2008 elections

The nomination of a candidate as vastly under-qualified as Sarah Palin as McCain's Vice Presidential candidate is a blatant attempt by the Republican party to manipulate the sensationalistic mass media and an insult to the Women's Rights movement. Moreover, this places Palin in an interesting dilemma. Her original platform as governor was, in addition to reform promises, a commitment to advance Alaskan interests before national interests, but as the Vice Presidential candidate, she'll need to switch her priorities.1 Can she do this without failing to keep her commitment to her home state?

1. 1. Philip Gourevitch offers an interesting perspective on Palin's transition from Alaskan Governor to Vice Presidential candidate in his recent letter for the New Yorker, The State of Sarah Palin.

The decision by the executives at MSNBC to remove Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from the anchor position for the coverage of the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, and the New York Times' coverage of the decision1, offers a contemporary example of how accurately Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model2 reflects the state of mass media in the United States.

1. 1. MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat. Brian Stelter. 7 September 2008. New York Times.
2. 2. For a detailed description of the propaganda model, consult Manufacturing Consent, by Herman and Chomsky (2002), or, for a briefer analysis, Media Control, by Chomsky.