A Blogger's Responsibility

Politics and emotion; the former everlastingly evoking the later. A conversation turned to the current presidential election is enough to break up a perfectly peaceful family dinner. A friendly debate over the President's actions during the current economic crisis could turn into a brawl.

New media has done little to curb emotional rantings on politics - in fact it has made it easier for people to do just that. In the dawn of the 21^st century, the media has grown to an unprecedented size. With the addition of the Internet to television, newspapers, and radio; the most imposing change to the media is controlling the quality of information that ends up in the hands of the public.

The media has generally grown in conjunction with technology. When radio was invented, news grew beyond print and went into the air waves. When television became popular, the voices of the radio finally had a face for the masses of listeners. With both of those major inventions, there were government institutions which maintained the quality and reliability of stories which were reported. This is where current media brings the most drastic, and dangerous, change.

With the explosion of Web 2.0, the ability to reach massive audiences has grown beyond the paper, radio, and television companies. Now anybody with a computer and an Internet connection has the ability to influence hundreds of thousands of people all around the world. With this sudden, massive growth of "new media" it is impossible for any governing agent to keep tabs on what is released.

I want to make clear before I continue that I am not advocating some sort of socialist or fascist system which takes away our freedom of speech. I strongly believe in the First Amendment and am grateful that we live in a country that fights to defend this basic human right. However, some people do take advantage of this basic freedom and the current Presidential campaign makes a perfect case of this "new media" gone array.

Blogging, in particular, has become an extremely popular form of "new media." There are thousands of blogs online covering a myriad of topics. But whether the blogger writes about snowboarding or investment banking, they always seem to insert at least a morsel of their political ideology. It is a subject that is too encompassing and important to pass on because it does affect everything from the climate in Colorado to the economy on Wall Street.

While I will never say that people should not voice their opinions, I believe that most bloggers do so irresponsibly at times. Some of these blogs get thousands of readers a day and, whether they realize it or not, hold a very powerful position of influence.

Behavioral psychotherapist Dr. Allison Conner has seen the affects that the media's influence can have on her patients' decision making. She said that politics in the media has an especially influential affect: "The bombardment of politically-oriented shows and advertisements on television and radio tend to be extremely subjective." She continued to say that voters who are undecided or even loosely leaning one way or the other, can easily be influenced by the strong convictions of public figures. Dr. Conner added: "While many blogs may not attract as much attention as CNN or MSNBC, many of the writers I have come across possess the same passion and ability to argue a side as any show on those nationally televised networks."

With this power in their hands, bloggers need to have reliable sources when reporting stories or making points. They have the same responsibilities as any other media outlet to rely accurate and fact-based material. However, there are several examples from both spheres of the political spectrum which are spreading false claims during the current presidential election.

The one person who has been at the center of many of these misconstrued accusations is Governor Sarah Palin. She has ignited an explosion of discussion (that might be too civil of a word to use in this case) since her nomination as Senator John McCain's running mate. Both the Democratic and Republican Party have taken advantage of this opportunity to shoot her down or build her up.

Blogs and other websites which support Senator Barak Obama have been busy trying to attack Gov. Palin in order to convince others that she is not fit for national office. Two specific allegations that have circulated are that Governor Palin has supported the teaching of creationism in schools and was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.

In reality, neither of these accusations are true. Palin never supported the teaching of creationism but actually said that students should be taught both evolution and creationist theories so they have the knowledge to "debate both sides." And in terms of the Alaskan Independence Party, Palin has been a registered Republican since she originally registered to vote in 1982. It is true that her husband had been a member of the AIP and that she attended at least one meeting with him. But that is a far cry from being a registered member of the party, of which she has been accused.

Likewise, Republicans have distorted reality concerning Palin to help their own cause. In a recent campaign ad, the McCain camp accused Senator Obama of dismissing Gov. Palin as simply a "good-looking" candidate, insinuating that she had few other appealing qualities as a candidate. That quote, however, was taken out of context with sly intentions. The quote was excerpted from something Obama's running mate, Senator Joe Biden, had commented on and was actually meant as a compliment. Biden was asked about the obvious differences between himself and Gov. Palin and responded, jokingly, that she was "good looking."

Dozens upon dozens of other examples can be found all over the Internet. One key similarity with almost all of them, though, is that they are not starting on the blog pages. Many of these false accusations are born in the respective campaign headquarters of Senators McCain and Obama. Bloggers and other members of the "new media" are simply guilty of spreading what they hear and read about.

I guess the ultimate point of this political ramble is that too many people choose their vote based on false beliefs. As new members of the media, bloggers need to be more responsible when reporting on politics. It's just too important a topic to spread untrue rumors or false accusations. If you want to give your opinion of a candidate's policies that's fine, but do not accuse them of something without having the evidence first-hand to back it up.

The examples of false stories in this article were borrowed from http://www.factcheck.org.