Top Ten Barack Obama Revelations

#1: Pot of Gold

Many people don't realize that much of the Obama campaign was attributed to a series of lucky breaks for Barack Obama. His story began back in the Senate race for Illinois in 2004, where his Republican opponent was emersed in a sex scandal. We all know how well these turn out for politicians, so he eventually withdrew from the race. This left the Illinois Republican Party responsible for finding someone to run in the election very late in the game.

According to Paul Street in his book "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics," the new Republican in the race for Senate was especially unpopular. "To make things even easier for Obama, the Illinois Republican Party took more than a month to find a replacement, and they exhibited the incredibly poor judgment to import the bizarre perennial candidate Alan Keyes from Maryland" (Street, Introduction xxiv).

Image: www.life.com

Obama with his opponent Alan Keyes debating during the 2004 Senate race in Illinois

Not surprisingly, Obama won the race by a landslide. Some would say that Obama wouldn't be where he is today if the Illinois Senate race had a viable opponent. Paul Street quoted a political scientist named Ron Walters, who believes that this is the beginning of the Obama Brand. "You could argue that if the Republicans had had a viable candidate, there would be no Barack.

This video shows Alan Keyes struggling to support his opinion about gay marriage during the 2004 Illinois Senate debate, illustrating why he is unpopular.

Next of the list of good fortune for the Obama Brand is his short political presence. He had the advantage of not being in the U.S. Senate during to the vote to authorize the Bush invasion of Iraq. This was something that his similar democratic opponents couldn't say. Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton voted in favor if the Iraq invasion, something that would haunt their campaign in the future.

#2: Identity Crisis

President Obama is the first African American president. Many people who voted in the 2008 elections are happy to be a part of this milestone in the history of the United States.

However, this blinded people from some of the realities behind him as a candidate. His campaign was heavily focused on "change" and "progression" something that many people were just associating with his face.

Even though he didn't exactly use his ethnic background in a direct way to benefit his campaign (i.e. "The Race Card") , he knew that this is how people can easily associate him as an individual, a person and a candidate with the "change" he was promoting in his campaign.

Image: scrapetv.com

Obama using "Change" as a primary driver for his campaign.

Paul Street agrees with this in his book "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics". "Meanwhile, as Obama and his advisers certainly know, Obama's black identity has proved enormously important in helping him both as a Senator and candidate to seem more progressive and change-oriented than he really is....It has made voters more reluctant than they might have been otherwise (if Obama was white) to take a deep and honest look at his accommodation with dominant domestic and imperial hierarchies and doctrines. In these ways, race has mattered a great deal indeed in the making of the Obama phenomenon and the tone that is took on as the campaign season developed" (Street 81).

#3: No Wealthy Child Left Behind

Image: barackobamacharter.org

Under the support of the President Obama's education policy, private charter schools are becoming more common throughout the country. Barack Obama Charter Schools were the backbone of the administration's education reform during his campaign, but they are actually increasing many racial and financial divides. Charter schools are causing re-segregation because they often leave public schools under-funded by taking their high achieving minority students and leaving the rest behind.

This is illustrated in Censored 2010. "Charter schools are often accused on "cherry picking students" to build higher test scores, leaving low income and difficult to teach students in inadequately funded public systems" (Harris, et al P. 103).

Not only are the public schools and lower achieving students at risk, but the teachers are too. Charter schools eliminate teacher unions and they tie the teachers salary to student performance. It's not difficult to see why this doesn't work. Teacher are then forced to teach to the test, the only method student performance evaluation. Because of this, students lack education that provokes more important aspects of learning that extend beyond the tests.

"The Obama education policy hardly differs from the Bush administration's policy of hitching student and teacher performance to what in the educational community and beyond call inauthentic assessments, which force teachers to teach to the test and do little to encourage critical thinking or collaborative problem solving" (Harris, et al P. 106).

