John McCain and the Media

Credit
McCain in Perrysburg, Ohio with the press.

Since receiving the Republican Party’s nomination for President Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) relationship with the press has changed. McCain was a media favorite because of unfettered access and informality during the campaign trail. Now is a different story.

“His relationship with the press has completely transformed,” said Quinnipiac University History professor Cheryl Szetela. “From one of complete openness to one of distrust of accusation. It is representative of the transformation of McCain the candidate from who he was as a candidate in 2000 to whom he is now and because he has reached a new threshold of success, there is simply a need to insulate himself from the press.”

The relationship McCain had with the press during the primary resulted in McCain having more coverage. Now, with less access the press has shifted their attention to issues and McCain’s history instead of personality. With less access the media, according to John McCain has manufactured a scandal, about him having an affair with one of his aides; McCain has begun to attack both The New York Times and MSNBC.

“A more aggressive posture leads to more stories that are negative in subject and tone,” said Quinnipiac University Journalism professor Rich Hanley. “The more these stories are published, posted and aired, the more damage it causes to the candidate in the aggregate relative to voters who haven't made up their minds. It is likely that media coverage won’t influence [the election].”

During primary season McCain promised weekly press conferences to the media but has broken that promise many times since receiving the nomination.

“Voters could not care less about how a candidate treats the media,” said Hanley. “In fact, a typical tactic of Republicans that has been in play for 40 years is to inoculate their candidates against negative coverage by asserting that the media have a liberal bias and is out to get the candidate.”

Szetela says that this tactic allows McCain to paint his running mate Sarah Palin to be the victim. Due to this Palin does not have a relationship with the press and the McCain campaign is trying to turn this into a positive element. This could help with some voters who think the media is trying to belittle her.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s (D-IL) relationship with the press has been more traditional than McCain’s. He is not someone who courts the press as McCain has in the past.

“The relationship between the media and Obama is more grounded in political professionalism than personality,” said Hanley.

Despite this, McCain’s campaign manager has accused the New York Times of being an agent for Barack Obama rather than a news organization.

“The best relationship [between the media and Presidential candidates] is one where the media maintains an arms-length distance,” said Hanley. “[The Media should] cover the office regardless of the personality of the person who occupies it.”

Quinnipiac Student attends RNC

Since 2000, Quinnipiac University has been sending students to the Democratic and Republican conventions through a program called The Washington Seminar. This year, thirteen students went to the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado and three went to the Republican Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Sophomore and President of QU Republicans Katelyn Bermudez was one of the lucky few who attended and worked for the Republican National Convention missing the first two week of school. Bermudez attended political seminars and interned for Fox News.

“The experience was unbelievable,” said Bermudez. “Most people do not receive the opportunity to attend a convention, I feel honored to be a part of history and probably a once in a lifetime experience.”

Her favorite part of attending the Republican National Convention was whenever she worked in the primetime green room and the last night of the convention while her worst was waking up in the morning after two eighteen hour shifts in a row.

Despite the long hours and hard work the experience reaped many learning opportunities for Bermudez.

“I learned so much,” said Bermudez. “I learned about the effort, work and security that go into running a national political convention. Working for a national news company like Fox, I was constantly learning new things.”
She also learned a lot about herself through the two week experience.

“I learned that I can work long hours but still enjoy it if I’m passionate,” said Bermudez. “I also realized how much I am capable of accomplishing in life.”
After missing two weeks of classes, being back at Quinnipiac and catching up on the work is not all that easy.

“It has been very challenging,” said Bermudez. “Most of my teachers have been very understanding.”

Even with the catch up work Bermudez is still glad she decided to take The Washington Seminar course. It allowed her not only to attend the conference but to do something that involved her major in the real world.

“I would do it all over again in a heartbeat,” she said.

