in Komsomolskaya Pravda. “That’s why even a funny guy like Trump looks more reasonable in comparison.”

When public opinion is heavily reliant upon the picture the news media paint of the candidates, this discrepancy could turn into a diplomatic relations disaster, depending on the results of the election.

Kelly, Gingrich clash on Fox News

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, clashed with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during a live television interview earlier this week.

Kelly asked Gingrich about the sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump and whether or not they were causing him to slip in the polls. Gingrich responded by accusing Kelly and other members of the news media of bias against Trump.

“You are fascinated with sex and you don’t care about public policy,” Gingrich said to Kelly. Gingrich also said that Kelly has not given a fair amount of coverage to the scandals of the Clinton campaign.

Kelly argued that her show, “The Kelly File”, has covered all stories relevant to the 2016 presidential race, including the sexual assault allegations against Bill Clinton and the private paid speeches that Hillary Clinton made to big banks.

Kelly said that polls show that the allegations against Trump are concerning to voters and that she has an obligation to report on them.screen-shot-2016-10-27-at-2-34-05-pm

After the exchange between Kelly and Gingrich, the news media responded by speculating on the future of Fox News.

The traditionally conservative network is in a transition period after CEO Roger Ailes was ousted over sexual harassment accusations.

Fox News is not used to its anchors clashing with Republican politicians. Kelly’s altercation with Gingrich is representative of the division within the GOP over the Trump campaign as well as the network’s increased willingness to allow its journalists to disagree with party leaders.

With the network’s niche audience divided over Trump, Kelly’s moderate perspective is key to retaining viewers who may be turned off by traditionalist anchors like Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.

Forecast models predict Clinton victory

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

In a wild and chaotic election season, pollsters and statisticians are attempting to do the seemingly impossible: predict the winner of the 2016 presidential election.

National and state polls get the most attention from media organizations, as they are simple ways of communicating how much support the candidates are receiving.

However, political scientists also produce forecast models which may provide a more insightful look into what will happen come election day.

The forecast models incorporate the voting history of each state and hundreds of national and state polls in order to determine how many electoral votes each candidate is likely to receive.

The models are produced by organizations such as The New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, and the Princeton Election Consortium.

According to the forecast models, Hillary Clinton is the overwhelming favorite to be elected president. The Princeton Election Consortium model gives Clinton a 97% chance of being elected. The New York Times says that Clinton is 89 percent likely to win the presidency. The FiveThirtyEight model gives Clinton an 86 percent chance.

When reporting on the 2016 election, individual state and national polls only tell part of the story.

While the forecast models clearly have error and uncertainty, they take hundreds of pieces of information into account to produce an exhaustive look at the presidential race.

When news organizations only report the results of individual polls, they are providing people with incomplete and unreliable information.

In addition to providing poll results, news media outlets should report on the forecast models to make sure people are not receiving skewed interpretations of the presidential race.

Trump and his campaign hit new low

Posted on by

By ZACH STUBBLEFIELD

In a week where a category four hurricane ripped through the Atlantic and killed more than 1,000 people, Donald Trump still found a way to dominate headlines for all the wrong reasons.

A tape of the Republican Party nominee from ten years ago was leaked where he was talking about how he uses his power to have sex with women.

He used vulgar terms like “I moved on her like a b***h,” and, “grab them by the p***y,” while talking to Billy Bush before he made a guest appearance on the soap opera, “Days of Our Lives.”

Producers of Trump’s old show the, “The Apprentice,” have come out saying that there are much worse tapes of him out there. Including one of him saying the n-word, but they cannot release them due to a $5 million penalty in their contract.

Donald Trump’s life in the spotlight is coming back to bite him in the butt. He has had hundreds of hours him being on camera and being recorded and now that the floodgates are open I am sure many more tapes of him saying disparaging things are going to come flowing out in the coming weeks.

People must be wary about what they say. Especially in these days with the prevalence of smartphones, because we never know who is recording. And news reporters will find these videos and recordings if you become part of the public eye. It’s their job.

Kaine and Pence duke it out

Posted on by

By COURTNEY CHENNAULT

With the 2016 presidential election fast approaching, the vice presidential nominees Gov. Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Kaine took the stage last night at Longwood University in Virginia for a vice presidential debate.

Significantly, according to a tweet in a CNN article, moderator Elaine Quijano was the first Asian American to moderate a presidential debate. Quijano certainly did not have an easy job as the two candidates constantly interrupted each other, as has become customary in such debates.

Both candidates accused the other of running an “insult-drive campaign” and exaggerated the truth on select issues, according to National Public Radio’s fact checker.

An article about the debate on CNN features a number of tweets from CNN Opinion commentators, a majority of whom harshly criticized Trump’s running mate, Mscreen-shot-2016-10-05-at-10-56-24-amike Pence, for lying and being in denial of Trump’s stance on many issues.

Meanwhile, both CNN and Fox News criticized Quijano as the moderator, but for different reasons.  A CNN article claimed that Quijano cut off valuable discussion about important topics in order to make it through all the planned questions.

