Media Matters

Much of my work focuses on media analysis. This election is yet another example of the power of media. As I tell my classes, media does not reflect reality, it defines it. And they define it with an agenda in mind. Jon Stewart exposes the spin well in this clip:






The result of this election will depend greatly on how the media frames the next few weeks. What the media focuses on matters. If you look at polling for the last few weeks, there seems to be some support to the idea that media framing affects polling. When media focus was on Obama during DNC convention, Obama pulled ahead. Then when media focused on RNC and the Palin phenomena, McCain pulled ahead in polls. Now that the eocnomy is the story of the hour, Obama is back in the lead. So what the media decides to focus on may definitely have an effect on polling.

View polling trends here:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html