Politicians: Publicity on a Local and National level

How do Canadians, Europeans and any other non-Americans recognize who the president currently is in the United States? Why is it that during the American elections, Canadians are aware of who is running, but when Canadian elections are taking place, the politicians’ names remain unfamiliar to most individuals? I would like to argue that publicity is extremely important for politicians on a National level because regardless of what country they live in, it is important that their name, platform, and character are well-known to all, especially to the citizens of the country.

The statement, “politicians must become celebrities in order to be successful” can be interpreted in many ways. For politicians, the concept of being successful can be viewed as being recognized, but this does not necessarily mean they will be accepted. The interpretations may be positive or negative, since it would be false to argue that the success of the politicians is solely based on their popularity. Therefore, there are several interpretations within this statement and my own interpretation will be shown by breaking down the terms in the affirmation.

First, it is important to note that the context of “becoming a celebrity” entails the process of being recognized by society through the media such as television, newspapers and magazines. This type of celebrity can be known as “ a star is anyone whose name and fame has been built up to the point where reference to them, via mention, metalized representation or live appearances, can serve as promotional booster in itself”( Turner, 2004, p.6). An example of a National politician whose platform has been documented and shown almost all over the world, and whose name mentioned can serve a promotional booster in itself is, Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America.

Barack Obama, usually referred to as Obama, is a topic of many individuals’ political discussions in regards to the United States. Some may question whether he is a celebrity or a well-known political figure; however it is certain that his name is of a celebrity status (Liu, 2008). The article, Opinion: Obama: Politician or Celebrity?, by Maggie Liu, discusses Obama as a celebrity and a politician. Also she questions whether “Obama earned this dubious reputation — and whether it matters” (Liu, 2008). Questioning whether Obama is successful for the right reasons shines light onto the statement that, “politicians must become celebrities in order to be successful”. Obama represented himself very well through his campaign and he became the right choice for most Americans, as a result, he became the president. Liu suggests that Americans might have been intrigued and drawn to Obama for his “‘race card’ ” (Liu, 2008). Consequently, this is where things can get complex. Was Obama a celebrity, well known to all, before he became president or after elections were done? Liu’s article is quite significant since it touches upon Obama being both a politician and a celebrity, seeing as he even has a fan base with many people watching him on television, and tweeting about him etc. (Liu, 2008).

Obama is a prominent example of how a National Politician became a celebrity for simply the connotation to his name and what it stands for. Therefore, from the increase in public, and specifically the youth’s attention and participation in American politics, it is very important that National politicians are being publicized and faithfully supported by users of social media throughout the Nation.

In order for both National and local politicians to be successful they do not need to become celebrities, although, it would be beneficial to them that their name be known and acknowledged by the citizens of the country, state or province. Noticeably, promotion helps the politician to receive more votes and to have a mass amount of awareness of their platform and their purpose. Local politics are not as publicized as much as National politics which are dominating the current news in almost all the various newspapers and online news stories. A local politician like the Mayor of Mississauga, Hazel McCallion, is an example of a local politician who is mainly discussed and heard of through Mississauga news or the GPA news. However, just recently in 2009, McCallion was in the audience of On Live with Regis and Kelly (Mississauga, 2009). McCallion had a short time to talk to the hosts, and Regis was discussing a current social event they both met at (Youtube, 2009). Even though McCallion is a Local politician, having an opportunity to be recognized by “celebrities” and to be on National Television, makes people more aware of who McCallion is, and of course Canadians, Torontonians, or people who live in Mississauga, encounter Patriotism and Nationalism. The little national publicity that McCallion gained increases her popularity, and citizens tend to vote for the representatives they know more about or see more of. For local politicians it is clearly beneficial to have as much representation and marketing as possible because it does influence their success in the sense that they will be re-elected or elected as a political candidate in the future.

Video Clip: Mayor Hazel McCallion in the audience of ON LIVE with Regis and Kelly

A way of entertaining and informing citizens is known as infotainment (Turner, 2004, p. 135). This is when information, like news, and in this context political information, is being addressed through talk shows or newspapers as information but used as entertainment. It can be argued that in the case of political issues, infotainment is essential as it is a way to draw viewers in and encourage more political consciousness.

Lastly, Turner discusses “spin doctors” in the form of politics being written and addressed in the media (p.133). Turner defines spin doctors as, “weapons of mass distraction which interrupt public access to information” (p.133). Spin doctors seem to have a very negative implication to their name as they are seen as controlling the political agenda rather than actually restraining information (Turner, 2004, p. 135). Agenda setting theory by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (Griffin, 2006, p. 395) claims that “mass media have the ability to transfer salience of items on their news agenda to the public agenda” (Griffin, 2006, p. 396). This indicates that the most relevant news events will be discussed and evaluated a certain way through newspaper or television. In response to spin doctors, they are claimed to be editors, public relations, any media management who will alter information being said in order to “save face” of the politicians and essentially provide positive information on politicians as opposed to negative information like rumors, or miss understanding of situations. From this being said, spin doctors usually hinder information to help politicians, therefore politicians will not be miss represented. Once politicians are being overlooked by the public, their status quo is crucial as the media can impact their success of being elected or re-elected in the present or future, and on either a local or national level.

