TV Or Not TV
We've come a long tortuous path from the first televised presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come that nobody remembers one thing either of them said. All that stands out in our collective cultural memory is the five o-clock shadow that supposedly sunk Nixon's first run for the White House. We don't have debates any more, even though they continue perversely to be called that. They're really televised press conferences. This week's So You Want to Be President episode was essentially reality television at its nadir. I suggest that in the future they hire writers to provide a script and then get actors to play Hillary and Barack, like Sally Fields and Eddie Murphy, with maybe Alec Baldwin and Jake Gyllenhal as Charlie Gibson and George Stepanopolous.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:43 AM
4 Comments:
Did not see the debate (?) but have it on the best of authority (Saturday Nite Live) that the press loves Obama. Did they really throw mud at him? Thought Hillary was their chosen target? Admire her hanging in there. One tough lady.
John... I swear we exist in a parallel universe! LOL My comment this week is also a political one... albeit not as hands-on or in-the-know as yours. I didn't see the whole debate just short clips that the media dishes... but it didn't seem much like a debate to me... rather more like an ambush. Rather pleased to note Obama and Clinton exchanges were a little more respectful. Good... this is progress! LOL
Your cartoon says it all!
The media have a stake in fanning the flames of controversy and keeping this a horse race. As a candidate edges to the fore he or she becomes the target, as happened the other night. It's like a Super Bowl where the commentators in the press box can affect the score with the bone-headed things they say.
You're so right. As was the case in our recent election for PM... the media steered it all the way. The candidates flung the mud that would eventually stick whether it was true or not. The media promoted what they thought the people wanted to hear. What does that say about the people I wonder?
It's so frustrating when the person in the street won't see the wood for the trees... look at a situation and make their own informed choice... based, not only on information peddled in the mainstream press, but from a wide variety of media sources along with their own gut instinct. It's never going to happen is it?
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