Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wow, scary
So in class yesterday (Monday), we had a little iclicker quiz right? The results were quite scary. My side lost 5 to 3 which was really disappointing but it was the questions that we all got wrong that was even worse. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knew where Barack Obama was a senator of. But our side couldn't even get 70 percent of us to remember where John McCain was from! We also didn't know who represented Oregon in the Senate and we didn't know who any of the Justices were. We didn't even know the Chief Justice! Now can all of this be blamed on the media? Not entirely, although one can make the case that much of it is due to the media. Television and the internet let's us all know who the American Idol judges are and who wins and what company made Fergie's dress for the MTV music video awards, but how much do they reveal about our government? I bet there are many people in this country that can name ever American Idol winner so far but doesn't even know what a Supreme Court Justice is. CNN and Fox News talk enough about the Presidential Candidates (apparently not enough about McCain's background) but they really fail to update us all on what is going on in the Supreme Court and the Senate (which is pretty much nothing, but still) and even in our own state's government. It may not be the most exciting news ever but I still think that the media should be held accountable to inform us of all of the news that affects us, not just the controversial ones. Let's be fair and say that the schools need to inform us of who the Justices are and what Congress is responsible for, but I'll admit I have already forgotten a lot of that. I think it is really up to the media to keep us up to date on everything that affects us in our government.
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6 comments:
it was pretty satisfying to be on the other side of the room on monday :)
I was on your side of the room and i was also quit surprised on the results. But i see were your coming from. I was in my dorm the other day and watching tv. I was flipping through the channels and on 5 different news stations it was all about the presidential candidates. Nothing about about the war, or congress. So until you said something i never really noticed it but now i do.
I think it is the media's responsibility to inform us on all the information, too. However, you speak of television. TV is the most easy form of media because all you have to do is sit there and watch a screen. Media includes the internet, books, and newspaper, too. The Register Guard is all around campus, yet I never see anyone reading it. Also, it's funny how a lot of people did not know where McCain was from, because in my mind I make a direct correlation between melanoma and the hot, hot, heat of Arizona.
I liked what Mindich proposed about having a civil rights portion of the SAT's. Or requiring college entrance applications to have essay questions related to current events.
I agree that the results of the class quiz were terrible. I would even say embarrassing, to an extent. I mean, we're in a journalism class, so already the poll should be of a certain quality because those being questioned should supposedly care about news, so that to me makes it especially bad. I think the media should cater to people and help them learn about the news, but I also think it has a lot to do with personal responsibility and people are a lot quicker to place the blame elsewhere, which I think is wrong and which also may account for our many shortcomings.
I agree. I was surprised the result of i clicker quiz, but it is our reality. It is not only our problem. The media should have the responsibility to inform us.
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