Ultimately, the question is not whether the politician needs to be a celebrity to be successful, the question is, what is successful for politicians? Is it a long term context or a short term goal? It is clear that publicity is important for political figures on a local and national scale, however is the candidate being represented by the ‘spin doctors’ of the media or is their unique character and platform truly the real thing. With the Media altering their agenda, it is normal to question their underlying motives behind the information being published. Even if politicians are receiving a lot of publicity, it would and could not define if they are successful or not, more so, it confirms that the politician and the media management are simply doing their jobs.

Bibliography

Griffin, Em.( 2006 ). A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw Hill

Turner, G. (2004). Understanding Celebrity. London: Sage Publications.

Liu, Maggie. (2008). Opinion: Obama: Politician or Celebrity? - The Answer is ‘Both’.

Retrieved March 15, 2011, from URL: http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N53/maliu.html

Mississauga. (2009) .City Hall- Mayors Office. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from URL:

http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/cityhall/mayorsoffice

Michael Jackson: The Man in the Mirror

The eighth member of the Jackson’s family, the little boy in The Jackson 5, and eventually the man who became the “King of Pop”, who may this be, well if it is not evident enough, it is the sensational Michael Jackson (Ditzian, 2009). Graeme Turner states, “contemporary popular culture interprets celebrity as a symptom of cultural change” (5). The notion of “cultural change” shouts out Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson changed the music culture completely, his music inspired many people because of his majority of self written songs and his dance style including the moon walk. In addition, the people loved his undeniable charm (Montgomery, 2009).Before continuing this blog post, it would be much appropriate to say, since Michael Jackson’s tragic death, everyone including his family, friends and fans, have been in great sadness and will miss him dearly. It is important to recognize and appreciate Michael Jackson for he has revolutionized dance and music forever.

Michael has been in the tabloids for over the past two decades for countless reasons, one being acknowledged for his accomplishments from his successful music career. His outstanding talent generated “thirteen number one singles and a total winning of thirteen Grammy Awards” (Ditzian, 2009). Other reports informed the public of his sponsorship with Pepsi, also that Michael “bought a piece of land which he then built on it the Neverland Valley Ranch” (Montgomery, 2009”). However, there was news/rumors about Michael which was not either positive or uplifting. It included Michael being accused of child sexual abuse and having weird or odd behaviours and scandals (Montgomery, 2009).

Michael Jackson was not discussed or only recognized in the media because he was a minority in the sense that he was an African American entertainer, but he has been or was the subject of media/public discourse for his changing of skin pigmentation (Montgomery, 2009). It all began in 1986- Michael Jackson was diagnosed with of Vitiligo and Lupus (Krishna, 2010). One could argue that the late 1980’s was the era where Michael Jackson’s behaviours and scandals began to transform his iconic view forever. Vitiligo and Lupus are skin diseases that made Michael’s skin blotchy (Krishna, 2010). In the public’s eye, Michael Jackson was always a darker complexion, and eventually his complexion became lighter and lighter.

Until his death on June 25^th, 2009, the controversial issue of his skin pigmentation and whether he was or was not bleaching his skin has been discussed by the public (Michael Jackson skin, 2010). As discussed in lecture this week, tabloids make celebrity entertainment into news. First, Michael’s changing skin pigment has been the subject of media and public discourse and has been a very divisive issue involving the public and his diehard fans. Many rumors were obviously made insisting that he didn’t want to be black and he wanted to be white (Michael Jackson skin, 2010). These ridiculous claims have made his minority status a hot topic. People were beginning to forget why Michael Jackson was very influential and well known around the world. People forgot the talent that Michael had and replaced it with the prominent news on Michael’s differentiation of pigment, therefore to Michael’s name was not only the “king of pop” but also the notion that he bleached his skin and was ashamed of being black. One may question the morality of it all, whether it is right to suppress an individual from being positively remembered as opposed to the bad which include believing rumors or the tabloids of Michael bleaching his own skin. The irony of it all is that, in 1993 Oprah interviewed Michael and in the interview he admitted to his diagnoses of Vitiligo “(Dunbar, 2010). After his death, it was confirmed by his autopsy that “he did suffer from the skin disease where one can lose their pigmentation” (Dunbar, 2010). Therefore, Michael Jackson’s minority status has been continuously visible through various media discourses. The false assumptions of his skin pigmentation have lead Michael Jackson to be remembered as the man in the mirror who at the end of his life, did not look like the same man in the mirror due to his change of pigment.

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Wikipedia is a source of public knowledge that is used by almost all people. Wikipedia themselves refer to their service or purpose as, “a free, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia that offers general reference work” (Wikipedia, 2001).