Fox News accused her of blatantly favoring the Democrat nominee Tim Kaine. For example, an article on the Fox News homepage claimed that Quijano asked Pence extremely tough questions by a factor of 8-to-1 compared to the questions asked to Kaine. Additionally, the network berated Quijano for allowing Kaine to interrupt Pence far more than Pence interrupted Kaine.

With the second presidential debate coming up this weekend, it will be interesting to hear if the candidates have any comments about their running mates’ performances.

Trump claims debate was rigged

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

At Monday night’s first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off on issues such as taxes, gun control and foreign policy. The candidates also exchanged personal blows, with Clinton criticizing her opponent’s inexperience and sexism and Trump attacking his opponent’s e-mails and temperament.

While the process of declaring a debate winner is subjective, journalists do it in order to provide a summary for those unable or unwilling to watch the debate.

Many national news organizations, including CNN, NBC News and The New York Times, claimed that Clinton won the debate with her preparation and attacks on Trump’s sexist insults and unreleased tax returns.

However, Trump insists that he defeated Clinton during the debate and went so far as to assert that the debate was fixed by moderator Lester Holt.

“I had to put up with the anchor and fight the anchor all the time on everything I said,” Trump told supporters at a New Hampshire rally. “What a rigged deal.”

Trump’s denial of Clinton’s impressive performance shows why declaring a winner of a presidential debate is useless. Regardless of how unprepared Trump may have seemed and how poised his opponent may have been, his supporters will continue to focus on Clinton’s apparent lack of trustworthiness.

Debate coverage dramatizes the event and embellishes the importance of declaring a winner. In reality, the two-party system polarizes the country, and voters watching the debates are unlikely to change their opinions based on the candidates’ performance.  When the candidates themselves deny debate results, supporters are likely to do so as well.

Debate coverage should focus on informing voters and describing the candidates’ opinions on key issues instead of treating the events like the Super Bowl.

Memes play role in debate

Posted on by

By ZACH STUBBLEFIELD

The presidential debate definitely provided some cringe-worthy moments Tuesday night. Whether it be Republican candidate Donald Trump fighting to protect his ego or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton sounding more rehearsed than a Broadway actor at times.

All of these moments provided ammo for Internet personalities to make memes. A meme is a slightly altered picture or video that is made to be shared across the Internet.

These memes were being posted real time as the debate was going on. Clinton or Trump would say something and 30 seconds later it would already be on social media being made fun of.

While this is not a bad thing in and of itself, it does become problematic when that is the only way people get their news from the debate.

Many of my contemporaries told me and even bragged that they did not watch the debate. Instead, they just watched Twitter.

It makes sense that people would gravitate towards memes. They are much funnier than someone droning on about the debate on a live news station. They are also a lot quicker to digest than a late night show host’s take on an issue. Memes are convenient and funny, but they should not be one’s sole source of news.

Memes are convenient and funny, but they should not be one’s sole source of news. They are often too bias and almost never tell the full story. A Photoshopped picture of Trump in a toilet or a video of Clinton being made in a factory is not the same as actually sitting down and watching the debate.

Memes can be used to supplement one’s knowledge about an issue, but it should not be his or her only source of information about the issue.

Real and perceived slights

Posted on by

By NYAH TENNELL

Police brutality and the use of excessive force is a major social and political issue, particularly with our nation on the brink of electing a new president. The coverage by the news media of incidents of brutality has caused major disruptions from coast-to-coast, and has many Americans on edge.

Police brutality is not a new phenomenon. If you ask a publisher or editor at one of the country’s African-American newspapers, she or he would tell you they’ve been covering these cases for a long time.

“We’ve been in business for 130 years,” said Robert Bogle, President and CEO of The Philadelphia Tribune. Tracey Williams-Dillard of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, another African-American newspaper, said “It not only feels like there’s more coverage, there is more coverage. It’s not a perception, it’s definitely real,” According to an article written by Eliott C. McLaughlin of CNN, we’re just seeing more mainstream media coverage thanks to cell phones.

Cellphone videos captured by on-the-scene eyewitnesses have brought many stories into the light that, otherwise, would have been swept under the rug. Once the video hits the mainstream, usually via social media forums, journalists can then provide follow-up. Citizens, now armed with evidence, demand accountability and pursue justice.

Black newspaper executives feel that videos lend credibility not only to black victims’ versions of events in specific situations, but also to their versions of events historically. Where a victim’s race could affect a story’s perceived veracity, video permits no such prejudice.

Not only are we in a better position to capture video of police misconduct today, we’re also better equipped to disseminate the footage via social media.

However, news organizations may not be giving the same level of scrutiny, context and analysis to the various groups who face violence at the hands of police.

When you think of police brutality in the U.S., you think of black males being brutalized; however, black females have been victimized as well. According to an article written by Meredith Clark in USAToday, “black and brown women and girls are additionally brutalized in ways that men often aren’t,” says Clark. “And the data shows that police incidents involving women of color occur at a disproportionately high level compared with media coverage.”

