America the Infatuated

Did the media fail the public in the 2008 campaign? The question is complex, and depends how you define the role of the media. If we view the role of the media as Sarah Palin said it was after her defeat, as a check on government (I think the classical term is the fourth estate??), then the media is a complete failure. The role of the media is to do what the public on its own lacks the resources to accomplish, to vett the policies and personalities of candidates. The media utterly failed at this what it comes to Barack Obama.

Claiming that the media failed the public by not producing sufficient information about his life and background is a difficult claim to make. How is that America elected a man who they know nothing about? This, however, is exactly the case. As we discussed in class, the extraordinary process that led to President Obama was an emotional one, as opposed to an intellectual one. We know this from the tremendous boost Obama received from African Americans in Indiana, North Carolina, and Virgina. We know this from the ambiguity that has been a centerpiece of his campaign, from "Hope" and "Change" to "Yes we can." We know this from the carnival like reaction to his victory. We do not know how long Obama will survive on emotion alone.
Obama himself has admitted- and Hillary desperately tried to remind voters during the primaries- that Barack Obama is a blank slate on which people can write their own dreams. These two ideas therefore go hand in hand; the media failed the public by neglecting to screen a presidential candidate, and the public didn't mind because they allowed themselves to fall in love with Obama.

Proving that the election of Barack Obama was an emotional choice on a national level, and providing numbers that prove the media gave Obama a free ride is impossible. What we can do is notice a phenomenon that lends validity to this theory: nobody, nobody, seems to have an impression about how President Obama will govern. On the contrary, groups at both end of political issues both seem to believe that Obama is on their side of their particular issue. If this is indeed the case, and I will be posting examples as I see them, we can assume the news media failed to inform the public about the policies endorsed by Obama, as well as not providing enough of a background about Obama for the public to have a reasonable expectation of his governing style. Although every new president presents a certain element of uncertainty, the case of Obama is different. The sheer breadth of these occurrences speaks to how little we really know about the 44th President of the United States.

Here is one example of groups from both ends of the political spectrum finding hope for their causes in Obama. The AP reports that the "Arab world sees hope in Obama":

Still, to many Obama seems to spell something different — whether because of the color of his skin, his Muslim family ties — his Kenyan father was a Muslim — or simply his charisma.

Many believe he's more sympathetic to the Palestinians, or that he'll emphasize dialogue over what was seen as Bush's more bellicose tone. Some watched the dramatic vote and wished they could see similar democratic change in Arab countries, ruled by authoritarian leaders who stay in power through rigged elections.

"When Obama won, I felt it was the return of the American dream," Iman Bibars, an Egyptian women's activist and writer who is often sharply critical of the United States, told The Associated Press. "I just cried through the whole thing, because it gave me hope that the good guy will win, in a world where good people don't normally win."

Even before his victory, the LA Times reported that "Allies of Palestinans see a friend in Barack Obama".

Contrast that with Obama's speech at AIPAC:

“Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security…I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat - from Gaza to Tehran.… Across the political spectrum, Israelis understand that real security can only come through lasting peace. And that is why we - as friends of Israel - must resolve to do all we can to help Israel and its neighbors to achieve it.”

If I am an Arab, this speech sounds like more of the same.

This video from CNN provides more anecdotal evidence that people have no idea why the voted Obama: not one interviewee says taxes, Iraq, or health care (and the one guy who says fix the world economy does not exactly explain how). And pay attention to the last woman's kind words:



Shifting back to the topic of the media, Leighly would argue that the media did not fail at all. Leighly claims that the media is not suited for the rule of public advocate. Even if we assume like Page that the likelihood of the media engaging in deliberate support of one candidate is difficult at best, reporters are still prone to the natural biases described in Rhetorica. In the case of Obama, the media was infected with a nasty case of narrative bias:

Narrative bias: The news media cover the news in terms of "stories" that must have a beginning, middle, and end--in other words, a plot with antagonists and protagonists. Much of what happens in our world, however, is ambiguous. The news media apply a narrative structure to ambiguous events suggesting that these events are easily understood and have clear cause-and-effect relationships. Good storytelling requires drama, and so this bias often leads journalists to add, or seek out, drama for the sake of drama. Controversy creates drama. Journalists often seek out the opinions of competing experts or officials in order to present conflict between two sides of an issue (sometimes referred to as the authority-disorder bias). Lastly, narrative bias leads many journalists to create, and then hang on to, master narratives--set story lines with set characters who act in set ways. Once a master narrative has been set, it is very difficult to get journalists to see that their narrative is simply one way, and not necessarily the correct or best way, of viewing people and events.

What story is more inspiring then that of Barack Obama? We can only hope he is as an effective leader as he is speaker, or else America may find itself stuck in a Vegas marriage after the one-night stand to end all one night stands. But don't worry, we can get divorced in 4 years.