Blog 9: Press Coverage

As I have recently been watching The Newsroom, I've seen how political stories are found, transformed and reported. Applying what has been seen in the show and with our political candidates,  Rand Paul is not great at generating news, and whoever the culprits are the run his Twitter feed are garbage. I've seen countless times people Tweeting at him and either not getting a response, automated reply, or if there were a reply, it pertaining absolutely nothing to the question. And my God do his twitter handlers tweet far too much. Obviously that's only one example, but ever since he stated that he was running for president, his news/media coverage has seemed to go way down hill.

I do not watch much news during the day, but regularly check media outlets throughout the day. From my personal experience, Rand seems to be lost amongst other candidates that have a higher presence, mainly Clinton. And it's not just Twitter. I have seen some candidates get Geotags on snapchat, and have heard of some candidates having snapchat.  It could be the fact of the hype surrounding her, but even if she wasn't running I feel that Rand would still be the underdog. It's almost as if the country sees Rand as an underdog, with the exception of Kentucky. IF and only if Rand has a chance, he is going to need a better way to market himself and his campaign.

I don't know exactly what Rand can do to separate himself from other Republican candidates, but he is definitely going to need to change his plan of attack if he is serious about becoming President of the United States. If it were me, I'd change my presence on social media. Obviously it's one of the most crucial parts of connecting with voters, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do social media, and I think Rand is doing it the wrong way. Informing voters is crucial, but bantering and the lack or excess of an outlet are not a tactic in winning.

Blog 8: Media Bias

Rand Paul has been known as an individual to speak his mind, no matter the context or setting. This particular "incident" happened a few days ago on "Today." Savannah Guthrie was the host interviewing Rand and was asking him several questions in a row. He was not able to give an answer, making him rather angry until he finally stopped Savannah and told her to "why don't we let me explain, instead of talking over me."

The story titles between CNN and Fox News are rather comical. CNN says that Rand "Scolded Savannah," whereas Fox News says that there was "Testiness" on Today between Rand and Savannah. Due to media bias, I would say that CNN was far more harsh in their title on Rand than Fox News was. Was it due to party affiliation and media bias? No telling, but Fox News certainly covered Rand far more than CNN. In fact, CNN covered twice as Hillary Clinton topics than Fox did, and Fox covered more Rand and Rubio than CNN.

The next part, CNN took Rand being short with Savannah as him being sexist seeing as how he's had a "temper," or "problems" with female reporters in the past. CNN started out with that being the main concern, then talking about different political ideologies after. Fox News was the exact opposite. Fox news devoted 3/4 of the article to political differences, and left a remaining paragraph or two to Rand having gender problems.

Depending on which media outlet you saw this story on first could definitely define your outlook on the story, and on Rand to a certain degree. I must say, CNN definitely made the situation and Rand far worse than it really was. CNN shined a negative light on this story. Links to both articles/videos are below.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/08/media/rand-paul-savannah-guthrie/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/09/testiness-at-today-why-rand-paul-lectured-savannah-guthrie/

Coms 307 Blog 7: Media, Pop Culture & Politics

I have viewed Rand Paul as a pretty exciting guy. However, Jon Stewart and J.C. Watts, the Republican that introduced him as a potential candidate clearly think Rand is the most bland person to walk the face of the earth. The only person that seemed rather excited was his wife, whom also introduced him in Louisville the night that he formally announced his candidacy. The main concern of this clip is the duration that it took before the announcement was made; speakers, videos, National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, etc. After watching the replay, watch grass grow would've been more pleasing. Jon Stewart does a great job mocking the entire ordeal.

Rand's announcement was both courageous and valid. I believe if he is elected it could be a fresh face with fresh ideas, considering his libertarian upbringing and his displeasure with the current state of our country. 

I am all for Rand running for President. However I usually am stricken with skepticism and this particular incident embodies proof: Rand attended Duke for both undergraduate and medical school, therefore them winning the 2015 NCAA Men's Championship is his sole reason for running for President. That is the only logical explanation at this time...

Here is the video of Rand Paul's announcement being bashed by Jon Stewart

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/qn3fj6/legends-of-the-stall