Arriving at Fox 61 Studios on election night, I was nervous. I didn’t want to do anything that would affect the live show and being such a historic night and election I felt the pressure was really on. To be able to be at this place, and see how the news cast works is an amazing experience for anyone, especially for me being a young journalism major, albeit print. Walking into the studio the nerves subsided and I soon became somewhat comfortable being around the producers and live personalities that put the show together.

The somewhat serene studio became very hectic when it came time for the ten o’clock news broadcast and my nerves completely disappeared then because it seemed that everything was so hectic, and I was able to sit on the set of the morning show and watch the show live. It was amazing to see everything that goes into putting a news broadcast together, being so close to what was happening you could feel the energy, and the excitement of the historic night. It was interesting to see how the live personalities behaved when not on camera compared to when reading a story with the camera on them. Watching the show live you could see more of the slip-ups that occurred compared to watching it on television and you can see how the anchors just keep going; they don’t get caught up with the problems that occur.

Being able to be in the production room was an amazing experience as well. Seeing everything that goes into a live show from that aspect was quite an experience, I never knew it could be so difficult. Deciding where to put stories in the newscast, how long an interview should be, and when it comes down to it what stories should be cut all takes place in a somewhat small production office on the spot. While watching the producers it occurred to me that this is a job I could never do because I cannot make decisions.

Overall spending a few hours at Fox 61 Studios on election night was an amazing experience that I am lucky to have been a part of. This is an experience I will not soon forget and it has shown me more why I want to be a print journalist. Sitting next to a writer for the newscast, and the producers, I realized that print is more for me. Seeing the on air personalities that people watch every night was amazing and seeing all the hard work that goes into the production is something I am very happy to have been able to see.

Joe the Plumber and His Impact on Other Plumbers

In the third and final Presidential debate a regular civilian got his fifteen minutes of fame thanks to Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain. Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Ohio, became the topic of discussion after John McCain used his as a topic during the debate to prove that he is a better candidate for President than Barack Obama. Within the first question of the debate McCain began attacking Obama’s economic plan, as an example McCain used Joe. Joe Wurzelbacher, as McCain said, planned to buy the plumbing business where he has worked at for the past years. After reviewing the economic plan of Barack Obama, he decided not to buy the business because he would have to pay more taxes.

As Barack Obama explained during the debate his economic plan includes providing a tax-cut for middle-class families that make less than $200,000 a year. According to John McCain this would result in Joe being put into a higher tax bracket and his taxes being raised. It was later revealed that Joe the plumber, is not actually a licensed plumber and he owes back taxes.

How did plumbers react to their profession being put into the spotlight? After speaking to a couple plumbers about how they feel about the tax cuts for those making less than $200,000 a year the results were that they wouldn’t mind the tax increase for those who make more than $200,000 a year because they do not make more than that. After speaking to Frank Taryla, a plumber in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, he explained that for all the work he does he makes only $90,000 a year. He stressed the fact that he works all the time and believes that, “if a plumber is making more that $200,000 he is overcharging people, especially without a license. He is ripping people off, so he deserves to pay more taxes.” He also believes that Joe the plumber opened his mouth and McCain jumped all over it as a way to appear better than Obama. “We also found out in the papers that he doesn’t own a license so he cannot even own a business. He doesn’t know what he is talking about.” Frank Taryla explained.

After speaking to Ken Taryla, a plumber in Fair Lawn, New Jersey about Barack Obama’s economic plan he explained that “it does not affect us, we are an S Corporation. This means that we file an income tax return but we don’t pay federal taxes, we pay state taxes.” His taxes keep rising, and therefore they would vote for Obama who would provide a tax cut to them. The economic plans would not affect him because he doesn’t have enough employees, it is only him. “Buying out another person’s business would cause a problem,” he explained.

George Bush's 23% Rating

As of October 11, President Bush’s job approval rating is the lowest it has ever been of any president in history. At a staggeringly low 23% it seems that most of the country cannot wait for a new president to step into office and clean up the mess George Bush has made. With the promises of a better future from each of the candidates, what would people most like to say about George Bush during the last part of his presidency?

Many students asked are happy to see a new president stepping in to take place, “Yes, I am happy to see a new president stepping in because this country needs a change and starting with a new leader can begin to facilitate this change” said Sarah Reilly, a junior at Quinnipiac University majoring in English education. Agreeing with Sarah, Jennifer Gigliotti, a junior media studies major, says, “I am happy to see a new president step in. I hope with a new president the country starts to recover from the economic crisis.” Only Jake Riccardi, a junior PT major says “I’m sorry there is not a better candidate to take your spot.”

