Obama Gives a Strong Showing, Yet Clinton Again Refuses to Face Reality

After a strong, decisive victory in North Carolina, Senator Obama displayed a strong showing in Indiana where he lost by a slim margin, despite the fact that Senator Clinton was heavily favored in the state. His strong showing in Indiana is yet another reason for fellow Democrats to rally behind him and make his nomination official. Senator Clinton, on the other hand, vows to push ahead, regardless of the odds against her. Even Senator Clinton's own aids admit her chances of winning are slim, especially considering her campaign is essentially broke and continued fund raising is not expected to bring anything substantial. Even Clinton's own campaign advisers refused to comment on whether or not Mrs. Clinton donated personal money to keep her chances alive. This is clearly a telling sign that the never say die senator must face reality and throw in the towel. Her chances have now realistically dropped from slim to none, to officially none, yet despite the betterment of the Democratic party, Mrs. Clinton is determined to push on. Hopefully, someone with influence will be able to persuade her otherwise, but for now it seems as though the primary will drag on until at least June, to the delight of Republicans and McCain supporters everywhere.

Obama Hopes to Steal Indiana and Seal the Deal

Senator Obama has won North Carolina, reports the New York Times. The victory is good news for the Obama camp, even though he was expected to win the state. The real battle however, is the Indiana primary which is also happening tonight. Clinton is reported to have a small lead at this point, with only a small percentage of precincts reporting. If Mr. Obama can manage to pull out the upset victory he would send a strong message to the super-delegates. Many political analysts believe if Obama can sweep North Carolina and Indiana, it will be enough to end what has turned into an exhausting primary that many expect will last until June. Hopefully, Mr. Obama will be able to turn things around in Indiana and bring some measure of closure to the Democratic party. Every day that Senators Obama and Clinton continue to compete, the Republicans and their nominee Senator McCain seem to be one step closer to the White House doors. I have my fingers crossed that with a little luck it can all end tonight, allowing Senator Obama to move put his full attention on the general election, which grows ever closer.

