Growth, Exposure, and My Experience in Political Communications

This class has been challenging to say the least but I've thoroughly enjoyed it to the fullest.  I done things in this class that I thought I would never do and I learned a few things as well.  I want to first say thank you to Dr. DeWitt and Dr. Azriel for being knowledgeable and helpful instructors throughout the semester.  This class was a success and it served as an eye opener to me understanding the game of politics.  Thank you.

I was into politics a little before I changed my major.  The more classes I took dealing with policy and government, the more the subject peaked my interest.  Understanding the game of politics does not mean watching CNN or Fox News all day everyday.  You have to study the subject of politics and everything it entails to gain a better knowledge of how it works. 

Three Key Concepts

The three concepts that were interesting to me would be gatekeeping, narrative, and framing. 
Gatekeeping is defined as any person (or group) who has control over what material reaches the public.  The media is very powerful and there is a mass amount of information that does not reach the American people for various reasons.  The American public see and hear what the media wants us to see and hear so it is up to the individual to seek out and find the truth by conducting his/her own research based off of their beliefs and what is being put out by the media.  Candidates like Donald Trump received heavy media coverage daily because he was a popular, successful, billionaire businessman that was very controversial.  Meanwhile, in the same party, you saw less and less coverage of Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul because they were not as popular among the American voters. 
Narrative pertains to each candidate seeking to promote a "cohesive and coherent story" that calls on dramatic devices raises problems and offers a resolution.  Trump want to build a wall because illegal immigrants are in this country receiving benefits some Americans cannot receive.  He feels that illegal immigrants are getting all the jobs, committing acts of violence and smuggling drugs for the drug cartels.  He feeds on the fears of American people by demonizing Latin American population.  Another example, he want to block Muslims from coming in the country because they are all part of ISIS or Al Qaeda.  Once again he demonizes over 1billion people who practice the Islamic faith over the acts of a few. 
Framing is made up of four components.  Horse race deals with who winning in the polls.  Who winning delegates.  Conflict deals with two or more candidates or political parties that are in conflict with one another (Example: Trump v Cruz/Clinton v Sanders).  Issues deals with news content that highlights issue positions or public policy proposals of the candidates or parties (Example: Bernie Sanders wants the rich to pay their fair share in taxes.  He believes there should be free healthcare and free college education).  Candidate attributes is news content that emphasizes the candidates' personal qualities and deficiencies, including the candidate's character, experience, demeanor, and skills.  Donald Trump incites violence and preaches hate, so people view him a rich, racist bigot who feeds off the fear of the American people. 

All of these concepts helped me to understand politics in regards to how the whole operation works.
Working in groups was nothing new but I enjoyed it.  There were some ups and downs but overall I learned a valuable lesson that communication was key.  Without it, there would be chaos. 

News Stories and Content Analysis

Content Analysis #1
The first group assignment I worked on was pleasant.  I was a little lost but I got a refresher in research and findings.  We did our research on comparing and contrasting Hillary Clinton's page with Carly Fiorina's page.  I was in charge of gathering data and findings.   My classmates helped and everyone did their part.  The communication was great and we got a 92 for our grade.

 
News Story #1 & 2
I did not contribute because those assignments were handled by the journalism majors that were in my second group.  I'm not afraid to admit that communication was a problem and there was conflict within the group.  I learned a valuable lesson that when you are participating in group projects communication is essential to the success your group achieves.  I would have liked to help and I did a poor job in my efforts on editing or giving feedback on the stories. 

The highlight of my semester was attending the Bernie Sanders rally held at one of the most prestigious HBCUs in the nation, Morehouse College.  The school is located in the heart of downtown Atlanta along with neighboring Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College.  People from all walks of life were in attendance.  Atlanta's own Killer Mike, who is a surrogate of the Vermont Senator spoke at the rally. Actress Jasmine Guy who was a star in the 90's hit college show "A Different World" was there showing support for Sanders. 

 

 

 

 

 Going to the rally was a new experience for me considering this was my first one.  From being patted down by U.S. Secret Service agents to seeing State Senators up on stage, it was all too surreal for me.  The crowd chanting "Bernie...Bernie...Bernie" had me pumped up and excited.  I had a lot of footage from that event.  My group also went out and interviewed people and it was great seeing people being passionate about a candidate that they believe in.  We did a trial interview because we were nervous and we did the actual interview.  I tried several videos but they would not download.  That does not take away from my experience and because I took this course I was able to witness an event of this magnitude. 

Content Analysis #3
In my last group my we had to pick news stories on each candidate and we used a excel spreadsheet to tally up the point for each story using the concept of framing.  Each news story received points if it involved horse-race, conflict, issues, or attributes pertaining to the candidate.  Another classmate and I had to do 25 stories a piece.  We tallied up our numbers and submitted them to be analyzed by our third group member.  We used teamwork and we communicated thoroughly and we received a 83 for our grade. 

Overall, this class help me understand politics better and help educate others who do not understand the language behind what's being said.  Although I did not participate in the journalism part that much, I feel that I am capable of producing high quality research projects relating to political communications in American elections.  I observed, noted, and recorded the event in which I attended recording some valuable footage of a popular candidate and some of the celebrities that support him.  This class was filled with wonderful experiences and if I could do it all over again, I would do a better job the second time around.