If students had the change to say anything to President Bush, most students seemed to want to say something along the lines of better luck next time, or sorry maybe next time, or just try again. Others like Jennifer Gigliotti would say, “I think some of your foreign policies were okay and that I felt the homeland security was good after 9/11 but as far as domestic issues the administration failed.” Karissa Masotta, a junior psychology major would say, “Everybody makes mistakes. Some of them just don’t cost the country $5 million, half of the military, and leave our economy in crisis.” Marla Waters, a junior advertising major, also said something along the same lines “You’ve ruined our country with your ideas about war and what a country should do to be superior because that is all you really care about, being on top.”

When students were informed that his job approval rating was only 23%, the lowest of any president in history they were not surprised. Jennifer Gigliotti put it best, “the 23% who say he is doing a good job, I feel they are either extremely rich or live under rocks.” Many believe that the shockingly low rating means it is really time for a new president to take office. “It’s to bad that he has such a low approval rating, I guess that means it is time for a new president,” said Sarah.

So George Bush, in the words of many Quinnipiac University students that was a horrible idea. Game over, try again?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2006/02/02/CU2006020201345.html

Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi on the 2008 Election

The times are tough now, just getting tougher
The old world is rough, it’s just getting rougher
Yesterday the people were at ease
Once the family felt secure
Now no one’s very sure
Your world keeps turnin’ ‘round and ‘round
But everything is upside down
There’s a different kind of meaning now
To livin’ on a prayer
Some don’t seem to notice
And the rest don’t seem to care
Its gonna be a long walk home


Woke up Election Day, skies gunpowder and shades of gray
We’d marked truth or consequence on our map
From the White House to the Alleys
From the President to Long Tall Sally
That’s gonna make history
You can read it in the papers
Its gonna be a long walk home


Walking in the footsteps of society’s lies
I don’t like what I see no more, sometimes I wish that I was blind
Sometimes I wait forever to stand out in the rain
So no one sees me cryin’, trying to wash away the pain
And it isn’t black and white
And it’s anything but grey
Anything can, everything can happen
It all falls apart with no warning
Don’t ask the past to last; it’s about to change
Its gonna be a long walk home


There’s a war outside still raging
I’ve been out on the front line
Where you’ll go down if you waste time
They’ll walk all over you
There are wars that can’t be won
Its gonna be a long walk home


But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
When times get crazy
It’s up and down, it’s hot and cold
These complications just keep on coming
Seems like hard times come easy
We do a lot of hangin’ on these days
Its gonna be a long walk home


It’s your last chance in this lifetime
The line forms at the rear
You won’t believe your eyes
Your eyes will not believe your ears
There’s treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Its gonna be a long walk home
And we’ll make our home in the American Land


http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html

Article Comparison

On September 19, 19 people we taken hostage while on a safari in southwestern Egypt. On September 29, these hostages were released or rescued according to which article you read. The online article I read about this event is from The New York Times, the original report comes from The Associated Press. The print version of the story is from The Wall Street Journal. These two reports of events are completely different and the facts change.

The report in The Wall Street Journal seems like it comes as a sidenote to other, more important stories at the time of printing. It is printed on page 13 at the bottom of the page. The report only is only about a paragraph long and is misleading. The report says that Egyptian and Sudanese troops rescued the hostages and that half of the kidnappers were killed during the rescue mission.

The report by The Associated Press is much longer, and much clearer to understand. I feel that Marta Falconi, the writer for the Associated Press did more research and it resulted with a better, clearly written story. In the online version of this report it is explained that the six kidnappers were killed on Sunday morning when they were sent for food and fuel, the other two kidnappers were captured. The other kidnappers then received word of what happened and lined up the hostages and ran, leaving a car and GPS system. This would be instrumental in the rescue of the hostages, they used the car and GPS system to drive through the desert to the Egyptian border.

I would've expected the report in The Wall Street Journal to be more extensive than an online version of the story. I was disappointed in what seems like the very little amount of reporting The Wall Street Journal did. The story by The Associated Press is much clearer and easier to understand.

Social Networking Sites and The Election

It has been said many times that the outcome of the Presidential Election can be determined by one group, the youth voters. Those aged 18 to 24 can put a President they’ve elected into office for the next four years. Aside from being encouraged to vote, how else are these youths getting involved in the election? They are using every college student’s favorite social networking website, Facebook.

On Facebook you can be a supporter of the candidate you are voting for. Becoming a supporter of a candidate is like adding them as a Facebook friend; each candidate has their own profile like everybody else does. Each candidates profiles show their information, and they each have a wall, where people can write comments about why they support each candidate. On these Facebook’s they also have photo albums of the events that have taken place, and links to their other pages. Even Michelle Obama has a Facebook.