The New York Times: Helping Set the Gold Standard for Feedback Journalism

The New York Times is renowned throughout the country and even the world as one of the most well respected journalistic institutions as well as one of the largest news outlets both in print and online. Despite heavy criticism, much of it politically aimed against the rather liberal Times, many consider the New York Times to be the gold standard of quality journalism. Published daily, with online news articles updating 24 hours a day, the Times is an extremely efficient, informative tool that can be accessed for free by anyone with internet access and an e-mail account in order to register. The Times covers basically every topic, from local New York news to what is going on in the arts and entertainment industries, to international stories varying in all ranges from small to large breaking news that makes headlines. The front page always consists of current issues that revolve often around politics, especially for the last several months where there has been extensive election coverage from background stories about the candidates to current results detailing where things currently stand and predictions for the future.
Online journalism has quickly changed the way which readers can get their news and just as important how they choose to respond. The days of devoted readers writing letters to the editor still exist, but they are no longer the only way to communicate your views and thoughts about a news item. The Times allows for readers to post instant comments relating to certain stories and keep the dialogue going back and forth as other interested participants can join the conversation and add their two cents or if they prefer just view the list of comments and keep whatever they are thinking and feeling to themselves. Often times forums involving controversial issues can lead to negative attacks from frustrated bloggers who tend to forget the issue at hand and instead focus on the person who posted a comment. Conversations that head away from the issue at hand and more towards personal insults are never productive, even if they can occasionally be nice for a good laugh. Mostly they tend to frustrate other readers who could care less about someone’s personal beef with a person who they will never meet or know in real life. However, due to many factors largely contingent on the type of person who reads the Times, I have rarely read comments on a story that have disintegrated to the point of personal attacks. Of course, that is not to say everyone shares the same opinion, but instead of personal attacks bloggers on the Times will use concise, logical arguments to make their point. The worst comment I have read was in response to an editorial about the McCain story several weeks ago about his possible past associations with a female lobbyist. Two people got into it about whether or not the story was slandering McCain’s reputation. A few comments later and the pair began generalizing all democrats and republicans, with one making the comment that still stands out to me at the time; all republicans are selfish and only care about themselves and those in the same tax bracket. I remember thinking at the time what does that have to do with the story alleging McCain’s ties with a female lobbyist? But still the comments were a generalization about all republicans and not really a personal attack, even though the person they were aimed at was an obvious member of the Republican Party.
There are many possible reasons for the educated, factual and mostly always civil comments posted on the Times website. For one, the Times does not allow comments on many juicy, controversial stories. There is definitely a selection process into deciding what stories you can or cannot give instant feedback. How the system works I am unsure but without a button labeled comments before a story you cannot post a comment. There is, however, a section in top stories, which gives you a list of the top 10 blogged stories. The Times top 10 stories, in every category not just top 10 blogged; all revolve around stories of substance. Recently, most of the top 10 blogged stories have been about politics and more specifically the race between Obama and Clinton. This shows a strong political following from readers who care about the direction this country is heading and what we as Americans stand for. This is in strong contrast to a paper such as the New York Post, where many of the top 10 blogged stories are always involving some sort of sexual escapade or some scandal involving a celebrity. Using a paper such as the Post to judge what Americans find important will yield a totally different result than using the Times. It really goes a long way in showing the different type of reader that is attracted to that type of paper compared with the substance of Times articles.
This is largely why I attribute the trend of New York Times bloggers to the type of person who reads the Times and not necessarily the fact that there are only selected articles you can post comments on. The Times remains one of the most substantive news outlets still available today, which I believe is the reason comments come from educated citizens who still care about the actual news not some story that belongs on the check out line at the supermarket. In an age when even supposed reliable news networks such as CNN fall into the ratings happy trend of covering tabloid issues, such as what is going on with Britney Spears or Paris Hilton the Times stays true to the essence of being a “newspaper” and actually covering real news. Every day the front page is covered with headlines involving top political, economical and international issues, not gossipy celebrity rumors about who slept with whom or who has developed a major drug habit. It is for this reason that people who are fed up with major news networks covering stories that used to belong solely on Entertainment Tonight turn to the New York Times for their news. This accounts for the average reader being someone who cares about actual new stories and thus when they read a story of interest they post intellectual comments that tend to stay on topic and not stray towards negative or personal attacks. That is not to say that all comments are serious and humorless. Sarcasm is a major tool that many bloggers use to convey their point and perhaps also show how ridiculous they feel about a story. Personal attacks are rare, as the average reader tends not to stoop to the level of ridiculing another blogger, so in lieu of negativity many people use sarcasm as a way to show how absurd they feel an issue is. I also feel sarcasm and humor towards important issues is a way many younger readers tend to show their dissatisfaction following a pattern of political humor from programs such as the Daily Show or Colbert Report, which are mega-hits, especially with younger audiences such as college students. The Times has built a large, loyal following among the older generations who have used the Times as their source of news for their entire life. A perfect example of this would be my grandfather who used to read the Times every day, without fail, from cover to cover. However, similar to how many younger people have become involved in politics, I believe many have also begun to care about actual news and thus have gravitated towards the Times. Many of my friends from Umass, as well as my high school friends from Universities all over the country, set the Times as their homepage on the laptop and subscribe for free (free things are very popular with college students). This way they are able to get real news every time they use their computer. In fact, I begun using the Times as my homepage a few years ago, following the advice of one of my high school friends who advocated it as the best way to stay informed on the current, up to date issues that really matter. This was way before I had ever blogged myself or thought about using a blog as a way to share my opinion about a news item.
Reader feedback is changing the way journalism is used by dictating how news organizations portray their stories to readers. In fact, GoogleNews announced a new format for bloggers to comment on fresh stories, a clever ploy to increase popularity and compete with news giants like the Times. The story published by the Times on December 24 of last year by Noam Cohen expresses how the new format works. “The idea is simple: if you have been quoted in an article that appears on Google News, which presents links and summaries from 4,500 news sources, including the familiar big players, you can post a comment that will be paired with that article.” This vastly increases the levels of instant feedback journalists will receive and is a telling sign for the future. The days of letters to the editor are fast fading, as are the days of using a pen and paper to convey your feelings and frustrations. Accountability has always been a corner stone in the fundamentals of journalists everywhere, and now using the Internet as a medium to communicate, readers from all over the world can contribute their thoughts and beliefs instantly, making sure that concerned people everywhere can have their voices and ideas heard. The Times is the gold standard for intellectual, substantive journalism. As such, they are also setting the trend for productive, intellectual feedback helping the field of journalism improve and blossom to it fullest potential.

