http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/24/palin-denies-accepting-designer-clothes/
The first headlining news story that struck my attention on foxnews.com was a story about Palin and her supposed $150,000 shopping spree. With such a heated Presidential campaign its no surprise that little attacks are popping up as important news stories.
I believe that Lasch's descriptions of modern day journalism is justified. We have truly become a dumber society in what is supposed to be the information age. Instead of headlining an important story about a candidates controversial policies, we are giving news about a candidates supposed splurge on clothing by her party. This also shows how politics have gotten dirtier. Instead of stating the facts, rumors and speculation circulate around to try and damage a candidates character. I believe that this is pathetic. There is truly no such thing as a clean, straight forward election anymore. Lasch's descriptions of the modern -day journalism points to this concept of the changing in politics and journalism. He has outlined the history of this concept that has led up to the way things are today. Journalism has a biased today, as it did in the past with Lasch's example that took place during the Russian Revolution.
This article ironically seemed to try to clean up the image of Palin as the original gossip story tried to hurt her. The article did a good job pointing out both sides. Instead of playing around with outside sources, they went straight to Palin and used quotes from her about what was going on. They also present the sides of the people that are trying to attack her and saying what was done with the purchase of the clothing violates the Federal Election Campaign Act. So, this article presented both sides of the attackers and the defense to allow the viewer to eventually come up with their own conclusion.
Overall, it is sad to me that an article like this even has to come up to explain what is going on with such a ridiculous story of plain gossip. There are more important things to talk about then the clothing of a candidate. If a celebrity can wear a $50,000 outfit to the Oscars, no offense, but isnt running for the office of President more important then then wining a little award. Sadly Presidential candidates have become celebrities and our society wants them to dress the part, but if the price tag come out, then so do the dogs. We truly live in a double standard society.
4 comments:
This is a great example of what Lasch describes in his essay, "The lost art of argument." It is a blatant example of how our society would rather write about a shopping spree than political issues or would rather simply state facts than debate issues and give opinions. I think it is sad that we, as a society, have brought the candidates for the presidential election down to such a low, unimportant topic rather than write about things that have the potential to change our country or at least relay information that is important to the whole of the nation. I think you did a nice job giving reasons as to why this type of journalism the newspaper conveyed about Palin is wrong. You also effectively used pathos to give me a feeling of injustice and frustration with the press and our society. It played well with your argument that Lasch’s idea of modern journalism is correct.
It is obvious that the newspaper article was not well researched since it did not even bother to state Palin's point of view or put in a statement about her supposed 150,000 dollar shopping spree. I think playing up this point could make your argument even more effective as well as researching whether this newspaper has a democratic bias.
To start, I really like the way that Tim defined how Lasch describes modern day journalsim. Tim said "we have truly become a dumber society in what is supposed to be the information age". I like this conclusion that Tim came too because I was having trouble putting into words Lasch's argument and I felt that this was a good description. In terms of the article that Tim chose to review, I would agree with his views. Tim stated that the article presented the reader with a debate, but it was a debate about the cost of Sarah Palin's wardrobe, a silly issue in comparison to the bigger issue, the Presidential Election. I definitely think that Lasch is correct in his statement about modern day journalism, because we as American's seem to be more interested with a fashion statement, rather than who will be the next President. This article was a good choice on Tim's part and really highlighted Lasch's argument.
This article is a great example of Lasch’s argument. Our society is not focusing on what the real issues are. We are being fed useless information like Palin going on a shopping spree, instead of what Palin can do for our country. This is not at all helpful. The media is feeding us senseless information instead of the true facts. I really like your comment saying "we have truly become a dumber society in what is supposed to be the information age". This is very true. We are becoming so oblivious to what the media is feeding us and not relying on our own understanding. You did a great job explaining Lasch’s argument and relating it to your article.
I completely agree with you about this article. This is defiantly one of the things that Lasch was referring to when he wrote his paper. This article is a perfect example of information that does not promote anything good in the readers. Like you said, why is this even a headline? Our economy is failing and our dependence on oil is causing huge problems in our country. Those are just two of a very long list of things going on in this country that are important and current hot topics. Why is a shopping spree being reported with such important topics available? This topic won't generate a stimulating debate and is a great example of the modern-day journalism that Lasch was talking about. When things like this are in the headlines on the front pages of our newspapers, how are we as a society going to debate and grow regarding the important topics that are truly affecting the country? This was a great article and I completely agree with your response to it!
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