Media hurting media

By: Shauna Agan

With Sarah Palin’s first nationally televised interview since being named as John McCain’s vice presidential mate coming up, many people wonder what questions will be asked and how well Palin will respond. Word on the street is that ABC News is going to come down hard on Palin in the near-future interview.

Since Palin became a nationally known name a littler over a week ago, the media has done little to praise her, leaving many headlines to do quite the opposite. Many attacks and accusations have been made about her and her family, some true, but some false.

The media has attacked her daughter, Bristol Palin, for being 17, unmarried, and pregnant. The media has also accused Bristol Palin of being the real mother of Sarah Palin’s infant son with Down’s syndrome. Sarah Palin has also been accused by the media of being too inexperienced, and since she came into the national radar, the media has done nothing but try to dig up as much dirt as possible about activities she has taken part of that some may refer to as ‘shady’.

Leave no doubt though; Palin was prepared to fire right back. At the Republican National Convention during Palin’s speech last week, she sent out a message, “here’s a little newsflash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek [your] good opinion”.

Palin isn’t the only one in the McCain campaign standing up to the media. Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager said, “Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media [?]”. He added that she wouldn’t do an interview until the media gave her some respect.

The question that must be asked now is: Does media come down too harshly? Do they push too hard trying to draw public interest, but in result create an affect of actually pushing away the target of the criticism, which ultimately hurts other media?

The media was not nice to Palin. It made her not even want to conduct an interview. If the media does not treat her fairly, there is no reason she should play along with its games.

Palin is not the only person in this situation. Virtually all public figures must sensor what they say because the media is too harsh. If public figures even word one thing wrong, it is definitely the headline in the next day’s paper. And, of course, the story about it includes the media’s spin on the situation.

I believe the media is only hurting them self by running multiple criticizing articles. There must be some way to deliver a story without constantly bashing the individual the story is about. If the situation continues, nobody will want to be interviewed because the media will say what they want anyways.