Category: The Media

The end of election 2012, finally

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

In all honesty, I didn’t think this day would ever come! With a seemingly never ending election season, the today is finally here. To say I’m excited would a gross understatement.

And while others might reserve their excitement for tonight when the results come, my excitement comes tomorrow with the end of political ads!  For months it’s just been a steady stream of ads and social media chatter. So tomorrow I can turn on the television or login into and know no one will be trying to convince me how to vote, is a wonderful feeling.

Don’t mistake this excitement for apathy. I’ve already voted and I truly believe there are some important issues at hand. But there is only so much a person can take and I reached that limit probably four months ago.

I have to believe this over saturation of politics causes more damage than good. Just watch this video that’s circulated to different news outlets. Look what this election did to this poor child! But if was socially acceptable to cry about the election like this little girl, I would. All the news coverage, social media fodder, and attack ads have left me feeling less politically engaged than ever! And I know I can’t be the only person.

That being said, I hope everyone exercises their right to vote today! Just please, exercise some restraint and civility, as well! We can disagree without being disagreeable; my high school Civics teacher taught me that.

Voting early doesn’t hurt democracy

Posted on by Brian Lee

I voted absentee this week, as I’ll be on vacation in Florida on Nov. 6. Coincidentally, Wisconsinites could vote as early as Monday of this week, and media reports showed long lines in Madison.

I was stunned by an op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel titled “Early voting is bad for democracy.” The author, Christian Schneider of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, claims voting early is like watch the first three-quarters of a movie or football game.

Does he not live in reality? As an article in the Evansville Courier & Press notes, “most politically engaged Americans chose sides in this year’s presidential election long before they ever heard of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.” This means there’s really nothing the opposing party can say to sway our votes, and this fact alone is a good enough reason to vote early.

Of course there are the undecideds, which according to an AP-GfK poll, make up about 23 percent of registered voters. Let that minority continue to hear both sides until Election Day. For the rest of us, we’re helping our democracy.

A different filter for Instagram

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

I always have to preface these types of posts with this statement:  my feelings towards social media and technology vary greatly when talking about personal versus business use.

It’s fair to say I can be rather dismissive when it comes to the latest and greatest technology, gadgets, and all around high tech offerings.   Not because of some arbitrary feelings of nostalgia, but rather, it’s my need to avoid pointless fads.  (I can say with pride I escaped the pitfall of MySpace.)

A few months ago I wrote a fairly pretentious and completely judgmental post about the phone app and social media site Instagram.   Now I rejected joining long enough but, being that I work in social media, I wasn’t able to avoid it for too long.  So I broke down and started my new life with Instagram.  But if you are expecting this post to be a complete retraction to my less than enthusiastic evaluation, you will be sorely disappointed.

I will say, now I see the filters are amusing and how truly creative people can use the medium in ways that will impress even the most cynical of photography snobs. With all my reservations, I finally get that it is just plain and simple fun, even if you use the app to document your entire caloric and caffeine intake for the day. (It’s still annoying but I guess I can forgive it.)

What I won’t concede about is the necessity of a site in and of its self.  Using it on your phone is one thing but to trying to connect on a computer is useless.  You have to use an outside site, like Webstagram, which I don’t get.  And the best mediums to showcase your pictures are still Facebook and Twitter.  So I still have a separate site is pointless.

So at the end of the day my views might have softened towards Instagram but I am definitely not a convert.  But let’s be real for a second; I’m just salty no one wants to follow me and all the pictures I post of beers at the terrace.