For extra credit, choose ONE of the activities below (you can do all three, but you can not earn EXTRA EXTRA credit, if you know what I mean):
1. Watch the State of the Union (SOTU) on three different channels (i.e. flip back and forth while you are watching):
note: follow specific instructions on live streaming from the news channel's home page.
- Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/
- CNN: http://www.cnn.com/
- MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/
Ok, you probably know my agenda. There's bias, right? But seriously, what do you see? Are there advertisements on the web page that lean in a certain direction? Is there a live streaming chat feed that you can follow from the channel? So what makes these networks biased? Do people turn to their channel of preference to hear what they already want to hear?
OR
2. Watch the SOTU tonight (on any channel--see above!) and Obama's first SOTU from 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTMrs9vpoqg). What has changed? Sure, the obvious stuff, like boy, Obama sure has more grey hair, but also what ELSE is different? Consider the topic of his speech, his tone, his attitude? Consider even how the audience has changed--are they clapping more, less, or just as much? Are people sleeping (sad, but it does happen!)? Other thoughts?
Disclaimer:
I know, I know. Time is money, and you have a lot of work to do. You do not need to watch the entire speech to get credit. Watch 15-20 minutes (enough so that you can make an educated comment), and then of course, get back to your less-fun homework assignments :)
I am answering question 1: Overall I watched most of the entire speech on Fox News, where i noticed that while president Obama was speaking, the cameras would zoom into a lot of republicans in the audience compared to other news stations. On foxnews.com i noticed that the whole website surrounding the speech was very clean, hard links to other news cast, but no live twitter feed, no nothing. The same for CNN, i noticed that the screen was very clean except on CNN.com i noticed that there seemed to be more "gossip" type news stories about the government and the world compared to fox news, and still there was no live twitter feed. On MSNBC however while they did have some "gossip" type links, they did have a join the conversation side bar next to the live broad cast. One thing that i noticed in obamas speech that actually reminded me of Bennett was at about 9:40 Obama said this, he told a little story about how a women wrote a letter to him saying that she and her husband have worked all their lives, just bought a house and she just lost her job due to budget cuts. That reminded me of Bennett because a lot of people wrote to Bennett asking for money and things just like Obama claims that he gets letter like that all the time. On MSNBC when i read some of the join the conversation comments people were saying things like he talked very little about gun laws and controversial topics, which i noticed that throughout his whole speech he talked more about himself and what people in the country have done to improve it, instead of addressing serious issues. Overall, i was a bit confused by Obamas speech as a whole because i felt like he jumped around with his topic choice a lot and it didn't really flow very well.
ReplyDeleteIn the speech, President Obama outlined the actions of the year of the administration, such as creating more job opportunities, offering a better education, and the immigration reform act. There are no advertisements on the web page that lean in a certain direction? There is a live streaming chat feed that you can follow from the channel. The networks are biased because everyone has different political leanings, so the political leanings of people like the producers and news anchors of these channels determine their political stands. People turn to their channel of preference to hear what they already want to hear. For example, Fox news tends to lean The Republican Party and MSNBC tens to lean The Democratic Party, so people with different political leanings turn to channels of their preferences.
ReplyDeleteI have watched both 2010 SOTU and 2014 SOTU for 35 minutes. Through these two speech, I observed some differences of the president Obama. Firstly, for his appearance, I mean not how he looks like or has more gray hair. When I watch the 2010 one, I felt that his face was little nervous and stiff, I could not see the expression changes on his face. However, in 2014 one, he has smiled a little and looked more self-confident and proficient. Furthermore, I think he focused more on citizen, opportunity and family on this time’s speech. At first, he has talked about three things that break through America, the sentence I can not forget is “Citizen make union strong.” Just in my opinion, he wanted to emphasize the cooperation, like people need to help each other to make things much better. For many times, he used the word“Opportunity”. For instance, “Opportunity for all”,“Opportunity is who we are!”,“”Spend more opportunity for more family”,and etc. During the speech, he talked about some people at scene as an example. He has said that“Their job is going to reverse these chance”, and also said“Help every children go to college”. These things had been said for several times and every time after he said this, most of the people stood up and clapping. Obviously, people clapped more than before and I did not see any one was sleeping while he speeched. As for me, it was my first time to see the president’s speech and I think the new one is awesome. I got the good experience.
ReplyDeleteOk so I watch all three channels (all of them are lives!!) And basically Obama was talking about education (maybe), women' rights, economy (wages), and health care. Of course here are bias (actually more like questioning and concerning), but to be honest, I have to say what I feel. The Fox News is the most justice one, it just has a live video (I don't think there is any cut) and there was no advertisements or chat feeds. If you want to get the information without bias, watch Fox News LIVE! The CNN contains most bias, there are three guys sitting there watching the speech and saying what they thought (also explain some features in their "way"), there is also live blog where people can post anything anytime. I would say that CNN has more concern and bias since it is not only focusing on the speech. MSNBC provides a live video, but there are advertisements and comments that made it a little not "official", but if you ignore there little pieces, it is still worth to watch. I think there are bias because people are having different ideas and questions all the time, once somebody post what they think, more are going to follow, that's why you can see bias through out the comments. I don't know if people will change channels to hear what they want to hear, but I don't think all of them will, many of them probably stay in the same channel and post what they disagree and what they don't like so more people who are standing on their side will join and give more bias. By the way, the video itself (Obama) may has bias of what he says.
