Short Writing Assignment #3

1.
The mainstream media source I used was CNN. I covered their political news from October 16, 2006 through October 20, 2006. www.cnn.com/2006/politics
The first blog I used was the Daily Kos: State of the Nation. http://www.dailykos.com/
The second blog I used was Power Line. http://www.powerlineblog.com/
2.
The types of stories the Daily Kos blog covered mainly dealt with the upcoming election. They covered polls and news on governor’s races all over the United States as well as Senatorial and Congressional races throughout the nation. However, there were also stories on the Daily Kos that are common even in the mainstream media, except the blog added some extra information the mainstream media kept to themselves. For example, some of the stories included on the Daily Kos include news about the Foley scandal, how to leave the War in Iraq, and death tolls in Iraq. All three sources have a common thread, though. They each cover the general story, but the blogs expand their viewpoint on each subject.
3. The coverage of these news items were very different. The Daily Kos clearly took a liberal viewpoint with post titles such as “Limbaugh Doesn’t Want Single Women to Vote” and “Rove Blows it On Iraq.” The Power Line takes a particularly conservative view with titles on their posts being lines such as “Did the Democrats Leak the NIE?” and “Why Aren’t More Republicans Doing This?” CNN was objective in their coverage, leaving room for your own interpretation. However, they do sometimes try to sneak in a little bit of opinion towards the end of their articles.
4.
The roles of the mainstream media and the blogs are certainly diverse. CNN, my mainstream media source, played more of a common carrier role than anything else. They effectively convey political information to the public. CNN also plays a signaler role by keeping the public informed about important events in a very timely manner. The mainstream media can sometimes serve as a public representative, however, in this case, CNN does not. The mainstream media definitely does not play the role of a watchdog as much as other forms of media. The blogs undoubtedly act as common carriers, signalers, public representatives, and watchdogs. They deliver political news to the public and keep them informed in a timely manner. They also promote political awareness and allow readers to comment their opinion on the posts, which in turn acts as a public representative because it gets people involved in their government and serves as a reminder for them to take action. Blogs also serve as watchdogs because they dig up the facts the mainstream media fails to and warns the public when officials are doing something wrong. I believe blogs act most effectively as watchdogs because they provide a lot of information you cannot find in mainstream media sources. I think Power Line did a better job than the Daily Kos of reporting stories with deeper details and thinking outside the box.