Saturday Night Live

I got to watch last weeks Saturday night live with John McCain on a guest. They had Tina Fey do her dead on impression of Sarah Palin with him. They did a skit with the two of them on a shopping network because John McCain said he couldn't afford to put an infomercial on three major networks like Barack Obama did! So McCain and "Palin" were on the shopping network selling various things with funny political double meanings. I thought it was really funny and really fair honestly. They let McCain poke fun at himself, and "Palin" advertised shirts that said "Palin 2012" on them. I thought it was great way for John McCain to react to Obama's big TV night. It made McCain look good is what I'm getting at, which suprised me that SNL would do that. It was great!

Obama Infomercial

Last week Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama played a 30 minute infomercial on most major networks. The message was once last shot at convincing voters that he is the guy for the job. I noticed that the infomercial was strategically designed to reach and relate to all Americans. Every type of American was represented in the video, and I don't think that was on accident. He wanted to cater to as many people as possible. There were four family units that were focused on:
1. A young white couple with several children
-struggling to pay bills
-stuggling to keep grocieries and food on the table
2. An older black couple
- she has arthritis and the medications are costing them alot of money
-he works at Wal-Mart, even though he had already retired he had to go back to work to pay medical bills
3. A middle aged Hispanic woman
-widowed with two children
-trying to pay for them to get a good education
-showed her with her big extended family all sitting around the dinner table
-she works two jobs, a teacher and a caregiver
4.A white middle aged couple
-their family has worked for Ford for generations
-his work got cut back and they are having trouble with bills
-has children to support

Almost everyone can relate to some aspect of these four stories that were covered. I thought it was a strategic way for the Obama campaign to relate to as many Americans as possible.

My husband gets Esquire magazine every month and in celebration of their 75th anniversary, they have been remaking old covers. This month they remade the cover of the December 2000 issue with President Bill Clinton. Halle Berrry, Esquire's 2008 "Sexiest Woman Alive", remade the President Clinton cover. The photographer of the Halle Berry cover, Cliff Watts, said this about the image, "She's a powerful woman; he's a powerful man...There's a sensitivity and a sexuality there, but also the strength."
I understand Watts' comment on the photo of Berry, but when I first saw this cover in my mailbox I was shocked that she would pose for a photo like this. She is sitting in such a suggestive manner, with only the top half of a "power suit" and her bra showing through that. When I opened the cover by the prompting of a message reading, "Does this cover remind you of anything? Open Here!", I of course saw the original Bill Clinton cover. Then it made a little more sense, but she presents herself as an object here. The "Making of the Cover" page inside says that Halle Berry had a baby recently, making her even more worthy of her title as "2008's Sexiest Woman Alive."
I guess I'm just surprised that a new mother and a wildly successful actress would allow herself to be presented in such a way when Bill Clinton has all kinds of sexual connotations attached to him. Somehow this is dirty, I feel wrong looking at it.

I had to get my oil changed this week and I was sitting in the waiting room and I decided to pick up the people magazine they had. It was the one we discussed in class with John McCain's family on the cover.
The article that caught my attention though was one about Brittney Spears. I was an interview with her mom about her daughter's lives and everything that their family has gone through. The mother seemed to be shocked that her daughter's lives are so out of control. She said that Brittney has gone through many "hard times" and that is why she acts so ridiculously. She didn't seem to take responsibility for her daughters, rather made excuses for their behavior.
The two have grown up being exposed to and part of the media. They had several pictures from Brittney's life starting with one in "The Mickey Mouse Club" where she was a little girl. It's no wonder celebrities and pop stars always seem to crash and burn- this girl never had a normal life to begin with.

Week 6

I've been thinking a lot about the Mini Study I did last week. I looked at several issues of Fortune magazine and compared the main articles featured on the front cover.
What I want to comment on is the latest of the magazines I analyzed, which featured Henry Paulson on the cover. The issue was dated September 29 (because of course magazines date their publications in advance...which I've never understood why, I need to look into that- I'm not a journalism major by the way- I'm new at all of this!) but at the time the financial crisis was at the top of every news hour and on the cover of every magazine. There was a photograph of Mr. Paulson on the first page of the article that shocked me. He was peering around the door of an enormous vault with a eerie look on his face, maybe even a slight grin. He posed for this photo.
The point I am trying to make is that in the midst of a national economic crisis this guy found time to pose for a photo shoot with Fortune magazine? Didn't he have just a few more important things to do than pose for a photo shoot with Fortune? It frustrated me that our Secretary of the Treasury, who has a huge responsibility to this nation thought that would be good use of his time. Maybe I am way off here, but it rubbed me wrong. Get to work Paulson!

Journalism Week 5

In class last week, during the break, some people were commenting on Sarah Palin. Commenting is a subtle way to put it, these people were bashing her. Then one girl spoke up and said that she thinks Sarah Palin is being treated unfairly. I have to agree with her. The media is incredibly biased when it comes to the election. I have heard some of the most shocking things said about her since McCain announced her as his running mate.
The media has been mocking her because she is from a small town, and that she doesn't have the experience to be Vice President, and quite possibly President. The media has been mocking her about her family life and the decisions she makes. I actually saw a magazine claiming that Trigg, her five month-old son, wasn't even her child. They were demading to see her records from her doctors to prove that it is her son.
They make fun of her husband for being Mr. Mom, and they actually have the gall to ask if she is capable of raising a family and being Vice President. Since when do liberals believe that women can't work and successfully raise a family?
The double standard is shocking. I'm not saying that Sarah Palin shouldn't be asked difficult questions, but the media should at least be consistent and ask just as difficult of questions to Obama and Biden.

Journalism Week 4

Since I was so fascinated with what I found in the last magazine exercise, I decided to do it again with Cosmopolitan. I used to be subscribed to it (yes I am ashamed...) so I have a bunch that I compared to each other to see the similarities and differences. Surprise, surprise- the differences from issue to issue are very small. I'm not talking about the structure of the magazine of course, that probably should stay the same from issue to issue so readers know where to find the information they're looking for. I'm referring to the content. It is EXACTLY the same in every issue. The only thing that changes is what is "trendy" for that particular twenty minutes the magazine is relevant in the fashion world.
The cover never ever changes- which like I said can be a good thing, so people know it when they see a Cosmopolitan magazine. The woman on the cover is always photographed head on, with her hair down and flowing, and wearing a snug outfit. You can always see almost her entire body, usually from the thighs up. She is airbrushed to perfection, especially her face. Then there are teasers or blurbs all around her. One of them all ways had the word "SEX" in large bold letters. One of them is always about tip for "in bed." Another is about the particular lady on the cover. Another is about "new!" hair and make-up tips. Another is about men, well to quote all the covers of this magazine, "guys." And so on and so on. It is the same every single month, and I have the stack of magazines to prove it. But it sells!
The cover is of course a reflection of the so called "content" inside. You flip through and it is full of ads for products to make you look more like a "cosmo" girl. The pages of advertisements far out weigh the number of articles. They are on almost every page- perfume, shoes, make-up, jewelry, clothing- designer and discount, alcohol, diet food products, hair coloring kits, the list goes on and on. The articles are very short and sweet- much like the clothing it features. There is a page dedicated to "Sexy vs. Skanky" things in pop culture for the month.
I could go on, but I think I've made my point- Cosmo is the SAME every month! In my opinion it is shallow and hollow, it is only about your looks (maybe a couple of times a year it will have some sort of article about "feeling good in your skin" but for the most part...). It is fabulous for getting hair and make up ideas- but be warned- they will be the same ones as last month.
The writers over at Cosmopolitan just re-word the previous month's issue!