My name is John Kline, I’m a sophomore at UMBC and for as long as I can remember I have always followed Presidential elections very closely. I can remember back in sixth grade engaging in arguments with classmates over the pros and cons between George W. Bush and Al Gore and doing my best to list reasons that Bush would be a better choice then Gore and would return the dignity to the White House that the Clinton administration had taken from it. Well, turns out my eleven year old self was pretty wrong, but it has been a fascinating and unique experience growing up in the age of twenty four hour media.
The instant TV and internet reporting has in some ways over saturated what actually qualifies as “Breaking News”, but when a real story does actually take place the amount of real-time information at your fingertips can be amazing. When a story breaks about the campaign trail about the candidates’ vice presidential picks there will be embedded reporters there to uncover the latest information, thirty seven analysts standing by to break down that information and thirty seven million bloggers there to critique the reporting itself. It is like a never ending circle that allows the viewer or reader to be informed at all angles. Politically I lean to the right, however I find myself watching programs on all the major new channels even if they do offer a perspective that is blatantly biased in one direction or another. You have to get the Democratic spin coming from MSNBC and combine it with the Republican spin from Fox News, to get a nice full picture. I enjoy watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann, not because I agree with his politics but because I am an old fan of his from ESPN and have always enjoyed his sense of humor. Also I enjoy seeing him make a fool of himself when his particular, usually extreme liberal, take on a subject is completely out of touch with reality, yet he is convinced its gospel. It is like the never ending car crash of political media. You can’t help but watch.
My favorite media analyst is David Gergen with CNN. He has a good sense of what the job of president actually entails, based upon his prior experiences advising presidents of both parties. He is able to see through what the reality of a situation is and what the political spin is. He is only there to offer solid commentary and not be a party hack like Paul Begala or William Kristol.
My media consumption isn’t limited to the political realm however. I am a huge sports fan and find myself watching ESPN or reading www.deadspin.com more often then I watch Fox News or read other political blogs. The twenty four hour new cycle phenomena is as evident in sports, such as during the Bret Favre retirement saga as it is following McCain and Obama around. The political blog I plan on following is Ben Smith’s Politico blog. I enjoy Politico because it plays mostly down the middle politically and is always filled with interesting pieces of information that allow visitors to become a more well rounded political observer.
2 comments:
Its interesting how you try to balance out your media sources. Too many people only listen to what they like to hear. You say that you tend to lean to the right-- has that changed as you've balanced your media intake? Have you gotten more conservative or less so since you started paying a lot of attention to the media?
I admire and I find it really interesting the fact you started having your own political opinions from an early age. This shows that you are decided, focused and with your feet on the ground:) I also believe that in the world we are living today it is better and safer to take diverse information from different sources, to "digest" this info and come with your own opinions and views. You say you are leaning to the right and you seem to have a lot of political background, so I was wondering what is your opinion as far as the "freedom of choice" of both candidates for presidency goes? My personal interest is in the candidates' position regarding a woman's right to choose abortion.
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