The "Joe American" Mentality, in a nutshell...
...and we wonder why politicians behave the way they do. I caught this in a Chicago Tribune article this morning, in reference to how candidates are now targeting specific TV show audiences for their ads.
I don't know which part of the commentary is more disturbing: that the average voter doesn't have enough interest to find sources more useful than a 30 second ad... or that the local news / national news won't tell you anything you don't already hear in said ads.
More proof for the need of "qualified democracy".
Quote:
Candidates are pretty much sold like toothpaste today with marketing techniques taken from the business world," said Ken Warren, who studies political communication at St. Louis University. "Thirty-second commercials can be very, very effective. Some Americans learn more from the 30-second commercials than from anything else.
Candidates are pretty much sold like toothpaste today with marketing techniques taken from the business world," said Ken Warren, who studies political communication at St. Louis University. "Thirty-second commercials can be very, very effective. Some Americans learn more from the 30-second commercials than from anything else.
I don't know which part of the commentary is more disturbing: that the average voter doesn't have enough interest to find sources more useful than a 30 second ad... or that the local news / national news won't tell you anything you don't already hear in said ads.
More proof for the need of "qualified democracy".
Comments
Fair and balanced half-truths and innuendo, more like.
The CLOSEST news that I've seen to being as fair as possible is ABC. NBC is next, and the rest are a DISTANT 3rd.
It's an indication of the thought process that goes into winning a Presidential election. [These guys are now using pure marketing fluff to form public opinion, rather than say a rigorous debate of the issues, or even a rigourous report issued to the public (footnotes and all). It's also about the thought process of the average Joe, who -- I certainly agree --] would rather watch Fear Factor and a 30 second ad, than get his election data and voting insights from say, The News Hour on PBS.
You dispute that general notion??
And that opinion is no more worthless than yours or mine. In point of fact, the guy studies this stuff for a living AFAICT and is apparently a worthy enough source for a respectable paper like the Trib... so maybe, just maybe, his opinion is worth *more* than yours or mine.
No one is saying this is a rigorous analysis of the voting public's behavior. We're just saying these 30 second spots and the way elections are run on television in general, makes a mockery of democracy. Cheapens every vote affected by the same....
The answer is, of course, education. Education done in 30 second spots.
["I see here Mr. Jones that you're a member of the 'college educated, but highly unmotivated, ESPN junkies under 30 demographic.' Here's your ballot to cast your seven-tenths of a vote.
Oh, and please go to the blue booths over there. The yellow booths are for the people with four-tenths ballots."]
Joe American doesn't.
Originally posted by Ganondorf
I support dictatorship.
So do I. As long as I'm the dictator.
Originally posted by jesperas
Do do I. As long as I'm the dictator.
I support jesperas.
"Well I didn't vote for you..."
"You don't vote for a Dictator!"
I support Jesperas, but only if he is successful in his takeover bid.
"Support jesperas for Dictator! Because if you don't, and he takes over, you'll be the first one he goes after."
Whaddya think? Too wordy?