#4: Star Status

It's no secret that Obama received more favorable media coverage than any other candidate during the 2008 Presidential Election. Paul Street said this in many different ways in his book "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics." "Obama received by far the most favorable coverage of any presidential candidate in the first five months of the presidential primary campaign" (Street P. 62).

This is not anything new. But the basis of this revelation is more of the content of the media coverage. It seems as though the intent of the news and other mainstream media is becoming more entertaining than anything else.

People seemed to be less interested in media about questioning policy and more interested in less pertinent information to the political process. There were more stories about the personal information and their campaign status then of actual issues. "Questions of policy accounted for just 15 percent of the stories..." (Street p.62).

This video by CNN shows how ridiculous things can get at media organizations. But this is exactly the kind of reports that are incorporated into the irrelevant and entertainment factors that most stories about Obama possess.

This illustrates a point made by Neil Postman in his book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death". Mass media such as television promotes entertainment over everything else. "Television speaks in only one persistent voice-the voice of entertainment" (Postman P.80).

#5: Campaigning 2.0

President Obama was one of the first candidates to harness the power of the Internet for his campaign. In fact, this might have been even more effective than using traditional mass media for simple advertisments.

Barack Obama's YouTube channel has almost 2000 videos, some of them with millions of views. There are speeches, excerpts from TV appearances and advertisements.

Obama on Ellen has been seen by over 10 million people.

Other short advertisements have stack up about 1 million views.

This publicity can be more effective than television advertising. YouTube is free and can provide to a target audience. However, television ads have the ability to reach out to individuals who don't specifically seek the information.

#6: Weapons or Welfare

Image: www.infiniteunknown.net

Something that echoed through the mass media was Obama's heath care reform. This was a widely discussed issue where many individuals voiced their opinions both for and against the program.

Now lets compare this to Obama's decision to increase military spending. It's not a widely discussed topic, among the media, my college courses and with others in general, despite the fact that no one really knows exactly what is happening to the money. Why does Obama's decision to increase our defense fund get pushed to the back burner, while other issues such as heath care that can benefit us directly are challenged to the point where no progress is made?

According to Censored 2010, much more of our tax mula goes towards military spending than a new healthcare system. "A single future weapons system is now estimated to cost the American taxpayer almost one-third of what the Obama administration's health care plan is expected to cost over a decade" (Lipinski, et al P. 68).

Of course, one of the top results about U.S. military spending is not from a U.S. news source, but rather an English-speaking Russian news network.

#7: My Homeboy

Image: nysun.com

The 2008 presidential election was my first opportunity to vote, as I was just turning 18 years old. The campus of Champlain College was filled with excitement as volunteers were franticly trying to get everyone registered to vote. I took advantage of this opportunity because I was excited to be a part of this election.

I remember sitting in Champlain's IDX Student Life Center and watching Obama's acceptance speech on a huge projector with more students than I have ever seen the lounge. I was happy to have voted, feeling like I actually did contribute.

Obama did something amazing for the American people. Despite much controversy about his practices discussed in Paul Street's book, "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics," Obama was able to get people exited about politics. This is something that I have never experienced before and many others in their teens and 20's probably agree.

Paul Street even said it himself. “The Obama experience has encouraged and extraordinary amount of new popular engagement in the political process, sparking millions of Americans to overcome their endemic disgust with politics and their sense of powerlessness with the U.S. sociopolitical order (Street 204).

#8: Creative Campaigning

Along with the use of Web 2.0 as illustrated in revelation #5, Obama made good use of marketing to sell himself to the American people during his campaign. His visually appealing logo established the image people associate with the Obama, creating the Obama Brand. I'm sure the vast amount of graphic design students at Champlain College would agree.

But first, let's take a look at the 2004 election between George W. Bush and John Kerry. These campaign posters aren't especially unique. In fact, they use the same color scheme, flag images and white text.

Images: http://ronwade.freeservers.com/

The next election would be a lot different. If political campaign signs are going to be littering street corners all over the country, as least make them more visually appealing! Obama makes use of a logo.

