How Media Covered the 2008 Election

In general, the 2008 election favored Barack Obama instead of John McCain, leading towards a potential bias. Media gave McCain a more negative view and less popular coverage.

A negative opinion of Obama had risen when they began to question his birth place. The Media suspected he was not born in the U.S. therefore not eligible for presidency. Obama had produced his birth certificate to disprove these claims, after many attempts by Fox and conspiracy theorists of his citizenship to demean his presidency.

A prominent reason why McCain had a very negative public view, was because he constantly paraded his views on the Iraq War. He formed a propaganda campaign strictly on Saddam Hussein's possession of WMD's.

"I have not seen the book or the comments. But i know why i supported [the war] because I believed Saddam Hussein ad weapons of mass destruction as did every intelligence agency in the world and every assessment," McCain claims.

McCain had initial positive remarks from the press until his reaction to the financial market crisis. McCain tried to change public opinion so he had attacked Obama's character in order to increase his own popularity, but this only ended up hurting McCain more.

 Obama's coverage had the opposite effect. He began with a very negative response, but the tone switched after McCain's several screw ups.

McCain encountered many attacks towards his character. There were recorded phone messages that had spread rumors over McCain's wife Cindy, that she was a junkie; she had also been addicted to prescription painkillers once, which had helped support their claim despite their being lack of evidence.

A small group of Vietnam veterans had suggested that McCain became a traitor while he was in Vietnam. McCain responded to these by pulling down his negative advertisements from TV.

Another factor that contributed to Obama's win was his techno-demographic appeal. This caused the youth to show more appeal towards him. The media's coverage greatly contributed to his win, with a 70% vote among Americans under the age of 25.



A study published by ABC News shows that the news/media focused primarily on campaign strategy, polls and fundraising than on the individual policy positions of these two candidates.

Nearly 63% of all stories from the media focused on the political aspects, rather than the 15% concentrated on the candidates and their policies.

"More than three-quarters of the American public said in recent surveys that they want more coverage of the candidates' positions on the issues... and that's exactly what they're not getting from the coverage in the press," said Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

With so many candidates at the start of presidential elections, the news did not have the resources to cover every candidate.

"In these nominating contests with large fields, journalists are in a tough position of figuring out who the front-runners are," said Harvard professor Thomas Patterson, author of "The Vanishing Voter" and "Out of Order."

Journalists had a difficult job to cover such a large event, but the media covered it with triumph.

Interview about Obama's Stand on Crisis'

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-on-economic-crisis-transition/

Work Cited 
http://www.journalism.org/2008/10/22/winning-media-campaign/

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2008/05/29/23990/mccain-mcclellan/

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42779923/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-releases-detailed-us-birth-certificate/#.VWXDAmRVhHw
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/17/the-fall-7
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/19/barack-obama-and-the-facebook-election
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3789721

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Age Of Ultron

    When I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron I came with high expectations, hoping it would have lived up to the hype. The movie starts off with the Avengers starting a raid on a Hydra base, searching for Loki's weapon. 

     Hydra introducing what is referred to as "The Twins" to try and stop the Avengers, which is really Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin fighting the Avengers, while Tony Stark searches for the weapon.
   Bruce doesn't seem to mind being the hulk so much, until once he turns back. Black Widow and Bruce begin a love story, because why not? It's a movie, it's got to have romance somewhere.

    When Tony finds the weapon, Scarlet Witch somehow sneaks up on him, and sees into his mind, playing on his worst fears. After seeing into his mind, she allows him to take the staff, knowing it would lead to his destruction.

    Tony then takes the staff back to the Avengers HQ, to do some sort of research on it with Bruce before Thor takes it back to his home, Asgard.

    Now this is where it gets good. Tony and Bruce begin experimenting on the weapon, finding that inside is some sort of computer, or A.I.

   Tony, always wanting to "push the limits of science and save the world" begins trying to create the A.I into a functional system that can create world peace, calling it the "Ultron Project." Bruce Banner reluctantly follows Tony's lead, because hey, this is Tony Stark we're talking about.

   Once Ultron is created, it somehow takes over the system after being active for literally 5 minutes and just decides to destroy the world. It begins to develop robots immediately, and tells the Avengers through one of them that they will be destroyed for the cause of peace. (Cause why else would he want to do it?)
   Ultron finds Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and team up because they have a common enemy: The Avengers. So the classic 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' scenario plays out and they go to work.

   Ultron builds more robots, and begins looking for Adamantium (The indestructible metal), the avengers somehow lose that battle due to Scarlet Witch playing on almost all of the teams fears and minds again, and they go into hiding after a devastating loss.
   Hawkeye takes them to a safe place, they find out Hawkeye has a family, and Bruce and Black Widow's love story plays out more but this time they search for sympathy in the audience, seeing as how they have similar stories since they both have lost and hurt many.

   Thor goes off to do his own thing for a while after having his fears exposed by Scarlet Witch, and doesn't show up for a while. They never really explain this part for some reason, he just goes in a pool and lightning occurs, and BAM he's better again.
   Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver find out that Ultron plans to destroy the world, and begin to help the Avengers. Vision becomes created as Ultron wants to become a cyborg in a way, and the Avengers steal the body, and Tony implant a form of J.A.R.V.I.S into it (The team reluctantly allows this, even after he did this the first time and that's how this mess started).
   Once the whole team is united, they go to stop Ultron in the big battle you've all been hoping for.
Overall I give this movie a 8/10, since some of this is practically forced on you, and they even miss or don't explain a lot of this movie.

