Batson's Blog

This past week Obama, Clinton and McCain all appeared in pre-taped promos on WWE's Monday Night Raw on the USA Network. I'm a huge fan of pro wrestling -- it's the field I want to work in one day (not as a wrestler...it's behind-the-scenes for me). I was quite (pleasantly) surprised to see all three candidates appear on the program. They took what they did seriously by putting effort into it and making it humorous. The media had a field day with this -- mostly making fun of the candidates -- but my question is: why? Because it's pro wrestling? Get over the stereotype that all pro wrestling fans are idiots. They have a huge fan following and if Obama, Clinton or McCain want to reach that ever-so-hard 18-34 male audience, pro wrestling is the place to start. I appreciated the humor that was behind the three promos and I thought it was good in showing that the three candidates can be "real people" and have a sense of humor. That's always a plus in my...

We're reading this "Mediated Politics" book in my Mass Media and Politics class. Here are a few thoughts on Chapters 13 and 14: Chapter 13 is about the "Big Spin" and strategic communication. It's written by W. Lance Bennett and Jarol B. Manheim. Among several competing notions of how democracy functions, pluralism – the idea that the views of citizens are effectively and equitably represented through competing organized interests – has long held special appeal. The pluralist model is often offered as the democratic ideal in cases such as the United States …” “In place of transparency and inclusiveness, we observe growing political communication practices that subordinate the identities and motives of the participants, along with the full disclosure of their objectives, with the overriding end of achieving pragmatic political victories.” They mention how electoral and advocacy campaigns now often involve deception in the messages and the ways the sources ...

So what exactly is this big fuss about the blog anyway? I’ve been trying to figure it out for quite some time now. To me, a blog seems like just another online column that some person wants you to read. Perhaps it is a bit different however. In order to properly research this, I think I’ll have to go to Wikipedia and see what it says: “A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.” So it is essentially a bunch of columns, but it is grouped with other “columns” in reverse chronological order. Interesting. I also found some info on political blogs, in particular: “Political dangers. Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. Blogs are much harder to control than broadcast or even print media. As a result totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs, or to punish th...