Controversial Indiana Supreme Court Ruling Questions Voter Identification Standards

The Indiana Supreme Court upheld an Indiana state law that requires all voters must provide valid photo I.D. in order to vote in the upcoming Indiana Democratic Primaries. The issue brings many questions into play about the standards of preventing voter fraud, as well as how prevalent voter fraud really is. Many democrats, such an New York Senator Chuck Schumer, believe the law is unfair, especially to poor, minority voters who often do not have a driver's license or another form of proper photo identification. Many of these affected voters are democrats. The reverse side of the argument believes it is imperative to have tough standards to ensure fair elections, without the risk of voters being allowed to cast multiple ballots. Personally, I believe it is important to make sure no one can vote twice or any way attempt to defraud the system of democracy that our country is built upon. However, this should not be done at the cost of alienating poor voters who have never had a driver's license, yet still care to vote for the candidate of their choice, without the hassle of being turned down at the voting polls. This is an issue that is bigger than just the state of Indiana. The issue of removing the risk of voter fraud, while at the same time not discouraging potential low income voters should be a national issue that can be agreed upon by everyone. Future elections should allow every eligible citizen to vote, without imposing undue burdens on them to prove their identity. National Voter I.D. cards provided free to everyone is a solution, however it is not quite that simple, especially considering the potential costs of a system of that nature and the large amount debt our government is currently in. What is clear, however, is that something must be done. At the very least it means bringing this issue into the national spotlight. No one wants a repeat of the horrendous debacles in Florida and Ohio that helped cement the national disaster that is George W. Bush's presidency.

Disaster strikes the Democratic party in the form of delusional politician Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton's victory in the Pennsylvania primary is the worst possible outcome for the Democratic party. She is still no closer to catching Senator Obama's lead in the delegate count, the super-delegate count or the popular vote. Instead, she is keeping her party wrapped up in an intense, increasingly more and more self-defeating primary race that only serves to give Republicans and their nominee Senator McCain more ammunition to use in the general election. It is inevitable Mr.Obama will pull out the nomination, the question just becomes when? When will Hillary finally come back to earth and realize she has no realistic chance, short of an act of god, to win? When will she give in and admit defeat? It is already almost May, and democrats need to rally around one candidate and start preparing for the general election, which is only several short months away. The best case scenario will be a sweep for Obama in the next two primaries coming up in two weeks, which should serve as cold hard slap of reality to Senator Clinton. Being realistic however, is clearly not part of Clinton's political strategy or she would have thrown in the towel long ago when it became evident to everyone following the primary that her defeat was not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

Forums provide multiple levels of communication

After spending a solid week blogging on a Masslive Forum, I was surprised at the different levels of communication that can spring forth from the large assortment of bloggers. Forums can act as another form of Instant Messaging, if the party you are blogging with is online and reading and responding to your messages as they are posted. Also, it could be compared to another form of e-mail, in the sense that you can check it whenever convenient, respond back at your leisure, and then log off until the next time you feel like chatting or checking the comments of others. Overall, forums are an excellent way to learn the viewpoints of other bloggers on a wide variety of issues, from sports to politics, or in the case of my forum, relationships.

Stoking the Blog Flames Not a Success

My strategy for writing a blog that would solicit the most comments from outside users was to pick a topic that was current and also of great public interest. Considering that this is election time I decided to focus on the intense primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Since I am an Obama fan I decided to write something that would support my candidate. However, I thought it over and realized that a negative attack towards a political candidate is more likely to generate controversy than giving praise towards one, so I decided to try and use some arguments from Obama supporters and write a blog about Clinton's refusal to admit defeat and how it was tearing the democratic party apart in a time when they need to start coming together to try and prepare for the general election this fall. I generally do believe Clinton is in fact tearing the party apart and her tactics to try and win have been shameless, such as telling the public she thinks McCain is a stronger candidate than Obama, which breaks the unwritten rule that you are not supposed say or do anything in a primary that will damage your party's chances in the main election. The overall message in my blog was something I actually believed in. However, to make my comments just a little more controversial I added a few sentences I don't necessarily believe in an attempt to generate more of a response to my blog post. For example I don't necessarily agree with my statement that she is only trying to win to make up for the humiliation she received during her days as first lady. After reading over my blog I was pretty satisfied that it would be of interest to anyone who followed politics, especially those who were Clinton supporters and would want to defend her via a comment on my blog. The biggest surprise to me in this assignment was the level of difficulty in trying to get my blog noticed. After being told MassLive forums were a good medium to showcase my posts, I signed up for an account enabling me to post comments and I added a link to my blog. I wasn't necessarily expecting to become the next blogging sensation overnight, but I at least thought one or two curious bloggers might give me a chance and check out my link. Perhaps, the extra step of clicking on a link turned potential bloggers away, but whatever the reason I received no comments. This leads me to believe that however important it is to write something controversial, even more essential is the ability to market and advertise your blog. In the ever-populated world of internet bloggers you must find a way to separate yourself from the masses and achieve your own identity as an internet personality.