If you are a political junkie, you are more likely to pay attention to the content of the speech from the President and Marco Rubio than maybe what Mrs. Obama was wearing or John Boehner's facial expression. But, what about the rest of America? I turned on my TV, logged onto twitter, Facebook, and different blogs expecting to get an in-depth analysis of the President’s speech. Much to my dismay, I read headlines like “Rubio and the Watergate Scandal” or “Tweets from the floor.” It seems like America is not interested in the actual content of the speech but what happens literally in front of him or behind him. During the state of the union address, John Boehner was trending on twitter. This was not because of his political ideology, but simply because of his facial expression, or lack of enthusiasm. The main focus during the speech seemed to be when John Boehner stood up, rolled his eyes or genuinely seemed uninterested.
After the President’s speech, Marco Rubio delivered the Republican’s response. Was anyone even listening to what he was saying? As soon as he paused to take a sip of water, the Internet exploded.
Is politics so boring that when a man pauses to take a sip of water it makes
headline news? I am flabbergasted by the amount of media coverage this got.
Politico, Huffington Post, ABC news among others all featured stories about
“Marco Rubio’s drinking problem.” For everyday Americans who are watching the
news or reading about it on blogs or Twitter, it takes away from the importance
of these speeches. With the focus being shifted from what both parties are
saying, people lose
track of what is really important. Now, I'm not saying that the media isn't covering these stories in hard news content for people like you and me. But, it seems that people are more interested in the soft news. The State of the Union
address is supposed to be an effective way for the President to relay his
message to not only Congress but also the American People. If people are worried about John
Boehner’s facial expression or Marco Rubio taking a sip of water, the President "going public" seems to be ineffective. People are losing track of what is really
important because they are more focused on unimportant things.
In
today’s society, it seems that the President is not getting the attention he used
to get. Logging onto Yahoo, and tuning into CNN the attention shifted from the
President’s speech, to the First Lady’s choice of dress. The first lady has become
such a style icon that it takes away from the President. People seem to forget
that the Michelle Obama is a Harvard Law School graduate, not a celebrity.
Granted, the First Lady should be an important figure for the American people
but, she should not have celebrity-like status.
It seems to me that since people are
already uninterested in politics so the News Media tries to find ways to keep
viewers engaged. Networks are already hesitant to give the president airtime
because they lose money. If they do not keep viewers engaged, they will lose
even more money in the hours after. Pointing to flaws, silly things, or fashion
makes viewers more likely to continue to watch. People are more likely to be
able to relate, or know what news anchors are talking about, when the news media analyze the First Lady’s dress color. All in all, the new media’s coverage of
the state of the union address has been very disappointing because they are not
giving American’s what they need; instead they are contributing to the
declining era of hard news.
With the decline of hard news, don't be surprised if we start seeing State of the Union Addresses like this one!
