Obama Pauses on Economis Plan

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/obama_pauses_on.html
Courtesy of Reuters

It's simple - Obama stalls in responding to the financial turmoil because he has no proposed economic plan. Obama issued a statement stating that, ""I have asked my economic team to refrain from presenting a more detailed blue-print of how an immediate plan might be structured until the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have had an opportunity to present their proposal."

This article focuses solely on Obama's statement from last week in a Miami press conference and it offers little insight and almost no reporting. This could be considered an exact transcript from the issued statement

McCain Camp Takes Issue With Times Coverage

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/politics/23times.html?ref=politics

A rather short article, this is not the first time a campaign has lashed out against the media for "unfair coverage." Boo-hoo. The NYT unearthed something that nobody had known before and a rather important discovery - that McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, had been paid almost $2 million by Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to head a group devoted to defend the mortgage giants against the imposition of stricter regulations.

Steve Schmidt, Senator McCain’s senior campaign adviser, criticized the Times by stating, “Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization...This is an organization that is completely, totally, 150 percent in the tank for the Democratic candidate, which is their prerogative to be.”

He concluded, “Everything that is read in The New York Times that attacks this campaign should be evaluated by the American people from that perspective.” This sentiment is exactly what all readers should keep in mind while reading the news, that despite the bias and personal narrative, readers should take in the information with a grain of salt.

McCain is Pounded, Even From Abroad

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7624143.stm

This article harps on McCain's unpopularity abroad by focusing on what Spain currently thinks of McCain. In an interview with the the Caracol Miami, a reporter asked Senator McCain four times if he would be willing to invite Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero to the White House. His lack of response and his avoidance of the question instigated the Spain media to think that McCain still has not forgiven Mr Zapatero for pulling Spanish troops out of Iraq when he became PM in 2004.

Showing uneasiness with the topic, McCain stated, "I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us in co-operative fashion," and soon after, ""All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. " But that was not what Spain focused on, instead, Spain was more concerned with what McCain didn't mention. El Semanal Digital, an online newspaper, was dismayed by the interview. "He did not even mention Zapatero's name."

Although Senator McCain is praised by the media for his maverick status and his congenial relationships with reporters, he isn't seen as fondly abroad, especially by Spain. But will his testy relationship with foreign countries affect the polls on November 4th? To a certain degree, this tightens his grasp on foreign policy but it will only be American citizens voting for their next President in 42 days.

Hillary's Healthcare

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19clinton.html?_r=1&hp&oref=

For a politician who hasn't had the greatest relationship with the media and for a woman who seeks refuge from the camera's harsh lighting schemes and from critical scrutiny from hosts and correspondents, Hillary Clinton may almost be considered the anti-journalist. But what we see here is an Op-Ed from the President hopeful herself, doing exactly what most journalists intend to do - highlighting a situation and putting a spin on it.

She criticizes the Bush administration for their stances on women's rights and healthcare, while realizing that "The definition of abortion in the proposed rule is left open to interpretation." She throws out numbers and names, furthering her platform on healthcare, which as we all know, is something Clinton has a knowledgeable stance on. While I realize that this is not a news article, and it's a featured opinion, I thought it was worthwhile to point out that Clinton worked with the Planned Parenthood President and submitted it to the renown New York Times. What's even more appealing about this Op-Ed is that the NYT decided to publish this for reader ratings. The byline is an instant attraction for readers and this goes to show that the NYT is indeed a newspaper empire who is willing to compromise some journalistic integrity during vulnerable times.

Clinton Avoids Palin

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5izQosMtCfjNjE1uAP6fQV2BZ_qWwD938MJ0G1

The Associated Press, well-known for its unbiased reporting, has proven itself again. Beth Fouhy begins by stating that the almost Democratic Vice Presidential candidate is avoiding Sarah Palin as speaking out against the GOP candidate may diminish her status and her work rallying for Senator Obama. Intrigued by this assessment, readers scroll down and find that Fouhy's argument is not a mere speculation but a truth, which is supported by bi-partisan quotes and facts.

This sets a standard for journalism - melding all the facts together and presenting it to readers so that they may make personal judgments on the candidates and the horse-race themselves. By empowering the readers to do as they wish with undeniable facts, voters would less likely to be dissuaded from Decision '08.

Hackers Infiltrate Palin's Email

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/17/AR2008091703304.html

An online group identifying itself only as Anonymous, best known for its involvement with Scientology, has hacked in the Sarah Palin's private Yahoo email account. They were able to view and obtain emails, Palin's contact list, and family photos, which have already been leaked to the World Wide Web in less than 24 hours. This information has already been dispersed everywhere from news sites to blogs. It is so easily accessible that I am able to post pictures on this fledgling news blog for Professor Colen's Newswriting seminar.

This single event calls to the attention of the American public that this may serve as evidence that the GOP vice presidential candidate has improperly used private email to shield government business from public scrutiny. The episode sheds light on Palin's turbulent relationship with the media as the writers remind readers of Palin's potential entanglement with the termination of Alaska's Safety Commissioner, Walter Monegan. The McCain campaign only issued one statement publicizing that authorities would be taking over the situation.

Michael Shear and Karl Vick, WP Staff Writers, strategically outlined the news story, with their lead and the most grabbing details of the story at the top. As the reader follows this lengthy 2-paged story, the details of the story unfold, introducing new characters and supporting quotes. Towards the end of the news story, Shear and Vick write about Palin's drafted emails and personal and business contact lists. The tone of their writing aims to be serious and weighty, which is proven by the writers' use of the last quote of a no-name director of one of the many Internet security companies in the country, who fervently hopes that the hackers will pay their dues for this unthinkable atrocity to Web etiquette.

What may seem like a humorous event is deemed a grave act on human-web relationships, and as these images will be seen all over the Web as every user will upload them, Shear and Vick will continue to masquerade this as a breaking news political story of the '08 Election. This article should have been a one-page outliner, without unnecessary quotes and insignificant details. However, one interesting thing that the Washington Post does with all their articles - they underline key words or phrases, providing links to related stories on that topic. So if I wanted to know more about what the media, more specifically the WP, has published about the GOP's beloved Vice Presidential candidate in the past two and a half weeks, there is an archive of related news stories.

While hackers will continue to take over the Web, the best that any of us can do is to appreciate the real substance of newsworthy stories - this is not one of them.