June 5, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, blogging rhetoric
According to Politico, John McCain’s finance team must prepare or their most epic battle yet, competing with Barack Obama’s campaign which has the potential to reach over $300 million. A financial rift of this magnitude would allow Obama to compete in more states than McCain, thus giving Obama a clear advantage.
“‘McCain has to make every dollar count in the general election, and Obama will have money to burn,’ said Evan Tracey, co-founder of Campaign Media Analysis Group.”
“Clearly, a major reason for the imbalance is the length of the Democratic primary compared with that of the Republican race. But it’s also a matter of resources: Obama raised nearly three times more money than McCain’s $100 million tally through April.”
Tip.
June 3, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, blogging rhetoric
According to the Associated Press, Barak Obama has beat Hillary Clinton in the race to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination today. By clinching the nomination, Obama because the first black candidate to lead a major political party in a presidential campaign. Now the question on everyones’ mind is: Who will join Obama’s ticket as his VP?
“Vanquished rival Hillary Rodham Clinton swiftly signaled an interest in joining the ticket as his running mate.”
“According to one participant in an afternoon conference call among Clinton and members of the New York congressional delegation, Rep. Nydia Velazquez said she believed the best way for Obama to win over Hispanics and members of other key voting blocs would be to take the former first lady as his running mate.”
Tip.
June 2, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
Ars Technica reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court decision to prohibit a high school student from being reelected as student secretary and from being able to speak at graduation, after posting a blog that named her school officials “douchebags.” The student and her mother initiated the law suit because they believed the school had violated her First Amendment rights.
“The Court of Appeals noted that adults may have a constitutional right to use vulgar or offensive speech in order to make a point, but that it ‘may legitimately give rise to disciplinary action by a school’ if a school is responsible for ‘teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior. Although Avery made her statements off school grounds and outside of school hours, they were related to school activities and ultimately caused some level of disruption of the school setting.”
“Avery’s position as secretary was also considered a ‘privilege’ that could be rescinded at any point, the court said, especially since her actions apparently undermined the values of the student government as an extracurricular activity.”
Tip.
June 2, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
According to a report by Read Write Web, in order to increase online readership, The New York Times is the process of creating an API that will allow programmers to more easily structure print content for the web. The New York Times plans to have the API finished by the time summer arrives, with parts of the API available to the public within six months.
“An API is a logical step for newspapers. It will give developers access to their vast amounts of well-researched data, and allows the paper’s brand to be spread easily across the web. More access to Times content and the ability to mash it up in new and interesting ways can only be a win for both readers and the paper.”
Tip.
June 2, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
According to a Gallup Panel survey, a large majority o Democrats, Republicans and independents think it is important for the president of the U.S. to meet with the leaders of countries that are considered our adversaries. The survey also specified that most people would like to see a meeting between the U.S. and Iran.
“About 6 in 10 Americans (59%) think it would be a good idea for the president of the United States to meet with the president of Iran. This includes about half of Republicans, a majority of independents and most Democrats.”
Tip.
May 26, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
One of the most appealing aspects of the blogosphere is the free flow of unfiltered ideas and conversation it permits; however, this same freedom can be abused and all together discarded. In the most extreme cases, blogs have been used to target individuals to the point where they fear for their own lives.
In order to protect the rights of others while balancing a blogger’s right to freedom of expression; I support the implementation of a code of ethics for bloggers.
“The aim of [a] code is not to homogenize the Web, but to make clearer the informal rules that are already in place anyway,” said David Weinberger, a well known blogger and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, during an interview for the article “A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs.”
Read the rest of this entry »
May 13, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
KC Cowen introduced the class to the idea of blogs as the “Fifth Estate” in her post titled Democracy Defended: Polibloggers and the Political Press in America. But what is the “Fifth Estate”?
Geoff Livingston explains the “Fifth Estate” and its relation to the Fourth Estate, or the media. The fifth estate was born from the media audiences ability and desire to comment, influence, supplement, augment and develop their own voice concerning information obtained through the media. Start the dramatic music — the fifth estate and blogs are one in the same.
“The Fifth Estate – citizen media – brings to bear unreported yet relevant news, and questioned stated facts,” Livingston explained.
Stephen Cooper, Associate Professor of Communications at Marshall University professor, proposed a similar, yet different, definition and use of the Fifth Estate in his book, “Watching the Watchdog: Blogging as the Fifth Estate.” Cooper explores the distinct type of media criticism that has developed in the blogosphere, which he has named the watcher of the watchdog.
According to Amazon.com: “In one sentence, the thesis of this little book is that the blogosphere is in the process of maturing into a full-fledged social institution, albeit a non-traditional one: emergent, self-organizing and self-regulating.
If you are still interested in learning more about the Fifth Estate, take some time to read this recent Washington Post article about how in some cases the media has accepted and used social media to its benefit.
May 4, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, rhetoric blogging
The Caucus has reported that Obama officially defeated Clinton in Guam by only seven votes. Obama received 2,264 votes compared to Clinton’s 2,257 votes. The results from Guam are considered especially significant this year since the Democrats are in the midst of a “delegate-by-delegate” battle.
Because of the closeness of the vote, the outcome in Guam is unlikely to have an impact on the delegate margin. However, the caucuses also determined two of Guam’s five superdelegates. Pilar Lujan, who is uncommitted, won the race for party chairwoman, and Jaime Paulino, who supports Mr. Obama, was elected vice chairman. Two of the island’s other established superdelegates are on record as supporting Mrs. Clinton, of New York.
Tip.
April 28, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, rhetoric blogging
In “Obamania Sweeps France” by Annick Cojean, we learn that American Democrats living in France still prefer Barak Obama to Hillary Clinton, despite his loss in the April 23 Pennsylvania primary. In Paris alone there are 289 members registered to support Obama, with only 64 registered in support of Clinton. While these American Democrats may not be able to sit front row at a presidential debate, they are still connected to the presidential race through their televisions, the internet and their connection with Obama’s Legislative Coordinator, Michael Robertson, who keeps them updated via speaker phone. This distance also does not keep Obama supports from voicing their disapproval of Clinton and her decision to still remain in the race for the nomination.
“It’s terrible!,” says one white-haired woman. “Hillary has carried on a vicious, negative, Republican-style campaign.” A man says: “For eight years, we have had to deal with an American president who’s as dumb as a stone. I’m afraid Hillary will look a lot like him! The country’s in flames she hears nothing, listens to nothing and hangs on beyond all reason!”
Some smile, most shake their heads. “It’s incredible that we’re still talking about her! She has lost!” says one bitter woman. “It’s not only her ambition or her ego that impel her” adds a man next to her, “It’s the large groups and lobbies which control Washington. They think only about their contracts and tremble about seeing a new man.”
Tip.
April 27, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging rhetoric, rhetoric
Barak Obama continues to change what was once considered the norm, as explained at The Caucas, The New York Times Politics Blog. The Indianapolis Star allowed Obama to participate in its editorial board meeting, which was also broadcast live on its Web site. Editorial board meetings historically have been closed events where editors would privately discuss and form judgments on the presidential candidates.
“In this campaign, a few editorial boards have taped their meetings with the candidates and then put the video up on their Web sites. The Reno Gazette-Journal was one, which was noteworthy because it made some news; that’s where Mr. Obama made some much-discussed comments about Ronald Reagan.
But this may be the first time such an interview is live streamed in real time. In this fast-paced campaign, you might as well use the Web to break news yourself before someone else does. And readers love the transparency. So this is yet another way that the Web is changing politics.”
Tip.
