Week 7

Media Representation of Politics, Ideology, and Race

This season of politics has really entrenched me in consuming a lot of news reports on politics. I tend to keep the television tuned into the CNN, the local news stations, and I record The View. Majority of the time, these news sources present their reports on the 2008 presidential elections strictly along the lines of politics without too much elaboration on other influencing factors. OK, not exactly, because discussions pertaining to Obama’s Jeremiah Wright , Sarah Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter, and McCain’s close association with President Bush definitely influenced voters perceptions of the candidates. The factors that were not discussed included how the personal beliefs and biases of news anchors affect how they present the news to the public. I think this particular aspect influences how Americans perceive the news no matter what the facts may be.

One of the most popular and influential television shows during the height of politics is day time talk show, The View. The show is composed of a group of women from diverse backgrounds with various views and beliefs. The cast members consist of Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherrie Shepherd, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbra Walters. The first segment of the show is designated for hot topics, in which the 2008 presidential elections have been the focus. Based on the discussions, it is not too difficult to determine what political party the cast members are affiliated with. Whoopi Goldberg and Barbra Walters appear to be Independents with host Joy Behar as a Democrat and Elizabeth Hasselbeck as a Republican. Sherrie shares her political views along the lines of neutral because she seems to never really position herself along any party line.

Recently there have been several heated discussions about politics that have called attention to the hosts' personal beliefs about race and culture.



In this particular video, Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck bump heads in a discussion about the N word and whether blacks and whites are from the same world. The conversation was initiated by a discussion that Jesse Jackson was participating in about Obama and the N word. Elizabeth argues that we are all from the same world while Whoopi argues that we are from different worlds. The phrases black people and white people are not used in the conversation, but listener and audience participants can allude to this idea. The commentator of this video clarifies this idea by explicitly stating that there is black America's perspective and white America's perspective. Because the experiences of two races of people are different, the perceptions are different. This is one example of how race and culture influence how the hosts of the show convey topics to the public and how it is perceived about them.

In another session of political controversy, the hosts engage in a heated discussion ignited by the decline in poll results of Sarah Palin's likability. During an argument with Joy Behar, Elizabeth states that Barack Obama almost had her vote before the DNC. She says he lost her vote due to his extreme left wing views. After Elizabeth has tolerated all she can from Joy’s advocating of democratic candidate Barack Obama, she asks Joy if she wants some more of Barack Obama's kool-aid. Joy responds to Elizabeth’s statement by saying that it was low, but no other interjections were made to the statement. What exactly did Elizabeth mean by the kool-aid statement? Why does Elizabeth choose to associate the beverage of kool-aid with Barack Obama? What personal ideologies and cultural upbringings might influence Elizabeth to make this comment? Does Elizabeth's comments and political views imply that she is a racist?



Complete clip of kool-aid discussion


After the invitation for the Obama kool-aid, Elizabeth defends herself for wearing The Great AMERICAIN Hero t-shirt. She says the t-shirt was not meant for any negative connotation. She says if people are complaining about her t-shirt, then it must be because they are voting for Barack Obama. John McCain definitely has Elizabeth’s vote and the republican party has her allegiance because Elizabeth states McCain be seen across her shirt even if she was naked. Wow!!!!




During a CNN segment, AC360: Race and Politics, a panel of political panelists engage in a discussion about the effects of race in the 2008 presidential elections. Before the discussion CNN advertises the most recent poll results in which 70% of Americans says that race is not a factor in their decision for voting for a presidential candidate. The political analysts discuss how the race of voters determine how they perceive the world and ultimately how they will vote. This ideas relates to the previously mentioned discussion between Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck on The View about the N word and the different worlds of Americans. The analysts talk about how the candidates' appeal to voters using code words such as “soccer moms”, and “Wal-Mart Moms”. This discussion forces you to think about all the colormute ways in which the media presents the world of politics to America.



How do the ideas and opinions of the media whether implicitly or explicitly stated affect how news anchors or television talk show hosts convey the ideas of the 2008 presidential election? Although the jobs of these media sources are to convey the facts to the public, sometimes their personal belief systems influence how the message is presented. When a close ear is given to the statements and responses of media reporters, there is an obvious message being conveyed. If you listen hard enough, you will discover that people are telling you about their culture, race, beliefs,and prejudices, and not only about a political party affiliation. The media has a method of appealing to our concerns by releasing fears that remind us that we are all products of different worlds. In the mist of this turmoil, we are reminded that the equilibrium between the conflicting worlds may not be as tangible as we think.