This article encompasses many topics that we have discussed in class. Firstly, the poll used random digit dialing in order to get its information. At the end of the article, it stated that information was collected by calling 1001 adults, which is the most accurate form of surveying. Secondly, this describes some of the difficulty that president’s face when choosing new justices to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are the most frequently denied appointees within the political system because a split Congress can prevent a president’s nominee from attaining office if they do not want that person’s ideology ruling the court. Moreover, finding the best qualified justice is a long process that consumes much time and resources in carefully screening the nominee to make sure that he or she is best for the job.

So how will the Chet Culver and the Democrats respond? Chet Culver has already stated in an interview that his opposition is “not up to the job.” Culver also intends to remind voters of Brandstadt’s voting record, drawing comparison to his own. He also hopes to quiet the tea-party movement by showing his record that has supported anti-government and anti-tax policies. Despite attempts at improving his standing, Culver’s approval rating is it 36 percent, the lowest of any governor in 40 years.

This article demonstrates a lot of concepts of American Government. First is the aspect of campaigning. Chet Culver realizes the necessity of the constant re-election effort shown by his close attention to the polls and openly addressing the public to show why he is better than his opposition. Also, this article shows the importance of polls, citing them multiple times in respect to the Democratic incumbents declining approval ratings. Obama’s approval rating has also fallen in Independents to as low as 38 percent, a figure that will play a major role in his re-election. Despite his low approval ratings, “evidence suggests that confidence in Obama could return if the economy continues to improve and if he engineers a few legislative successes,” again showing the close ties between polling and campaign strategies. Lastly, this article is a great example of horse-race journalism. The article neglects to go into much detail about why the candidates are unpopular, merely stating that Leonard Boswell is “threatened” and Obama’s “popularity has dropped.” It mentions very little about actual policies, and it rather gives information about who is winning in the election process — not the more important  why are they winning.

We have already read many articles, and we have also thoroughly discussed the death of newspapers in class, so I had some insight coming into the discussion. However, all of the articles we have read discussed how large, corporate newspapers are struggling to survive financially due to the changing media, and none discussed how local newspapers such  as Grinnell’s Herald Register would cope with the changing media. Initially, I was skeptical of the fact that local newspapers’ circulation has been increasing while larger, daily papers’ circulation was declining. But after the panel explained their points, it began to make a lot of sense. Essentially, local newspapers monopolize community information with almost 90% penetration in the local market. Therefore, they create an intimate connection with their subscribers, and also, provide readers with exclusive community information such as who made the honor roll and who was crowned queen of the county fair. Additionally, local newspapers act as “watch dogs.” They are able to report on specific policies being passed within their community and give editorials on what that means to the community. For example, our Grinnell Herald Register is able to give in-depth coverage of the school budget cuts, an issue that the Des Moines Register probably hasn’t even heard of. The panel also noted that people have a better connection to local papers because they are able to voice their opinions in editorials with more ease and less censorship than larger newspapers. All of these points I had never considered before and had just taken for granted, but they are very obvious advantages that local newspapers have over larger ones.

 Despite all of these valid points made by the panel members, there was one question, submitted by a college student in the audience, that caught my interest. Her question was: What is the difference between community newspapers and corporate newspapers  and how they are handling the shift from print media to digital, online media? All of the panel members agreed that large newspapers that post all of their content for free online is completely ridiculous, and I wholeheartedly agree. They not only lose subscribers, but they also waste money and resources along the way. The panel members used this example. If a family sets aside a certain amount of money per year for newspapers, and they find that they can only afford one paper, the choice is obvious — the local newspaper. The local newspaper will provide them with information that they cannot find anywhere else whereas the larger newspapers post their content for free online. So why waste money on information you can get freely? This allows smaller, community-based newspapers to raise their prices, which will cause consumers to stop subscribing to the larger papers. If the New York Times presented their business plan in front of the Economics classes at the high school earlier this week, they would receive no support from the prospective investors for their plan. It is simply absurd to post your business entirely free where it is easily acceptable. No other businesses endorse this policy, so why do corporate newspapers? Our previous assignment should not have read, “Should we be concerned about the death of newspapers?” rather it should have been “Should we be concerned about the suicide of newspapers?”

In order to strengthen support for Obama’s agenda, press secretary Robert Gibbs has identified four changes in the administration since the loss of the democratic supermajority in the Senate. First, they will return to the campaign message of focusing on strengthening the economy. Second, they have ensured that they will release faster responses to Republican attacks on Obama’s policies. Third, they will return to the picture of the president surrounded in crowds of people rather than in a more diplomatic scene. And finally, Obama will advocate another of his famous campaign slogans — change.

This important both to the Obama Administration, and the American people. With more aggressive and noticeable changes in communication, the White House will be able to more clearly convey its message to the American people to hopefully sway enough votes to regain its supermajority in the Senate. By staging many media events, like President Obama speaking outside of Washington on a weekly base, the administration will be able to reinforce their message that got them elected initially. Here is a prime example of how the White House uses the media to both explicitly and implicitly state their message. The administration is telling the American public that they are putting a bigger focus on the working class, and they also show images of Obama working with the people. This is a deal that will make everyone happy.

This is prime example of policy entrepreneurs at work. Supporters of abstinence-only education are using this study in campaigning for Obama to reconsider funding of abstinence-only programs. Should the Obama administration reconsider their policy based of this new study? Although this study has shown that abstinence form of teaching sex education, Obama should not change his policy based on one study, and the publishers of the study have the same opinion. They released an editorial along with the study, urgin policy makers to not base their policy off only one study. Many factors should be considered when crafting policies and many different policy entrepreneurs attempt to make their views equally shared.

Journalism has evolved from a job tailored to only a small group of educated individuals, to a hobby that anyone with an Internet connection can do. No college degree is required. As Steven Johnson said:

In the old days, it might have taken months for details from a John Sculley keynote to make to the College Hill Bookstore; now the lag is seconds, with dozens of people liveblogging every passing phrase from a Jobs speech.

Today’s society has come to value speed and convenience. Using Netflix is easier than renting from the video store. Downloading music is more convenient than buying a CD. Even handheld video games may see their end as iPhone applications are becoming cheaper and easily downloadable. Newspapers also are beginning to fade out but it should be of no concern to us. Now we have instant access to all kinds of information. During the time of newspapers, this information was still available, yes, but it took much longer to reach its audience whereas now it is instantly accessible because of the ease of reporting due to technology. As newspapers are lying on their deathbed, journalism has only begun its young life.