During the election coverage, I was mostly getting my news feeds from the internet, since I still had two classes yesterday and wasn't near my TV. It's definitely interesting to see the different "biases", if you will, from the different mainstream news sites.
CNN definitely focused more on Obama's campaign, whereas Fox News had significantly more McCain coverage. There were a couple of things that I saw on Fox News that grabbed my attention; I'm not sure if it was on CNN and MSNBC and those as well, but when it was being covered I was watching Fox News. There was an anchor reporting from a voting place that was being guarded by a "Black Panther" security guard, as the reporter called him, who they believed might have been intimidating voters. Apparently one of them had a nightstick that he was walking around with, but he had since left after the report was being shown. They got into a pretty heated argument on the air because the guard didn't think the reporter had the right to be showing him, when in fact, he did, and the reporter was trying to figure out what purpose the "Black Panther" had at a voting station. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how, with all the drive this election to get people to vote, there was also an opposing force trying to intimidate them into not voting.
Another interesting bit that I saw was also on Fox News, and it occured after Obama was announced as the winner. They were talking to Ralph Nader about his opinion of Obama being our next president. There was definitely a lot of doubt in Nader's statement, and at one point he said something roughly like "I wonder if he will be like Uncle Sam instead of Uncle Tom". At that point the anchor got pretty upset with Nader and basically stopped the discussion. The anchors on the show discussed what he said and basically concluded that Nader's career was over after that statement. I personally didn't think it was quite that big of a deal, but it was definitely a little sad to see Nader, someone who had contributed a lot to the nation back in the day, that bitter and, frankly, out of touch.
Here's the Nader video:
I was also reading the Huffington Post and it reminded me of something i'd see on CNN. All Obama. And political affiliations aside, I was a little disappointed as to how many "Probama" articles there were. Not only on the Huffington Post, but also just a general sentiment that floated around during the election was that electing Obama would be more important as a victory in breaking racial barriers, rather than what he actually will do for the country. And I think that's hogwash. I think that the racial card, if you will, further emphasized the "change" he'll bring to the country, and I think that definitely helped him in the election. But I just don't think it's significant in the grand scheme of things.
There was one alternative site that I mentioned earlier, Fact Check, that had some interesting notes on Obama's promises come election night. You can read about it here.
It basically reviews his promises regarding health care and the economy. Some of the other articles on there are pretty provocative, and I found myself going back there pre-election. One of the things I thought was most interesting were the result projections websites, like 270 to win, were spot on in their expectations. Although I don't really think the results in this election surprised anyone. It'll definitely be a good resource for future elections though.
Most of the people I talked to got their information, like me, off the internet. The only people I found that actually got most of their coverage off the TV were my parents. I'm not sure if it was just a convenience thing, or if TV coverage is just becoming a thing of the past.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
What really happens
I found this website that not only explains exactly what happens on election day, but what it takes to win. It also voices the concerns of glitches and problems that might arise on Election Day and what happens the morning after the election. If you didn't already know how Election Day works, you might want to check out this website.
According to this page, the 2004 election had the highest voting turnout in years, but we apparently broke that record last night.
According to this page, the 2004 election had the highest voting turnout in years, but we apparently broke that record last night.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day Coverage
On MSNBC.com they aren't, due to the request by the Democratic Party, reporting any results until the polls close tonight. However, they are reporting on the voting problems that are going on in Virginia and Pennsylvania. The article talks about how both states are reporting problems with several polling machines throughout the states and extremely long lines. Unfortunately, this may mean thousands of votes from these states may not be counted.
Voting problems were not Fox's main concern, their top story was reporting on where the candidates were today. McCain is here, in Colorado, before he heads down to New Mexico for a quick stop before heading home to Arizona where he will await the Election Day results. Obama was in his home state of Illinois where he voted with his family in tow before he headed to Indiana to make one last push for the Democratic Party.
The main difference I saw between these 2 media stations is that MSNBC seemed more interested in reporting breaking news stories (voting problems) and Fox seemed more interested in reporting "light" stories (where the candidates are this election day). Also, Fox had begun to report early votes from some states despite the democrats asking media outlets not to broadcast any results until the polls closed.
I used The Seminal as one of my independent media sources. They didn't
Really have any election news per se, but they did have links for voters to click on for more information or a way to report problems. They included the advice that once you get in line, stay there.
My other independent news source was the Colorado Springs Independent. One of their main articles was about how many people are having problems being able to check how they voted on the new digital polling machines and how when they asked for help often the election judges were much less than helpful.
The main difference I saw between these 2 independent news sources was that the Colorado Springs Independent seemed a more solid place to get your news from whereas The Seminal seemed kind of like a joke.
Overall, I think the two mainstream news sources and the Colorado Springs Independent were fairly good places to get your Election Day news from. However, unless you are reporting a polling problem I wouldn't suggest using The Seminal.
Most of the people I talked to said they got their Election Day information from mainstream media (watching NBC and CNN or listening to the radio or looking at MSNBC.com, etc.) They said throughout the day they would be checking these sources to find out who is in the lead, any new updates regarding any of the people or amendments on the ballot.
Voting problems were not Fox's main concern, their top story was reporting on where the candidates were today. McCain is here, in Colorado, before he heads down to New Mexico for a quick stop before heading home to Arizona where he will await the Election Day results. Obama was in his home state of Illinois where he voted with his family in tow before he headed to Indiana to make one last push for the Democratic Party.
