Sympathy for the Betrayed in Politics

Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of Sen. John Edwards due to his affair with his former videographer, died today after a lengthy battle with breast cancer.

An article on CNN.com was written shortly after her death telling a story of her life, including the time when she struggled with her husband's affair which led to the birth of a son by her husband with another woman.

Though her story is tragic, and her character was well known and well loved on the political scene, I can only wonder if I would have the same feelings reading this article if she had not been one of the many 'betrayed wives of politics'.

If she had just been any other wife to a senator who had lost a presidential campaign, would we, the public, recognize her as the moral hero that we do?

She was betrayed by someone in our public eye...someone who was hoping to lead our country.

The affair led to the couple's separation leaving the reader to feel even more sympathy for her at her death--she not only had to struggle through a long battle with cancer without her husband, but she had to die without him as well.

Elizabeth was certainly the one who came out "smelling like a rose" (so to speak) through all of this, and yet she is the one who is now lost.

We not only have sympathy for her at her death after her long fight with cancer, but we also have the added layer of sympathy for her after she was betrayed.

Rest in Peace, Elizabeth Edwards. I certainly hope that John realizes now, more than ever, how much you should, and will, be missed.

Read more...

Reality is Made for TV After All

Reality TV isn't the only thing presenting reality with an agenda like a soap opera; a recent rescue of 33 miners could be the script for a movie.

Every trapped miner has a story line. Each is a well developed character with a family waiting on the surface for their rescue. Each had a will to live, and each appeared to be "resurrected" from the earth.


When a person sees this kind of story in the news, it can stir questions about reality versus scripted reality. How much of what is shown on TV a true replication of reality--even when it is reported?
It is a strange thing to think about. How much of reality is actually shown as reality?

Over the years there has been more and more distrust of the government. It would seem like if they can't trust the government they would then turn to the media (an establishment supposedly free from the government) in order to find truth. However, the public should perhaps be cautious about putting this kind of trust in the media.

We've all heard about or been warned about biases. We all have one and we all use one--but maybe more importantly, we all are exposed to information that has been filtered through a bias.

So what does that mean for reality TV? Most would agree that it isn't exactly representative of true reality. Instead, reality TV does a lot to influence our perspective on reality.

It's our job to filter out what we want to believe and what we don't. It's our job to question what is presented as 'reality' no matter what source it comes from.

Finally, it is our job to remember that everything is presented through and experienced through certain biases and the only way to truly understand the information is to understand what parts of our own perspective are influenced by these biases.

Read more...

Homosexuality Subjected to Bias on TV too

President Obama said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that Fox News has a "very clear, undeniable point of view," a point of view not shared by the President.

Obama went on to say that the clearly conservative view held by Fox and enforced by Fox owner Rupert Murdoch "is ultimately destructive for the long term growth" of the country--a country Obama said has "a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world." Obama is the Democratic party candidate from the 2008 election and has very liberal views unlike Fox which is said to have a very conservative bias.

On the other side of the political spectrum, James O'Keefe, a conservative prankster, was recently caught trying to pull off a prank that would show an obvious bias of CNN. He tried to make CNN anchorwoman Abbie Boudreau stubble upon a fake scandal. O'Keefe is known to have a strong opinion that CNN has a clear bias and he must have assumed that Boudreau would jump at the chance to uncover his conservative sex scandal.

Scandal is intriguing when it comes in connection with politics. Everyone has a bias, whether it be in politics, religion or another aspect of society. These biases cause networks like Fox to present things like homosexuality in a particular way--a way that may not always be true to reality.

A recent study showed that one in five television viewers--gay or straight--are unhappy with the portrayal of homosexuals on television. Some heterosexuals commented that seeing homosexuals portrayed as they are on television makes them uncomfortable as a viewer. Some homosexual viewers commented that the way homosexuality is shown on TV is nothing like the life of most homosexual persons.

Many homosexual viewers discussed how they want to see a homosexual character who is NOT defined by his/her sexual preference.

Just like political affiliates are branded with the names of conservative or liberal and every form of media has a, while usually unintentional, bias, characters on TV who are homosexual are branded with the cast iron rod burning HOMOSEXUAL into their television skin.

Characters branded with HOMOSEXUALITY are the subjects of scandal in many TV shows and movies--this is intriguing to viewers, but would it be as intriguing if the character wasn't defined by his or her sexuality?

We can see this branding in TV shows like "Degrassi" in which gay males are known on the show as 'the gay male.' Being gay is the entire importance of their character to the plot. In the movie Bound, actress Gina Gurshon plays the role of a "butch lesbian." This leads an inexperienced audience to believe that all homosexual men are known only for being gay and that all lesbians are "butch." The homosexual viewers said this was not true to reality and seemingly biased.

What is the true cost of intrigue, especially when it leads us to see a fake reality through a biased lens?

Read more...

Communication or Entertainment...Or both?

Media consumption has skyrocketed over the past two years.

A study done by Ipsos OTX of 7,000 online consumers ages 13-74 shows that people now spend over half of every day consuming media. New technology like smart phones and high tech laptops has fueled this increase in consumption.


The big form of media that has been fueled by new technology is social media. The study showed that 77 percent of the people who participated in the study were members of one or more social Media site.

So, what is it big deal with social media?

Bruce Friend, president of Ipsos OTX Media CT said in an interview with TheWrap, "Communicating is now entertaining, and entertainment is communication."

Social media has broken its boundaries with the help of new media to take on the role of communication and entertainment combined.

Media consumers want to be informed, they want to be in touch and they want to be entertained. Social media has all of these aspects. Social media sites are constantly changing and revamping in order to attract media consumers who have these demands.

Thanks to new technology, social media sites are also being forced into making products available through every different type of smart phone or other media device on the current market.

Are media consumers demanding too much out of their media outlets?
Is entertainment becoming more important than communication, or can they coexist equally through social media?

Only time, and an eye on new technology, will answer that.

Read more...