Outrageous or Not? Palin to Walters: The Media Have Made People Think I'm Scary, Uninformed and Polarizing
I want you to decide. Is this an outrageous statement on Palin's part - that it's the media's fault that people think I'm uninformed and polarizing? Use the comments box to let us know. Palin's fault? Media's fault? Equal fault to go around?
Although, being a Palin supporter, I think the "polarization" comes from her conservative principles that she fearlessly and bravely stands on. Even at a social gathering, if I were brave enough to take a stand on the conservative principles I hold, I would be polarizing.
I would tend to say media's fault. If they caught her in a gaffe here or there, a pattern it does not make. It reminds me of how the sports media used to showcase Bobby Knight, the coach of Indiana (and later Texas Tech), only when he got mad. So what the public saw was the illusion of a pattern that the man was angry and crazy all the time. Similarly, priests of the Catholic Church have as a group been characterized as pedophile suspects to the point that it's common for non-Catholics to say some paraphrase like, "It disturbs me how Catholic priests molest children" in an unqualified way. For Palin, polarizing may be the only quality the media characterizes correctly, but that is not necessarily a negative attribute. Exhibit A: Jesus.
I agree with Holly. She is polarizing and she has had a magnifying glass put on her like no other elected official in 10-20 years. All of her faults and seemingly uniformed nature have been magnified and all her intelligence and views inline with the american public have been subverted. I don't believe that this material was fabricated (i.e. the media didn't make everything up) they just didn't provide a balanced viewpoint of it all and they still don't. Tragically this is the price conservative women must pay in the media because even men are given a free pass. It is even more glaring when contrasted with the other media outsider: Obama.
What I'd like to see is not giving Sarah Palin a free pass but give EVERY elected official the same scrutiny. There are likely many members of congress that if they actually had their faults and failing illuminated would be the very last people that intelligent Americans would elect and we probably be surprised to see them on both sides of the isle.
The outrage regarding Sarah Palin is the unenlightening efforts by the media.
Equal fault to go around.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, being a Palin supporter, I think the "polarization" comes from her conservative principles that she fearlessly and bravely stands on. Even at a social gathering, if I were brave enough to take a stand on the conservative principles I hold, I would be polarizing.
I would tend to say media's fault. If they caught her in a gaffe here or there, a pattern it does not make. It reminds me of how the sports media used to showcase Bobby Knight, the coach of Indiana (and later Texas Tech), only when he got mad. So what the public saw was the illusion of a pattern that the man was angry and crazy all the time. Similarly, priests of the Catholic Church have as a group been characterized as pedophile suspects to the point that it's common for non-Catholics to say some paraphrase like, "It disturbs me how Catholic priests molest children" in an unqualified way. For Palin, polarizing may be the only quality the media characterizes correctly, but that is not necessarily a negative attribute. Exhibit A: Jesus.
ReplyDeleteIs this the Nick Thomm forum?
ReplyDeleteIf so, why bother.
I agree with Holly. She is polarizing and she has had a magnifying glass put on her like no other elected official in 10-20 years. All of her faults and seemingly uniformed nature have been magnified and all her intelligence and views inline with the american public have been subverted. I don't believe that this material was fabricated (i.e. the media didn't make everything up) they just didn't provide a balanced viewpoint of it all and they still don't. Tragically this is the price conservative women must pay in the media because even men are given a free pass. It is even more glaring when contrasted with the other media outsider: Obama.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'd like to see is not giving Sarah Palin a free pass but give EVERY elected official the same scrutiny. There are likely many members of congress that if they actually had their faults and failing illuminated would be the very last people that intelligent Americans would elect and we probably be surprised to see them on both sides of the isle.
The outrage regarding Sarah Palin is the unenlightening efforts by the media.