News! Opinion?
As I type the top five articles on the New York Times' Most Popular list are editorials: the first four are columnists, and the fifth is the NYT's editorial blog. Most are about the election. Maureen Dowd's column comes in at seven.
Of the four remaining articles only one is election news.
Translated into slightly bigger picture, this means: People are being told what to think about the election. Or, slightly more accurately, people are choosing to be told about the election.
That's somewhat discomforting. We all know media spin the primaries out of proportion and everyone always complains about the media going over the top with election coverage.
But here is (arguably) the most well-read segment of the United States, tuning into a (n arguably) national newspaper and choosing to abstain from facts to pursue opinion. Discomforting? Its likely dangerous.
Sigh.
Of the four remaining articles only one is election news.
Translated into slightly bigger picture, this means: People are being told what to think about the election. Or, slightly more accurately, people are choosing to be told about the election.
That's somewhat discomforting. We all know media spin the primaries out of proportion and everyone always complains about the media going over the top with election coverage.
But here is (arguably) the most well-read segment of the United States, tuning into a (n arguably) national newspaper and choosing to abstain from facts to pursue opinion. Discomforting? Its likely dangerous.
Sigh.
posted by iain.e.marlow at 1:29 AM
1 Comments:
Iain,
did you not take any mass comm courses?
two-step flow process and the People's choice...
family members and friends will have a bigger impact on voting then the mass media.
Of course, the media can have an impact no doubt, but does not mean that people completely believe whats it's saying.
( Hey whats up, how are you? lol)
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