Image: dmbosstone.com

Throughout the mass media and other distributive marketing media such as stickers, signs and posters, everyone relates this logo to Barack Obama. This campaign embraces the fact that media appearance is one of the most important factors for success.

In "Media Society" by David Croteau and William Hoynes, "At its simplest level, we see the importance of media in the fact that style and appearance greatly enhance a candidate's change of success" (P. 233).

# 9: The True Cost of Campaign

In "Barack Obama the Future of American Politics", Paul Street discussed Obama's campaign funding practices during his race for the Senate in 2004. "Nearly half of more that $5 million Obama raised for his 2004 Senate primary came from just 300 donors" (Street P. 15).

So this raises an interesting question. Where exactly did the money come from for his presidential election? Despite all of the favorable news coverage for Obama, I did find this CBS news story questioning his campaign finances.

CBS reported that Obama received more money than any other candidate from "unidentified donors." Despite a quote from Obama in the video "90 percent of our contributions come from small donors," this CBS report is obviously skeptical of his sources.

#10: The New Dog

Image: New York Times

President Obama may not have been a typical president as far as his race and age are concerned. However, there is nothing that screams American more than a family man. And that is what Obama is, and this is comforting to people all over the country.

One of the primary themes in Paul Street's book "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics" was the overall notion that Obama is not really quite as different as many Americans perceived from his campaign. And this is the basis for my final Barack Obama revelation.

It's disappointing to come to this conclusion, but Obama really isn't that different from other politicians. His relationship to big business resulted in the bailout of large financial institutions, we are still in Iraq and the government is still split down the middle from partisan gridlock.

Although much of my opinion is based on the mass media, it's clear that there is a lot of information we still don't know about the overall performance of our president. As illustrated in Censored 2010 there are many stories that don't make it to the news headlines

The First Dog is named Bo. He is a Portuguese water dog, a gift from the Kennedys.

Image: New York Times

The True Cost of Chevron

Photo: Fortune 500

Chevron Facts
1. In 2008 Chevron has its most profitable year in history, being the second most profitable corporation in the United States.

2. Despite their position in the US economy, they have been the cause of environmental destruction, political conflict, and even wars in countries where they have invested into oil production.

3. Chevron has done more that just a physical investment in oil drilling infrastructure, they have bought into political influence and control at their disposal.

4. They bypass laws that would protect the people and the environment.

5. Chevron exploits the land and lets nothing stand in their way.

As one of the most profitable companies and under a spotlight in the United States, you would think they would be more conscious about their international affairs.

“Chevron buys assurance that government representatives will look the other way as the health of communities and environments around the planet are destroyed” (Censored 2011).

Those who have to live with the consequences of Chevron’s actions have created an Alternative Annual Report for Chevron. This illustrates the impacts that Chevron has had on specific areas around the world.

Even though there is information available about Chevron and their actions around the world, this is a censored story. It just takes some searching. There aren’t any recent publications in the United States mainstream media that directly address the topic, however there are a few that address the underlying issues.

A New York Times article "Report Says Chevron Owes Billions for Ecuadorean Pollution" describes briefly a lawsuit to which Chevron should compensate the country of Ecuador $7 to $16 billion for environmental damage.

The Washington Post reported in the article "Chevron to Pay $1.5 Million Penalty" that Chevron is being fined for leaking pollutants into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Bowoto v Chevron- One specific issue from the past few years, Chevron was accused of collaborating with the Nigerian army to brutally stop a protest on an offshore oil platform. Some of the protesters were shot while others were killed. Chevron denys that this was a peaceful protest, and was eventually cleared of any responsibility. They admit no fault from their description of the situation.

Media Mediation #4 The New Stuff

When I found out that Guster was playing a show in Burlington, I knew I had to be there. I'm trying to watch my spending, as I'm trying to save for next semster in Dublin Ireland; I had to make an exception. They played at the Flynn Theater downtown last Friday.

