Week 9 Entry: Politics and Media

SPRING 2011 COM 125: Introduction to the Internet

Blog Entry 8: Making or Breaking Politics

Over the weekend, I got the chance to watch "The Adjustment Bureau", starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Matt Damon plays young politician David Norris. Norris was in the running for the US Senate, when an old high school video of his crawled out of the woodwork to foil his political campaign, ultimately disgracing himself. The press did a good job covering this event and bringing up past disgraces, like a fight in a bar. The media painted him as a 'childish' person, who was not capable of running in politics. Within days, Norris, who was initially ahead in votes, ended up losing the election.

The movie's good by the way (:

While modern politicians can use the media to their advantage, there are also some obvious disadvantages. In the US, politicians like Barrack Obama had a very comprehensive presidential campaign, using celebrities and all types of media to promote his candidacy. This is something we are not likely to see in Singapore soon. There has been some progress, like the introduction of the new People's Action Party (PAP) members recently and the use of Facebook for people to follow up on their activities; but the progress is slow.

Unlike Singapore, the US has the freedom of speech and expression, which therefore allows full media coverage over everything - from politics, to the critique of systems, to the politician's personal life.