The focus of this chapter was freedom of the press and how government officials and political candidates interact with the media. The focus of this assignment is politicians and the media. Choose a national-level politician or someone running for a national (Senate, House of Representatives, or President) or state office (state senate, state assembly, governor); if there are no current elections, research a past election and candidate. Then, research this individual’s interactions with the media, considering the following questions as you research your chosen politician:
Who is the politician you chose, and what political office is he or she running for, or what office does he or she hold?
Does he or she have a social media account? Twitter? YouTube channel? Website?
How much does he or she use different media? Daily tweets? Weekly posts on his or her website?
What does he or she use different media for? Political announcements? Campaign commercials? Political commentary? Personal information and photo ops? A mixture of all of these?
What is the tone of his or her media interactions? Serious and somber? Businesslike? Open and casual? Positive or negative?
Do you think he or she is using the media effectively as a politician? Why or why not?
Explain how politicians use different media for different purpose and how they might try to control their image by what information, images, etc. they release. Discuss which techniques you think are effective and which are not.