I've been to many of their shows. They play a lot in New England so I've seen them in my home city of Portland Maine, as well as in Boston. They were my first rock concert when I was 11 and I've been following their tours and albums ever since. What I like best about Guster is their ability to capture such a wide audience. There are people from all ages and all musical preferences at their shows. Not many bands can do this.

A few weeks ago, they came out with a new album: Easy Wonderful. The show on Friday was fantastic, by the way.


Photo: iTunes

True for most bands, my favorite songs from Guster are from their older albums. They are upbeat and easy to sing along with. This is a perfect recipe for a good show. So when I began listening to Easy Wonderful, I was initially disappointed with what I heard. I guess I just wasn't willing to except that it was different from the old classics that I loved so much. As a few weeks past, my friends continued to listen to the new album, in awe of how amazing it was.

After hearing the songs and listening as I visited other people's rooms, I realized how good they were. I instantly put all of the songs back on my iPhone and began listening to it every chance I got. I was even irritated with myself that I was so fast dismiss it.

I like to think that I am very open minded. Sometimes I get annoyed when people aren't willing to accept new technologies. This made me think. This is exactly what I did with this Guster album. I was caught up in the way that things used to be, that I wasn't willing to accept that times have changed. Even though music is a very unique experience, I want to remain conscious of change if I want to work in the media / communications industry where things are constantly evolving.

Here is Guster's video for their song Do You Love Me. It reminds me of the Ok Go music videos with stop motion. Enjoy!

Media Mediation #3 How to Talk Your Way out of a Speeding Ticket

Photo: http://connectwithyourteens.blogspot.com/


This semester I am taking my first online class here at Champlain College. Well, its not completely an online class, but it is a hybrid class that incorporates both online and in class discussions and meetings. It meets every few weeks in the meeting room upstairs in the library.

The course is Digital Social Interaction I guess it's appropriate that this would be offered online. Not only are we learning about the difference between face to face and internet communication through readings and printed lectures, but we are also experiencing it by interacting with our instructor and classmates through the web.

This has been my first experience with an online class. When I signed up for the course last semester, I had no idea what to expect. When I arrived for our first meeting this semester on a Friday afternoon, I was already in trouble. Our instructor expected us to have readings done for the first class. At this point, it hadn't even occurred to me to log into Angel.

Needless to say, I am not motivated by an online course. The fact that this class meets about once or twice per month saves my life. I'm usually very excited to use technology as a resource for almost anything, but not in this case. I don't know if its the user un-friendliness of Angel or the lack of class meetings that gives me the impression that coursework is not important. I enjoy the class and I find I am learning a lot from the physical meetings. I wish I could say the same about the online meetings. And remember, I'm comparing this to 5 semesters and lifetime of other traditional class meetings.

In no way am I trying to complain about online courses. They are an amazing tool for learning, especially for those who are otherwise busy or cannot physically attend courses. Online classes open up a new world of education, as anyone in the world with access to a computer can have access to higher education. Colleges can benefit from online courses too because they can essentially have more students, without crowding their infrastructure. In fact, Champlain College is setting the standard for online classes.

Changing from traditional classes to online classes is a clear technological shift from analog to digital. Online courses have the ability to offer the same things that course meetings can offer. Discussions can be replaced with a forum type environment. One student and initiate a point while other can quote and respond.

Right now, It just makes sense for me to be in traditional classe. This may be why I have developed this opinion. My time at Champlain College is devoted toward going to classes and doing homework, with a part time job on the side. I can see myself taking an online class again in the future, when I have a career or even studying abroad.

Online learning can be exemplified in many different contexts other than college courses. There are hundreds of tutorials all over youtube that range from automotive repair to musical instruments. These are just a few examples to which people can be educated over the web.



I watched too many of these Howcast videos on youtube. They illustrate how easy online learning can be. Some of them are informative, while others are just funny and ridiculous. I wish I had seen this one earlier....

Midterm Reflection: I'm Still Alive!

1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned?

