Sunday, September 30, 2007
Interactive MTV-MySpace Forum Taken Seriously
For my Media and Politics class, we have to read political news from national newspapers. I just read a New York Times online article about former senator John Edwards speaking at the first-ever MTV-MySpace forum held at the University of New Hampshire. The event was the first real-time, interactive political forum broadcast on the Internet.
I didn't see the event, but according to the article the questions received via face-to-face, e-mail or instant messaging weren't sarcastic or petty. The young people inquired about major issues like health care, education and the Iraq war.
MTV is hoping that other presidential candidates will be inspired by the relative seriousness of Edwards' questioning and volunteer to do a similar type of broadcast in the not too distant future.
As a young voter, I'm proud that the questions fed to Edwards were intelligent. According to the article, Bill Clinton was asked his underwear and running shoe preferences in a 1994 MTV appearance. I think the change of tone says a lot about my generation. Yes, we might be celebrity-driven and a little too fascinated by "reality" television, but we are also concerned with our reality. The man or woman elected as the next president in 2008 will make decisions that directly affect us, so we should all take an active interest in the campaigns and make informed decisions come November. We've witnessed tragedies like Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. From these catastrophes, we were forced to understand the importance of leadership. ¶ posted by Claire at 11:26 PM •
I didn't see the event, but according to the article the questions received via face-to-face, e-mail or instant messaging weren't sarcastic or petty. The young people inquired about major issues like health care, education and the Iraq war.
MTV is hoping that other presidential candidates will be inspired by the relative seriousness of Edwards' questioning and volunteer to do a similar type of broadcast in the not too distant future.
As a young voter, I'm proud that the questions fed to Edwards were intelligent. According to the article, Bill Clinton was asked his underwear and running shoe preferences in a 1994 MTV appearance. I think the change of tone says a lot about my generation. Yes, we might be celebrity-driven and a little too fascinated by "reality" television, but we are also concerned with our reality. The man or woman elected as the next president in 2008 will make decisions that directly affect us, so we should all take an active interest in the campaigns and make informed decisions come November. We've witnessed tragedies like Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. From these catastrophes, we were forced to understand the importance of leadership. ¶ posted by Claire at 11:26 PM •