Four Reviews, Four Topics

TV Review

http://time.com/3457510/bobs-burgers-die-hard-laugh-harder/
Bob's Burgers is mentioned in this due to the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover, where they have a scene where Bob is in an airplane with Homer and Peter, where Peter Griffin states "We gotta carry him because he can't fly on his own." The critic disagrees, and I have to agree with the idea that Bob's Burgers is able to coast on its own, not needing support form other animated series; even after being under the radar most of their air time. Bob's Burgers is considered to be the critics favorite show, almost a reward that he saves, and I can't disagree with that. How it gives "inspired weirdness and expressive voice casting," and how the characters are fully realized giving some great comedy since it was aired. And I believe that that's the truth. They talk about the season premiere "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl" which he says will not disappoint. He states how you can just jump into the episode no problem, with ease. They speak about how this could become the best show on Fox, if not already. I believe that in time it will, but not yet. Give it a season or so, then it'll be for sure.

Restaurant Review

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/datebook-diner/2014/10/15/fongs-pizza-datebook-diner-review/17306941/

Fong's Pizza is stated to open a second location in spring. the critics tells the history of how the place was opened by 10 entrepreneurs, how they kept the chinese decor that was left over. he talks about how the place feels, how it's "retro and eclectic" because of the design of the place because of their posters and tiki mugs. He speaks about how the menu gives a brand of culinary fusion, which I have to agree that it does after seeing the menu. He also talks about the different drinks, how they range in price from $6 to $9 with different varying names. He likes to talk about their specialties that they offer ranging from a crab rangoon pizza, to something called a bacon popper pizza. He tries to stay humble, stating "I'm not saying Fong's has the best pizzas in town - I found the crusts so-so and on some pizzas, the toppings competed rather than harmonized. But you know? Who cares?" He brings it back though calling it a "funky adventure in the heart of Des Moines" and how it's great for just hanging with friends and relaxing. I have to say that I agree with everything he says, word for word.

Album Review

They start it off with the history of Flood, and how it had changed college rock. They talk about those who had created the album. And how they've known each other for so long, and past records as well. He states that "Flood saw the duo let loose like a riptide." He begins talking how the song  "Theme from Flood" "plays like the soundtrack to a Technicolor movie" which I can't disagree with. The song gets followed by "Birdhouse in your Soul" which is has a pogo-worthy bass line, which is pretty true. He speaks about the rest of the songs that have retro-pop homages that "split the difference between the duo's contemporary heroes and the 1950s aesthetic that imprinted on them as they absorbed TV reruns in their youth." This is pretty true, although the 1950s aesthetic could be argued. He also speaks about nine musicians that were featured on 12 of the 19 songs in total. They also speak about different songs specifically, and how the artists feel about them on their own. i have to say that i agree with most of the opinions that were given here, there isn't much to disagree with here. Nothing is really controversial.

Technology Comparisons

Movie Reviews: 2 movies, 2 reviews each.

Road to Perdition

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2002/2002-07-12-perdition-review.htm

This positive review states very truthful things, both good and bad. One thing I agree with that had to be bad, would be that the story does fall short in some parts, but it makes up for it. I have to agree with the idea that it is greatly filmed, with a great finale as well. I have to disagree with the idea though that every scene is studied and calculated to create a sense of "art." I believe that it isn't calculated, as is a byproduct of the film. Overall, this review is quite fair, and also accurate too.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/11/ca.s02.review.perdition/index.html

I agree with the idea that it wants to be a family saga, compared to the "Godfather." But the idea that the actual story itself can't bear the weight that that the themes provide, is something I have to disagree with wholeheartedly. I feel like the story could've, if it was done in a different fashion. The idea that you get a vapid sense of emptiness from this movie where it's soul should be though, that the critic states in the review, I believe is slightly true, yet also false. There is some truth in it, but I feel it can be overlooked due to the fact it is only minor.

The Lazarus Effect

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lazarus-effect/Film?oid=16355205
I agree with the thought that it's thematically thin, that's clear. What I have to disagree with is that it's good for a few scares, The movie was predictable leaving little to the imagination for when a jump-scare would come. I have to disagree with the idea that the filmmakers "mine horror for a sense of confinement" well, the facility seemed quite large in the movie. His saying that the movie had been hampered by an insufferably smug lead performance seems fair, but can be argued by some if they wanted too. That part is up for debate.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/lazarus-effect-is-a-dopey-thriller.html
The critic states that this movie wastes a very likable cast, which is pretty safe to say. The film making a half-hearted attempt to seem smart makes sense, they never really mention most of their talk again after that point; they just do the experiments without explaining further after that. I also agree that when they had brought back the main characters wife they just dropped the topic of soul-searching and anything scientific and pick up on "refreshing stupidity" about the serum affecting her brain. He compares the movie to the film "Lucy" where a woman takes a drug and unleashes her brain capacity, and how in that one they actually build up anticipation compared to this film. And how in this film they just go into it so quickly it doesn't give the audience time to react to anything going on. One of his final statements accurately sums up the belief I hold for this movie: "The Lazarus Effect is simultaneously too much and not enough."