I have always realized the power of the media and its influence in our society. After spending time in this class I can have an intelligent conversation with almost anyone about aspects of media that are often overlooked. The power tools that we are studying is one of the specific things I have learned about. After many media classes at Champlain, I am well informed about the idea behind the power tools, however in this class I have seen them clearly illustrated and it makes me think about content in a way that I have never thought about it before.

2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

Everything has a meaning. Its easy just to consume video, literature or image without realization behind the motivations of the individuals who created it and the message they were trying to convey.

3. What’s one think you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

Upon doing the midterm, I realize that I needed to study the power tools more. I overestimated by ability to illustrate them by name.

4. What’s one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

One thing I did notice about class is that we have had discussions about reading assignments that we had done in previous weeks. As a student, its hard to discuss previous readings, especially when we have had more recent assignments. We do alot during classes.

Please comment of the usefulness of the power tools, our quizzes, the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our books (AMUSING, FEED, MEDIA/SOCIETY) as learning tools.

The quizzes in this class are surprisingly useful. As first, I thought that the quiz at the beginning of each class was just stressful more than anything else. However, I soon learned that even though this was the case, it was also forcing me to learn something. Repetition is an excellent way to learn and this was the case with the quizzes.

The course blog is an excellent way to outline assignments for the semester. I find it very easy to keep up with assignments using this blog. It is much better than Angel could ever be. Other instructors use Angel for a similar purpose but the blog is much more interactive and interesting. In fact, according to Safari on my computer, its one of my top visited websites! Our personal blogs work well for similar reasons. They are interactive and easy to organize information.

I enjoyed Feed the most out of all the readings we have done this semester. Novels with a story are enjoyable to read and this one was especially relevant to our class. Postman was very interesting and the extensive amount of information in Amusing Ourselves to Death was amazing. I also enjoying the blogging that corresponded with the readings, as it encouraged me to analyze and pay more attention to the reading. Even though I felt like I learned a lot from these two reading, I don’t feel like I learned as much from Media / Society. While I was blogging about the things I learned, I kept thinking to myself. “I already knew that.”

Camp Champ Radio Spot: Feed your World

Media Mediation #2 Renting 2.0

It's bad enough just getting through a movie on television. The amount of ads that consume just one movie adds hours to the task of completing a show. The ads even get closer together and longer towards the end of the movie: Of course when it's too late to stop watching...

The solution to this problem: Netflix

Image: coated.com

In my last post, I discussed how addicted I was to technology. Though I'm sure I exaggerated (I could live without this stuff if I wanted to, and even do once in a while) I've been tuning into Netflix almost once a day. It's just so easy.

Often times when I come home to an empty apartment. I'll turn on the TV to keep me entertained while I'm doing something else such as making dinner. I'll put on Nexflix. If I sit down with the intension of watching a show on TV, chances are, it probably will be Netflix.

It's just so easy. It streams right from my roommate's Xbox 360 in the living room. Surprisingly, it even works fine over our slow WI-FI connection, usually without being interrupted. My favorite things to watch are shows such as Arrested Development, or even Top Gear. Even though the interface doen't allow you to search for episodes, I've been okay with what's usually available regardless.

My television is exemplifying the personal shift to participatory. And all of this is because the internet has revolutionized almost every aspect of technology. At one point, we were forced to accept what was already an extensive amount of content cable TV was providing for us. Now we can actively choose the content. I know it's television, what medium is this anyway? There is no traditional cable television source, no computer, just the Xbox and Wi-Fi.

Netflix always makes me think about trips to the video store when I was younger. It's been forever since I've been to one, not that there are many left. Rather than posting a Netflix commercial, here in an interesting video I found about renting and how useful it can be if the infrastructure was there.



Even though this isn't a completely online service, Rentalic still uses the web to link you with other useful things that you could rent. Renting is a great way to save money and resources instead of purchasing something that you would only use once.

