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The Power of the Bully Pulpit: The Presidency in Film

The Power of the Bully Pulpit: The Presidency in Film. Politics in Film Braunwarth. Traditional Presidency. Founders’ vision: Limited and insulated Presidency A relatively powerful Congress Small National Government Why? Feared Dictatorial Rule. Modern Presidency = High Expectations.

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The Power of the Bully Pulpit: The Presidency in Film

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  1. The Power of the Bully Pulpit: The Presidency in Film Politics in Film Braunwarth

  2. Traditional Presidency • Founders’ vision: • Limited and insulated Presidency • A relatively powerful Congress • Small National Government • Why? • Feared Dictatorial Rule

  3. Modern Presidency =High Expectations • What are the expectations we have of the president? • Focal point of Media • Manager of Economy • Chief Legislator • Global Leader • Commander-in-Chief • To avoid all human foibles

  4. Dangers of the “Expectations” Game • Can any human being meet these expectations? • NO, inevitably will fail in some way • What can a president do to increase his approval rating? • Danger is that he could use military action to promote a “rally around the flag” effect and change the direction of news coverage

  5. News Media and the Presidency • Wouldn’t the News Media act as a “watchdog” and point out any unjust actions? • Ironically, in order to appear “objective” perhaps not • The Norm of Objectivity means that the news media limit themselves to “official” sources • Because don’t want to appear biased don’t comment on or criticize these sources • All too often, a news show’s claim of objectivity impels reporters to merely repeat politicians’ talking points without any consistent effort to present the truth

  6. “Expectation” Dangers • Reagan bombed Grenada in order to overcome bad press following death of U.S. Marines in Beirut • Clinton bombed Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Sudan “coincidentally” at sensitive moments of the Lewinsky scandal • Would GW Bush have invaded Iraq if Bin Laden was in jail and the economy was doing better?

  7. Norm of objectivity • What happens to the watchdog role of the media in these situations? • In order to avoid appearance of bias, largely eschew any context or analysis and rarely provide solid explanations or conclusions • Very difficult for news spectators to assess truth claims of political actors because of the lack of context in which these constructions could be better understood • Result: Become a mouthpiece for power • Allows public officials (especially the President) virtually free reign to construct their “spin” on political reality • “It must be true, I saw it on television” (Wag the Dog)

  8. Typographic Written Propositional speech Based on facts Create well-founded opinions Peek-A-Boo Visual Drama and image Pieces of information with no context Generate emotions, not well-reasoned opinions Contrast Postman’s Typographic and Peek-A-Boo Worlds

  9. Constructing Reality • Which world is going to facilitate the ease with which elected officials can construct reality? • Why? • Without a comprehensive understanding of the context and complexity of issues, spectators have no tools to judge the degree to which truth claims make sense

  10. Wag the Dog • Could a president change the news agenda so effectively? • Why a foreign policy/war example? • Could something like this actually happen? • Barry Levinson and Mamet wrote the film in part because of his amazement at how Reagan changed the news focus by invading Grenada after Marines were killed in Lebanon.

  11. The news and films • Did the news media in the film act according to our expectations? • Was it biased toward sensationalism and personal attacks without critical comment? • Why? • Norm of objectivity, theirs is not the role to judge, don’t want to alienate viewers by appearing biased, sensationalism, war, and patriotism sell • The result is that the news media act as mouthpieces for power without explanation or context • So what? • This is a democracy and the public can be misled

  12. Fiction v. Reality • All very interesting but something like that could never happen in reality, could it? • Does the depiction of the news media in film accurately reflect the news media in reality? • War is a serious business • Can we trust our leaders to tell us the truth so that we can exercise our democratic responsibilities responsibly? • View Oct. 2002 "60 Minutes" segment “It Pays to Advertise”

  13. It Pays to Advertise • This segment exposes some of the biggest lies used to sell the 1991 Gulf War and the "need" for the Iraq invasion in 2003. • Shows that most of the lies exposed after the invasion were already known to be lies before the invasion for anyone with enough integrity to look at the claims.

  14. Uncovered: the Whole Truth about the Iraq War • Questions for Consideration • What was the role of the media in this process? Did they act as a watchdog in the name of truth pointing out irregularities? Why or why not? • How was intelligence used in the months leading up to the war in Iraq? • How is fear used to justify war? List as many examples as possible • How has this war furthered our war against terrorism, according to the film?

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