The main difference I saw between these 2 media stations is that MSNBC seemed more interested in reporting breaking news stories (voting problems) and Fox seemed more interested in reporting "light" stories (where the candidates are this election day). Also, Fox had begun to report early votes from some states despite the democrats asking media outlets not to broadcast any results until the polls closed.
I used The Seminal as one of my independent media sources. They didn't
Really have any election news per se, but they did have links for voters to click on for more information or a way to report problems. They included the advice that once you get in line, stay there.
My other independent news source was the Colorado Springs Independent. One of their main articles was about how many people are having problems being able to check how they voted on the new digital polling machines and how when they asked for help often the election judges were much less than helpful.
The main difference I saw between these 2 independent news sources was that the Colorado Springs Independent seemed a more solid place to get your news from whereas The Seminal seemed kind of like a joke.
Overall, I think the two mainstream news sources and the Colorado Springs Independent were fairly good places to get your Election Day news from. However, unless you are reporting a polling problem I wouldn't suggest using The Seminal.
Most of the people I talked to said they got their Election Day information from mainstream media (watching NBC and CNN or listening to the radio or looking at MSNBC.com, etc.) They said throughout the day they would be checking these sources to find out who is in the lead, any new updates regarding any of the people or amendments on the ballot.
November 2008 Election
Well, my Nov. 4th started off with a hitch. Since I am registered as an absentee, I got my ballot (ahem *yesterday*) but I wasn't worried because I'd been told by CA that I could drop off here in CO. Turns out that isn't true and I got to spend about 3 hours on the phone today trying to find out what to do. Fun fun BUT I got to vote and that's all that matters.
So far, I've been using major news sources like MSBC.com and CNN to keep track of what is going on. CNN is particularly good because I don't have to be in front of the computer and refreshing the page to hear what's going on. MSNBC.com helped when I was supposed to be studying so I had the T.V. on mute...but I could hit the refresh page and cheat a little.
I did find a cool website that's hosting a "live blog" - Computer World - Election 2008 . I like how for a lot of the posts they give a short blurb and then a link to the story (if they pulled it from somewhere else). And it's updated pretty frequently. I like reading about what's going on around the country.
My other "non traditional" source was PBS.org, which posted more of a "who won what" when states were declared.
I started off my evening joining friends at the Cable Center, where we watched CNN on a HUGE screen. There were snacks and door prizes and everyone seemed to be having a good time. After awhile, the group went their separate ways and I headed over to a friends house for more studying and news coverage.
I cannot believe how early the announcement came in. One minute we're working on a presentation thinking that we'd have plenty of time to get this done and then we could watch politics, and the next we're seeing the OBAMA WIN'S THE PRESIDENCY stripe across the screen. Definitely distracting!
I spent the day keeping up with friends and family back home via IM and text messaging. My friends were doing the same, every so often picking up the phone to chat about a swing state or sending a text message. Among the people I was with/spoke with, phones were definitely the communication of choice.
All in all, it was one memorable day!
So far, I've been using major news sources like MSBC.com and CNN to keep track of what is going on. CNN is particularly good because I don't have to be in front of the computer and refreshing the page to hear what's going on. MSNBC.com helped when I was supposed to be studying so I had the T.V. on mute...but I could hit the refresh page and cheat a little.
I did find a cool website that's hosting a "live blog" - Computer World - Election 2008 . I like how for a lot of the posts they give a short blurb and then a link to the story (if they pulled it from somewhere else). And it's updated pretty frequently. I like reading about what's going on around the country.
My other "non traditional" source was PBS.org, which posted more of a "who won what" when states were declared.
I started off my evening joining friends at the Cable Center, where we watched CNN on a HUGE screen. There were snacks and door prizes and everyone seemed to be having a good time. After awhile, the group went their separate ways and I headed over to a friends house for more studying and news coverage.
I cannot believe how early the announcement came in. One minute we're working on a presentation thinking that we'd have plenty of time to get this done and then we could watch politics, and the next we're seeing the OBAMA WIN'S THE PRESIDENCY stripe across the screen. Definitely distracting!
I spent the day keeping up with friends and family back home via IM and text messaging. My friends were doing the same, every so often picking up the phone to chat about a swing state or sending a text message. Among the people I was with/spoke with, phones were definitely the communication of choice.
All in all, it was one memorable day!
I just checked my facebook and it seems like the site and everyone on it are doing a lot for election day.
At the top of the home page is a count of how many people on facebook have voted so far (if you voted, you click a button which adds to the count). People can also "donate" their status to Obama, it shows up like this... Jane Smith is the 1,445,824th person to donate their status to get out the vote for Barack Obama today. Donate yours: http://causes.com/election/.
Also about half my friends have "VOTE" or something about voting as their status. I think this is really cool that people are using their personal profiles to help remind others about something that is really important!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Some cool sites for the election
These are the sites that I used in my presentation, along with a couple more. They're pretty interesting and will obviously be pretty important as we approach the election.
ABC
ABC
Sunday, November 2, 2008
News sites
I find this site to be a good "alternative" news site. It has a good mixture of headline news and also random news that can be interesting, and maybe hard to find on other sites.
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