Not only have the candidates gotten themselves involved in social networking sites, but users of Facebook have also involved them. People have created groups that show their support or dislike for the candidates. There are groups that support the candidates and groups that announce the non-support of a candidate by others. There are groups called “One Million Strong for Barack Obama” while other are called “One Million Strong against Barack Obama.” This does not only occur with Barack Obama, there are groups called the same thing for John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Joe Biden.

Also making their way onto Facebook are motivational campaigns encouraging young people to vote. There are groups and profiles for Rock the Vote, Vote or Die, and Choose or Lose. These are organizations that use celebrities to encourage voting among younger people. After looking up each of the candidates on Facebook, it seems that according to who has become a supporter of each of them, Barack Obama is in the lead among the youths. He has 1,947,330 supporters, while John McCain only has 548,914.

LostRemote
I think LostRemote is a good site for people to use because it shows the news that people would never usually find on CNN, Fox, or NBC. It shows people the news in short paragraphs and allows you to click on the stories that you find interesting that you would like to read more about. It gives some stories that most major news sites wouldn't post, or would post in a corner that not many people would notice it. I think it is a good idea to only have short paragraphs of the news and allow readers to click on stories that interest them because this allows more stories to cross the readers eye and they might find something new and interesting. I feel like this setup is more efficient than a CNN website type setup where they only have one line about the story and you need to click on it to find out what that one line means. It could get annoying to a person to have to keep clicking back and forth, whereas on LostRemote you just have to scroll down until you find something interesting.

QU Faculty and Their Views

Lately all we've heard about is students voting, why is it so important that they vote, and why they believe they should vote. Why should students support one candidate more than the other, what issues are important to them? But what about the faculty at Quinnipiac and others not considered part of the youth group, are they the forgotten group in this election?

Why has the focus shifted to the youth vote, and how does the faculty at Quinnipiac and the others that no longer fit into the youth vote category feel about the election and politics. After speaking to some faculty members at Quinnipiac about how they see the election playing out Associate Professor of Journalism Paul Janensch summed up each of the candidates very well. When asked how he feels about each of the candidates Janensch said, "Obama is smooth, almost too smooth. He sometimes comes across as professorial. McCain comes across as a friendly uncle with a bit of a temper. He's effective at fielding questions in town hall forums but is not nearly as a good as Obama in delivering a formal speech. I think the televized debates will be crucial in determing who will win."

Of course there is concern too around the vice-presidential candidates. There have been many questions raised about Sarah Palin and her experience in politics. While the focus has been on her many people have not heard about Joe Biden, Obama's vice-presidential pick. When asked how he feels about the picks by the presidential candidates for their running mate, Janensch pointed out that each candidate picked somebody who made up for what they lacked. He stated that "Obama, a fresh face, picked Joe Biden, an old pro who is especially strong on foreign policy. McCain, who is 72 and has been in Washington for decades, picked Sarah Palin, a fresh face who actually draws bigger crowds than McCain."

The publicity of the election and the campaign commercials by each of the candidates explaining to the country why they are the better pick for the next president that will help the nation and solve all the problems it faces as a whole are also very important in the election. There are also those reports on the news and in the papers that make a scandal out of all the candidate's private lives. When asked how he felt about the publicity of the election Janensch said, Both campaigns have issued their share of half-truths and outright falsehoods in their speeches, ads and news releases. But a review of fact-checking by news organizations, independent policy groups and Internet campaign watchers shows that the McCain campaign is doing more lying than the Obama campaign. Even when news stories say a claim is false, McCain, Palin and their camp keep repeating the lie. One example is the charge that when he was an Illinolis state senator, Obama supported a bill under which kindergarteners would be taught sex education even before they could read. Actually, the bill called for instructing youngsters how to watch out for predators."

What it comes down to in this election year is that every vote is important and although the focus may be on one group more than another every person needs to vote. There are many reasons why one person supports a certain candidate more than the other, and why they believe one candidate is better for the country than the other. Whether your are voting for McCain and Palin or Obama and Biden everybody needs to have a say in the election. As Janensch said in closing, "The backgrounds, programs and temperaments of the candidates are dramatically different. If you don't vote, you shouldn't gripe afterwards."