Blog Response 2

This week I went and checked out “Lost Remote”. An entry entitled “Local TV and defining quality” caught my interest. Cory Bergman discusses how Emmys and Edward R. Murrow awards focus on quality but for those news sites that are not official newspapers or television shows do not get the recognition they deserve. Many stories on blog websites that serve as newspapers do not get the recognition they deserve. The components that are “good quality” based on these awards need to be re-evaluated as the media is changing. People are more likely to go to a blog site where updates are more constant to keep up with the fast-paced environment of the world. As Bergman says in the entry, “not everything has to be polished, in-depth, well-designed, beautifully-shot or even well-written. It just has to fill a need with content and community you can’t get anywhere else”. I found it interesting because technology is changing at such a rapid pace that it is high time for awards such as the Emmys and Edward R. Murrow awards needs to be re-evaluated so all aspects of media can be evaluated since that is how the majority of the population is receiving their news.

How to join the DAP

The Disaster Accountability Project needs help!
To join….

Sign up and serve as a volunteer monitor
Help with research, communications, website design and programming, writing, organizing, fundraising, coalition building, and outreach.
They’ll train you

For more information
visit the Diaster Accountablity Project website
call 314-761-7631
e-mail Ben@diasteraccountablity.org

To Report Gaps in Disaster Relief/Response Only:
Disaster Accountability Hotline: 866-9-TIP-DAP

One Law Student Making a Difference

At twenty-seven Ben Smilowitz, a third year student at the University of Connecticut law school never imagined he’d be doing the type of work that he does. It all started in 2005 when he volunteered for the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina and managed Client Service Centers along the Gulf Coast.

“While witnessing the gaps in critical disaster relief services firsthand, I was unsuccessful in my efforts to get the Red Cross to improve conditions,” said Smilowitz. “I told myself that if an organization did not exist to receive information about gaps in services from whistleblowers during disasters, and provide public oversight to the organizations that comprise U.S. disaster response, I would start it.”

A year later, an organization with Smilowitz at the helm was created, called the Disaster Accountability Project (DAP). Their main objective is to help improve the nation’s disaster management systems through public accountability, citizen oversight and empowerment, whistle blower-engagement and policy research.

“The DAP is working to empower the public to fill this vacant oversight role,” said Smilowitz. “Through a network of monitors and a toll-free hotline, DAP provides an opportunity for previously unheard citizens to find their voices.”

The response from organizations such as the Red Cross and FEMA toward the DAP has been very mixed. Most organizations do not like having someone tell them what they’re doing wrong. However; many that go into these types of jobs have the best of intentions and want to fix the United States so they take suggestions from the DAP into consideration.

“Since Hurricane Ike hit Texas, I've spoken with a number of FEMA, Homeland Security, and Red Cross workers,” said Smilowitz. “Many were interested in working with the Disaster Accountability Project to improve service delivery in the aftermath of Ike.”

“We need help,” said Smilowitz. “There are many ways to help on a large or small scale. We need volunteers and fall, spring, and summer interns.”

The DAP needs volunteer monitors who assist with getting the word out about the hotline and helping verify reports of service gaps. With the aftermath of Hurricanes Ike and Hanna the hotline is receiving a record number of phonecalls.

Volunteers can also work in various departments such as research, communications, website design and programming, writing, organizing, fundraising, coalition building, and outreach. The DAP is also looking into starting college chapters or clubs.

Blog Response 1

I looked at Interactive Narratives again and found an entry titled “Bridge Tracker: Check the Bridge You Cross – Bridge Inspections”. Clicking on that entry leads you to an msnbc.com website that has a map that when typing in a driving route and after clicking entering it shows the route you would go and shows that you will encounter on your trip and when was the last time it was inspected and how it was ranked from that inspection. It is interesting because I know that the past couple years there have been many issues with bridges collapsing and bridge inspections. At first I looked up a route that I can vividly see a bridge, however it did not work because they said there was not enough traffic for it to be recorded. Then I tried the route from Quinnipiac to my house in New Hampshire and there were hundreds of little icons. Most of the bridges were said not to have been inspected for a while and those that had been inspected were not in great shape. It is alarming but I think this was a good thing to point out as interactive because you can find essentially any bridge in the United States, which is good but at the same time worrisome since none of the bridges seem to be in great shape. I like the concept and think that it is good since MSNBC is a national station and not a local station. Overall, it is a good interactive link and a good choice to have for Interactive Narratives.

Clark the Canadian Goalie :)