I was just reading an article on Yahoo.com entitiled "Obama wins Ga. with strong black support," and it made me think of how the media is attempting to make race a major issue in this election. Most of Obama's wins during the primaries, the media has tried to justify it by saying he has a lot of support in the black community. Although this may be true, I don't believe that African-Americans are the only people that are voting for him. Obama has received strong support from people of all backgrounds, including a significant amount of support for young people. I do not think it is fair of the media to accredit his success only to the black voters. Besides race, there are many issues and beliefs that separate Clinton and Obama, and the media should take more time to focus on the issues rather than the superficial. Race did not have to become one of the main issues in this election, and I think it is disappointing that the media chose to perpetuate this idea.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Election 2008
As many know, today is Super Tuesday. Today, 22 states host their primaries, ultimately determining who the final two candidates will be. The polls haven't closed yet, however there have already been many key wins on both the Republican and Democratic sides. McCain has had victories in states like New Jersey, and Delaware. The race between Obama and Clinton remains a close one. Clinton has had key wins in New York and Oklahoma, while Obama swept away Georgia and Illinois. It will be exciting to see who the projected winners are at the end of the night.
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Interesting comment, Veronica, and one shared by many people.
Some questions to think about: Is it the media making an issue of race or is it other candidates (or their husbands) making an issue of it and the media dutifully covering all aspects of the race? Does this make a difference.
Is the coverage of Obama's votes and how black/white they are different from coverage of Clinton's votes and how male/female they are?
Isn't the race and gender of candidates this year an actual issue?
Has there really been a lack of coverage of standing on issues? (And again many people agree with you -- Rolling Stone magazine had a recent story touted on the cover about the weak political reporting this election year)
And how about this question -- how does the media or any individual journalist go about deciding what is important for readers to know about and what is not in an election?
Not right away, perhaps, but sometime I'd like to hear your thoughts on these issues -- they are important ones! Thanks for the post.
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