-Article 1: Tea Party Sex Scandal: 4 Theories on the Nikki Haley Affair Source: http://theweek.com/article/index/203383/tea-party-sex-scandal-4-theories-on-the-nikki-haley-affair
o The articles' discussion about the Nikki Haley affair demonstrates the function of the media watchdog. A watchdog article reports on a scandal that the media is looking for. It is extremely common for the media to report on political scandals because it can affect the politician’s outcome during election periods. In the case of Nikki Haley that is exactly what happened. The primary election for South Carolina took place in June 2010, and the release of the scandal was let loose right before than. The media was looking for a scandal to break during the critical time of elections, like a watchdog, and they found it.
-Article 2: Congressional Members' Personal Wealth Expands Despite Sour National Economy
Source: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/11/congressional-members-personal-weal.html
o The main focus of this article is that while the country is suffering from the down economy, congressional members are living it up with high salaries; this portrays the gatekeeper function of media. Without the media the people would not have been aware of the increased pay raises of government officials. The governement would not have reported this because it is not what the people want to hear when there are a lot of people suffering right now, but the media did, because they believe the people deserve to know.
-Article 3: Republicans Win House Majority, Make Senate Gains in Wave Election
o With the start of November a new group of politicians will take to the floor at the turn of the congressional term, and with that turn the republicans will have the House majority. This article highlights the media function of scorekeeper. The scorekeeper function focuses on the balance of power and with the election of house members the balance has shifted from democratic majority, to republican majority.
No comments:
Post a Comment