The truth of what the leaders of our country are saying behind our backs...

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/09/29/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html#031535a

For some reason, this little article on politicalwire.com caught my attention. In it, Kentucky Lieutenant Governor, Daniel Mongiardo, is talking about Governor Steve Beshear. He talks about how much the Governor is screwing up and how much he has "no loyalty to Beshear". He even comes out at the end to say , "I am this close to saying fuck it all. I do not need this job. I do not need the U.S. Senate." Basically, the Lieutenant Governor is showing his TRUE colors-- showing that he is not fully into this job; showing that he doesn't support the Governor. To me, this shows Mongiardo's weakness and unprofessionalism.

In this case, I think the media has served its purpose to the public for the most part. Citizens deserve to know what is going on and need to be informed when there is a problem. Here, the media has served as a "watchdog" for the political world. People will hopefully be able to realize that not everyone can be trusted... even people in highly respected positions. Citizens of Kentucky may also keep a closer eye on their Governor after hearing those statements.- If the Lieutenant Governor has a problem, then maybe the citizens should be asking themselves if the Governor really is doing an adequate job.

What I don't like about this article is the lack of credibilty. Where did this information come from? How did it get caught on a recording? How do we really even know if this IS Mongiardo speaking? I'm not saying this website isn't trustworthy... but as a reader, I want to know where this information came from exactly and why it is 100% true and believable. Let me know what ay think! :)

Scary...

I found this article at cnn.com. The title- "Washington State Killer Captured After Field Trip Escape", definitely caught my attention. Basically, what happened was, on a field trip to a fair, Phillip Paul, a legally insane murderer who was a patient at the Eastern State Hospital, escaped from the group, hitched a ride away from the fair, and was out free in public. The police did eventually find and take him back into custody- but what I want to highlight about this article is its effectiveness in informing the public.
In a situation like this, where a part of our government has not affectively done its job, in this case- protecting the public from a dangerous killer, I believe the media has preformed to the best of its ability. The public deserves to know what is going on- good or bad. I think this illustrates how the media does act as a check and balance for our government. When they screw up- the public is obligated to find out, and, in this case, the media has served its purpose in informing facts very well.
The end of the article tells that policy changes are being put into action so that problems like this can't happen again. I think that the media adds extra incentives for problems in the country to be fixed quickly. Now the public knows what happened- the problem will be fixed faster, I believe, than if no one ever knew about what happened. Over all- I believe this article did its job without over-doing it as is so common in the media today.... Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/20/washington.escaped.killer/index.html

How the Media Entertains Us...

Ok, this might be stretching a little about the media and how it is affecting our politics. I've posted a youtube link here that is seriously one of my favorite videos of all time. Basically, this clip is from a local news station literally reporting on a model falling down during fashion week in Paris. The news anchors lose their composure and laugh uncontrollably. I won't lie- I repeatedly watch this video and laugh all the time. But, in relation to what we have been discussing in this class, I began to realize how absurd it is that THIS is what our media is reporting on. How is this important to Americans? Does this help us at all become better aware of what is going on in the world today? Not at all in my opinion. While this video is hilarious, I think it goes to show how media has definitely turned into a form of entertainment. WATCH IT!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-cxitNqSnU