ReplyDeleteI decided to switch between Fox, MSNBC, and CNN. Before President Barack Obama began his speech I listened to the commentators. Fox news commentators were very critical of the president and discussed the importance of this speech. He needed to address the difficulties of his presidency such as his low approval ratings, and his Obamacare. The commentators at Fox were concerned that he would not be able to overcome these difficulties. MSNBC had commentators such as Rev. Al Sharpton and Chris Mathews who were more on the side of Barack Obama. Like Fox, they believed that in his speech he would need to address the difficulties of his presidency but that he would be able to do so. CNN commentators came across to me as being more in the middle. Like the other two networks, CNN discussed the difficulties of his presidency as well as what would need to be addressed in the speech. The foundation for all three networks is based on biased reporting. I believe that people do turn to their channel of preference to hear what they already want to hear because we want the conformation that what we wish to believe is right. If our channel preference mirrors our own beliefs, we will become accustomed to going to this channel, becoming biased in our own viewing of the news.
ReplyDeleteObama change a lot on his psychology, he become more and more mature after 8 years of being president. He speaks clearly and without many nonsense actions compare to his first speech. He grab the important points and speak it loudly, he used less actions to support and make clearly ideas for audience. He gain more and more experience of becoming a politician. For his audience, they clap, they smile, they knock there head, they smile as usual. However, Obama has more and more enemies too. Some of his audience did not clap hands when he assign some issue. It seems not everybody agree his idea, and some did not stand and clap, it is may be his enemy. Also, watching Obama's achievements when he is a president, it is not always good. From his audience's response we can see, Obama is losing his people compare to his president election.
ReplyDeleteWhile I may not support Obama as president, I certainly applaud him for his oratory skills and his ability to hold an audience. Watching this debate you can't help but feel pulled into a sense of everything is good (whether its Republican or Democrat speaking). I didn't really get a chance to switch between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC but just on CNN alone I spotted many biased actions on both sides of the aisle. I also thought it was interesting they spent almost the entire time talking to each other in the news station up until the point they announced someone and immediately started talking again. People like to hear their own voice more than other peoples. In regards to the President's actual speech I thought it was good but somewhat disturbing when he said he would use almost any executive action he could to achieve his goals, bypassing Congress in the process. This isn't what I want to hear from a democracy as great as ours; the legislative process is long and difficult but it is the process. We can't have our president ascend the checks and balances put into place so long ago. My favorite part of the debate was when Obama said "how the son of a bartender could become Speaker of the House" and then everyone in the audience stood and applauded the loudest I heard them. Subject aside, I think John Boehner is an excellent leader and someone I would like to see president in 2016. I heard the Speaker in Jay Leno saying "a leader without followers is just a man going on a walk" in response the the republicans causing the government shutdown and his job as the orchestrater.
ReplyDeleteAfter I watched all three videos or broadcasts I noticed they are different peoples opinions broken up into their own categories. Obama was talking our country’s youth education,the women' rights these days, economy wages, and especially health care. Everyone had there bias in each of these broadcasts. The Fox News is by far the most justice one. If you want to get the information without bias, then you should watch Fox News LIVE! The CNN contains by far the most bias, there are three guys sitting there watching the speech and saying what they thought, there is also live blog where people can post anything anytime. I would say that CNN has the most concern and bias since it is not only focusing on the speech. MSNBC provides a live video, but there are only advertisements and small comments that made it a little not real, but if you ignore their little pieces, it is still worth to watch it because it is interesting. I think there are bias in all these videos because people are having their own different ideas and questions all the time. once somebody post what they think, more are going to follow, that's why you can see bias through out the comments. I don't know if people will change channels to hear what they want to hear, but I don't think all of them will, many of them probably stay in the same channel and post what they disagree and what they don't like so more people who are standing on their side will join and give more bias. All of these videos have their own individual target audience they they are trying to attack with their bias.
ReplyDeleteAfter I watched all three videos or broadcasts I noticed they are different peoples opinions broken up into their own categories. Obama was talking our country’s youth education,the women' rights these days, economy wages, and especially health care. Everyone had there bias in each of these broadcasts. The Fox News is by far the most justice one. If you want to get the information without bias, then you should watch Fox News LIVE! The CNN contains by far the most bias, there are three guys sitting there watching the speech and saying what they thought, there is also live blog where people can post anything anytime. I would say that CNN has the most concern and bias since it is not only focusing on the speech. MSNBC provides a live video, but there are only advertisements and small comments that made it a little not real, but if you ignore their little pieces, it is still worth to watch it because it is interesting. I think there are bias in all these videos because people are having their own different ideas and questions all the time. once somebody post what they think, more are going to follow, that's why you can see bias through out the comments. I don't know if people will change channels to hear what they want to hear, but I don't think all of them will, many of them probably stay in the same channel and post what they disagree and what they don't like so more people who are standing on their side will join and give more bias. All of these videos have their own individual target audience they they are trying to attack with their bias.
ReplyDelete