The All Important Youth Vote

As the presidential race heats up, and Election Day grows near youths aged 18 to 24 are finding that the spotlight is on them. With such a historical election coming up it is becoming clear that the decision can be made by the youth vote. With all that is going on in the world today and all the promises of the presidential candidates most first time voters are not sure who to vote for. Some are not even sure that they should vote, thinking that their vote won’t make a difference.
So how are these first time voters being encouraged to vote? How are they being encouraged to make a difference in the future of this nation?
Voting has become fashion; it has become something that is cool to do because each candidate has their celebrity supporters. You can now walk into a clothing store and buy a shirt with “Vote” written across it. It has become fashion to wear clothes that show who you support. It has always occurred in elections that pins were worn, but never has it been so publicized who an individual is voting for.
First time voters are also encouraged to vote by the use of website such as, RockTheVote.com, which shows first time voters celebrities endorsing a certain presidential candidate, and contains music videos, and videos of celebrities speaking to youth voters about the importance of each individuals vote. Artists like Against Me and Christina Aguilera have videos posted to stress to the first time voters how important it is to vote.
Another website used, is ChooseorLose.com, started by MTV. This website shows other youth voters in the same position as a lot of us. They are first time voters trying to decide who to vote for. Choose or Lose is also taking over MTV the channel, encouraging youth voters that they need to vote. They have representative from each state, so each person looking at the website can relate to somebody else on the site.
Overall in this election the pressure is on the first time voters to decide the future of the nation. Even though some think that their vote will not count with all the encouragement from celebrities and musicians it is hard to keep thinking this way.

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Politics 101

How Each Candidate Views Major Issues

Barack Obama

Gun Control- Supports that it is the right of the state and cities to set local gun laws while respecting the Second Amendment. Obama voted no on legislation that would prohibit lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Obama would like to pass a bill that would limit the purchase of a gun to one a month. He would like to provide some common-sense enforcing of gun licensing.

Abortion- A supporter of Roe v. Wade and believes it is a woman’s right to choose. While supporting a woman’s right to choose he would expand access to contraception, health and preventive services to women. He co-sponsored the Prevention First Act which would increase funding to family planning, sex education, end insurance discrimination against contraceptives and improve awareness to emergency contraceptives. This bill will also provide compassion and assistance to rape victims.

Iraq- Opposed the war in Iraq when it was started, wants to get the troops out safely. As President he would completely remove troops in 16 months, in the summer of 2010. To do this he would safely redeploy 1 to 2 combat brigades from Iraq a month. A residual force will remain in Iraq performing counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda. He will not build permanent military bases, but will help to train and support security forces in Iraq.

Environment- Will implement a cap and trade program which will set a cap on carbon emissions, and companies are free to buy and sell allowances that were set for them in order to operate in a manner that is profitable to them. Each year the number of allowances will decline to match the targeted reduction. He will make energy conservation a top priority and start by making Federal buildings more efficient. He wants to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. He will also develop domestic incentives that would reward farmers, forest owners, and ranchers when they plant a tree, restore grassland, and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using farming practices.

John McCain

Gun Control- Supports the Second Amendment Right and doesn’t believe in punishing law abiding citizens because of criminals who break the law anyway. Also believes that gun manufacturers cannot be held responsible for what people do when they own a gun. Proposes instant criminal background checks when firearms are purchased at gun shows. Supports legislation that require gun manufactures to supply gun safety equipment in the box.
Abortion- Believes that the ruling of the court is Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned. If this decision was overturned it would become the decision of the states to ban or allow abortion. If abortion is banned by states McCain wants to promote adoption. He would like to make it easier to adopt interracially and inter-ethnically, and would like to allow tax-deductions to those who have adopted.
Iraq- Believes that we must support the Iraqi government and help them become capable of governing itself and safeguarding the people. McCain will not pull troops out of Iraq until Al Qaeda is defeated there and a capable, competent and trained security force is functioning there. He wants to establish a stable and democratic Iraq.
Environment- Along with Senator Lieberman he introduced the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007, designed to reduce greenhouse gases through trading markets and the use of advanced technology. He proposes the use of alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy. By 2012 he wants to return emissions to the levels they were at in 2005. He would like to employ a cap and trade system to set limits on gas emissions and encourage the development of low-cost compliance options.

This is a political blog because the election is so very soon and it is going to be historic no matter who wins. These are a few links that I believe are important for people to read to know what is going on in this election.

This first link is to an article from CNN written by Jeffrey Toobin and I belive that it is important that people read this article because he explains in a way that is easy to understand and it reminds people of what each of the candidates plans are. I think that people forget what the candidates would do if they became the President because of all the media coverage about where they are speaking, or what the latest campaign commercial says and people might forget what each candidate wants to achieve.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/27/toobin.election/index.html

This next link I feel is important because it outlines a lot of the issues facing the United States today and tells the reader what each candidate would do if elected President. It is not a big article and it is separate links that the reader can click on to find out what McCain or Obama would do if elected next to each other which I feel people would prefer instead of trying to compare the two themselves. This article is also from CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/

The next website I believe people should look at to learn about the election is the entire Rock the Vote website. This is an interactive website aimed at a younger crowd, it shows celebrities getting involved in the election which I feel motivates younger people to get involved. If they see their favorite celebrity doing something important I feel that we as the younger generation will get involved. It has music videos telling people how important it is to vote so I feel that this site makes the younger generation feel that it is important to vote and that they need to.
http://www.rockthevote.com