More than 20 women of color have been killed in police-related incidents including Sandra Bland, who died in police custody in Texas on July 13, 2015.

Additionally, there are many who criticize the under-representation of incidents of police brutality at the top English-language networks. An article in the Huffington Post Feb. 24, 2015, raised the question of how major television networks cover police violence cases in which the victims are Hispanic. For example, Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican migrant worker, who was shot and killed by police officers on Feb. 10, 2015 in Pasco, Washington, gained coverage by Univision, the top-rated Spanish-language channel numerous times.  However, the case was not portrayed with the same ferocity by Fox News or CNN, the two leading national news channels.

I am sure that the news media would prefer not to continuously inundate the public with tale after tale of police brutality, as it is an unfortunate reality and construct of our society and justice system.

The question is: Which story is more worthy of attention and, most importantly, why?

Candidate stumbles on words

Posted on by

By MARISSA VONESH

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president, choked once again during an interview Wednesday night when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked for his favorite political leader. Johnson was not able to respond.

Bill Weld, Johnson’s running mate, attempted to help Johnson, yet, Johnson failed to come up with an answer even after Matthews asked numerous prompting questions.

Johnson simply responded, “I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” referring to his incident of not remembering the war-destroyed Syrian city in a prior interview with MSNBC.

Furthermore, Johnson updated the status of his “brain-freeze” with a tweet:

The 2016 presidential race has been filled with scandals and comparisons of the candidates’ failures. With this mindset, news outlets have vigorously grabbed onto Johnson’s gaffe. The nominee’s inability to think on his feet has only contributed to the pool of reasons many Americans feel like there is no good candidate for president.

Although the information is interesting, a lot of news sources’ energy has been focused on the politician’s dirt. Even if Johnson spoke carelessly or Clinton has reasons to be mistrusted or Trump has no filter, these missteps should not be the only information reported. It is important to know the personalities of future leaders, but what is more pressing is what their plans are for the country’s future.

The focus on the mistakes of the nominees, moreover, restrict the politicians to exaggerated stereotypes. It is unrealistic for a human being to be perfect constantly. As journalists, remaining unbiased should be a priority. The public should be able to understand all viewpoints, the good and the bad, about the candidates.

It is critical that news outlets begin to discuss the election in terms that will truly inform the voters, not continue division, promote pigeonholes and make the election an entertainment spectacle.

Aleppo gaffe hinders Johnson campaign

Posted on by

By DANIEL LLOVERAS

In an election year with two major party candidates who have historically high disapproval ratings, Libertarian Gary Johnson sees an opportunity to send a third party to the White House.

As Johnson, who appeals particularly to young voters, has climbed to nearly 10 percent in national polls, the news media have been hesitant to give much attention to his campaign. Instead, news organizations have focused on issues that Americans are all too familiar with, such as Hillary Clinton’s e-mails and Donald Trump’s insults.

However, Johnson received a significant amount of coverage last week after an MSNBC interview during which he expressed his unfamiliarity with Aleppo, a war-torn Syrian city.screen-shot-2016-09-16-at-10-31-19-am

Johnson was chastised by several news organizations, including The New York Times, for his lack of foreign policy knowledge.

Criticism for the Aleppo gaffe was arguably the most attention the Johnson campaign has received from the news media.

The tendency of news organizations to focus coverage on the two major party candidates has made it difficult for the Johnson campaign to garner positive attention.

For Johnson, participation in the presidential debates would provide the perfect opportunity to receive good publicity and attract voters.

The Aleppo gaffe was a major setback for Johnson, who must average at least 15 percent in national polls to participate in the debates. With the first debate coming up on Sept. 26, Johnson must quickly recover from his error if he hopes to be a major contender come election day.

NCAA to relocate North Carolina events

Posted on by

By MADISON BROWN

The NCAA announced Monday that it will relocate all of the seven scheduled championship events from North Carolina due to the state’s controversial transgender bathroom law that prohibits citizens from using bathrooms that match a gender other than what is listed on their birth certificates.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory passed the law, known as House Bill 2, in March.

The NCAA’s relocation announcement will affect the Division I men’s basketball tournament, commonly referred to as March Madness, in which six games were scheduled to occur in Greensboro, N.C., this coming March.

“We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships,” Mark Emmert, NCAA president, said regarding the decision.

The NCAA has not yet announced where the relocated games will be played.

According to The New York Times, an NCAA spokesman said that North Carolina is the state which has hosted the most men’s basketball tournament games. This makes the relocation decision even more significant.

McCrory has faced harsh backlash from the media and the public since signing House Bill 2, and the NCAA’s recent decision is only making it worse.

screen-shot-2016-09-16-at-9-31-10-amChris Sgro, Equality North Carolina executive director and a Democrat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, has been an outspoken adversary of House Bill 2 and Governor McCrory.

Sgro took to Twitter to express his frustration after the NCAA’s announcement.

Sgro is not the only one upset by the governor’s stance on LGBTQ rights and the NCAA’s feelings on the issue are not helping his popularity.