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| http://www.gallup.com/poll/150743/Obama-Romney.aspx |
This
was disheartening to me on a number of levels. I am curious to hear specifics
about what each candidate has to offer, because in the long-term, they are
important for everyone to be aware of (whether or not one chooses to agree with
them is another issue).
In my
opinion, this is a type of media spin that is different from the outright lies
and word-twisting we often see on TV, but equally as dangerous. Taking voter attention away from the
issues at the heart of this election and instead focusing mainly on who is
winning emphasizes the superficial, not the substance. Personally, I don’t
think that yet another poll should be on the front page of the Daily Kos, nor should a critique of Michelle Obama’s lunch menu be on the front page of Drudge Report. The media is straying
too far from what actually matters.
2 comments:
I definitely agree with this viewpoint. Lately a lot of what I hear on the radio constitutes mostly of who's ahead in what key swing state. The media, like you said, seems to focus on a variety of trivial matters unrelated to the actual politics of what is really going on here. This doesn't go to say that these things don't matter. I suppose the closer we get to election night, the more we will hear about speculations on who is likely to win any given state. Numbers matter but so does a discussion of who's policy will appeal to what voters. While lately we haven't been hearing enough about policy, hopefully with the upcoming debates, even the media will begin to shift their focus from the latest social blunders to things that really matter like opinions on immigration reform etc.
I guess the radio show assumed that the general public mostly wanted to know who was "winning" and was just anchoring to that interest. The writers of the show probably thought the policy appealing had been done with, but projected policies are still quite nebulous, especially those of Romney's, which is a big problem for his reelection. I agree that this digression from what is really important is dangerous. It's interesting to know the status of who's in lead, but the media should not act as if the race is over by ignoring the campaign officials' exposition of their candidates' plans, which is vital to voter opinion.
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