Media Mediation #1: Eat Tweet Love

Image: Foursquare.com

My addiction to technology is getting worse. I've also realized that I am okay with it, well mostly. Except if I forget to charge my phone, then it's going to be a problem.

The worst offender in my life is my Apple iPhone. I have had it for almost a year and a half now and I love everything about it. This device can incorporate video, news, books, email, music, everything on the net and I almost forgot, the phone. Smart phones are literally the definition of convergence, and they will work everywhere you go on a daily basis. Needless to say, I have no trouble occupying myself on the bus ride to class, reading tweets, reading news or listening to music.

There are a few Apps that I use constantly. One of them is called Echophone, it's what I have been using to update and check my Twitter feed. However, I've recently found that I'm getting tired of tweeting. I don't usually use Twitter unless I have something interesting to say, such as an entertaining thought, useful piece of knowledge or something that I believe others would want to know (most of the time). I've recently started using Foursquare, which will post my current location on Twitter.

Twitter already has the current location feature, so why would you want to use a different social networking site to post this? Well, I don't exactly have an answer. Although I am finding that Foursquare is more like a game. You check in to locations to earn badges and mayorships. A mayorship means that you have checked in to this location more than anyone else. Badges are more like fun milestones for certain types of check-ins. Foursquare will share your progress and location on your Twitter or Facebook, whichever you choose.

I just started using Foursquare last week. I've since used it to check into 3 locations and got one badge. The newbie badge. I've added 3 friends who use it, and I don't see that list expanding too much. I don't see myself checking into locations ALL THE TIME, but maybe if I am somewhere interesting, I'll look it up on Foursquare and let it post a tweet. It's interesting how it interacts with Twitter, and even Facebook but I choose not to do this.


It also brings up the issue of privacy, and just being plain creepy. But I choose when to post, so I'm not too concerned. Also if I see a friend has posted they are in a similar location to me. I probably won't be afraid to contact them, as they have decided to publicly share their location.

The Foursquare Police! I thought this was entertaining because what stops people from lying about their location?



I can see Foursquare being very useful if it had an extensive base of users. It would be very interesting to be able to meet up with friends just by seeing that they have checked into the same location as you. However, just like Twitter, I think that people find this social network too intrusive to be adopted my many users.

I don't know how I'm going to use Foursquare in the future. Or if I will continue to use it. I've never tried real time location updates before, but this is going to be my trial run and add to my Twitter Feed.

Today's Serving

Hey, I'm Darin Boutet. I'm originally from Saco, Maine, although I'd like to live in Burlington long enough so that I can say I'm from Vermont. This blog is for MCM 315 Contemporary Media Issues, but lets see where it ends up.

Even though this probably isn't the most fun media experience, it was definitely an experience to say the least. Over the summer I went on two wilderness hiking / camping trips, one in upstate NY and the other in northern Maine. Both were awesome experiences but they were significant to me because I was cut off from any and all media that I have grown so addicted to over the years. Look, I'm on a mountain!




In addition to this, two summers ago a small group of high school friends and I started a foundation to promote healthy living for specifically high school students. The brains behind this group was Luke Neilson, while myself, Evan Moreshead and Amy Mantis worked together to create a video, a website and a basic premise for the group. This summer we created a still frame video with a encouraging message, (don't tell anyone, we have it done, we just haven't released it yet) last summer we made a video to promote ourselves which you can see below. Everything in this video is original. Amy created the music, while I did the camerawork and editing, Luke and Evan managed the production.



I really like working with new technology and learning about new opportunities with technology. Also really like having endless information at my fingertips and the ability to instantly communicate with others at all times. With all these wonderful things that technology can do for us, comes an addiction. I really dislike how addicting technology is and how much in trouble we are in without it.

I can safely say that I don't really know what I want to do with my life. But who does? I'm a broadcasting major here at Champlain and I began with the thought that I'd like to work in television news. I've always had an interest in video, and I am very good using video to tell a story. I'm now keeping my options open, as journalism has been an interest of mine for a while now. For now I'm just going to see where the next two years of college take me.