For the assignment I further engaged in a critical discussion in regards to Michael Jackson’s differentiation of skin pigment on his Wikipedia page. At first it was very difficult to understand how to post or edit his page, but after help from a friend, I understood how to edit. However, his page is semi restricted which meant that I was not allowed to edit his page. I then proceeded by emailing Wikipedia to ask for their permission to add additional information to Michael’s page. I received an email back from a man at Wikipedia by the name of Robert Johnson who had given me instructions how I can add additional information. However he did not allow the information I had written to be directly put on the page but merely on a discussion board attached to Michael’s page. There is a screen shot of my critical additional comment that I added to the discussion board. I am not a tech savvy person, so this part of the blog was a definite challenge. Below there is the paragraph that I wanted to get published under the category “Appearance, tabloids, Bad, autobiography and films (1986–87)”.

“The time of Jacksons’ diagnoses of Vitiligo and Lupus, his skin became blotchy. Once his skin was going through pigment differentiation, Jackson wanted to make it all one colour. Therefore, from confirmation from the autopsy, skin bleaching creams were used but solely for the purpose of covering his blotchy skin due to his skin disease, rather than for outrageous rumors about him having the desire to be Caucasian. Jackson has told the truth from his interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, where he openly admitted his skin diagnoses. Sadly, people refused to believe him even having him publicly admit his disease and still continued to not believe him until his death and his autopsy results.”

Wikipedia does not allow just anyone with an account to add information to a page, they may not be an anonymous user and in order to allow the information to be on the page, you must hand in a request form (Wikipedia, 2001). However, I tried to make a request form but it said I would need to be an established user, which means having ten edits on my list (Wikipedia, 2001). This eliminates several users from editing a page because it means they have to be a significant user as opposed to a random user. The public/democratic construction of knowledge must be neutral or at least honest when editing or adding information to Wikipedia pages. This may allow the public’s knowledge to be limited to biased or adjusted information and may also limit the truth behind the information. Wikipedia is a good source to get a general knowledge on a celebrity or subject but it would be false to heavily rely on it for substantial information.

Michael Jackson- The Man in the Mirror (Music Video)

References

Ditzian, Eric. (2009, June 26). Michael Jackson’s Family Tree: Janet, Rebbie, Marlon And More [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614845/michael-jacksons-family-tree.jhtml

Dunbar, Denise. Autopsy Confirms Michael Jackson’s Vitiligo Claims.(2010, February 11) Retrieved from http://mypraiseatl.com/photos/denisedunbar/autopsy-confirms-michael-jackson%E2%80%99s-vitiligo-claims/

Graeme, Turner. (2004). Understanding celebrity. London: Sage Ltd.

Krishna, Sudha. Michael Jackson Autopsy Confirms Skin Disorder. (2010, February 9) Retrieved from http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/vitiligo-michael-jackson-autopsy-confirms-skin-disorder-2572670.html

Michael Jackson: The King of Pop. (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.michaeljackson.com/ca/home

Michael Jackson skin whitening rumors confirmed by detectives .(2010,March 27) Retrieved fromhttp://www.examiner.com/celebrity-in-montreal/michael-jackson-skin-whitening-rumors-confirmed-by-detectives

Montgomery, James. Michael Jackson’s Life and Legacy: The Eccentric King of Pop. ( 2009, July 6 ) Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1615214/michael-jacksons-life-amp-legacy-19861999.jhtml

Wikipedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. (2001, February 15) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Kim Kardashian : The Socialite

INTERVIEW with Kim Kardashian on On Live with Regis and Kelly:

Hollywood is in love with her curvaceous body, her busy lifestyle, and of course her entire family- the Kardashians. Kim Kardashian is a socialite in North America’s world of celebrity gossip, drama and entertainment. Kim is not a regular celebrity who is famous or recognized for being talented but is recognized for her

family’s wealth and of course her hard work at staying fit and maintaining her phenomenal body. Kim and her two sisters Khloe and Kourtney are all over the tabloids because of their so called interesting and fun lifestyle (People). Their personal life seems to be enjoyed by the public since it is on the front cover of almost every entertainment magazine but hey, Kim doesn’t seem to be complaining since that is how her stardom began.

Kim Kardashian has been interviewed by several television show hosts like Tyra Banks, Ellen and On Live with Regis and Kelly. Kim’s interview with Regis and Kelly on May 31^st, 2010 wa s v ery insightful considering Kim educated the viewers and Regis and Kelly of her busy lifestyle, her life with the family, the new show that her sisters are filming and of course how she maintains her sexy and slim body. Viewing the interview as a publicity activity also known as the celebrity’s way of exposing themselves in order for them to be known and more acknowledged by society (Turner, 2004) has highlighted the main purpose of these celebrities being interviewed and why talk shows want to have celebrities on their show. The question of what is being publicized or sold in the interview can be answered by what questions the interviewer is asking the interviewee, in this case Regis and Kelly ask Kim about her work life and love life then she begins to discuss her sisters’ new show that they are currently filming known as Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. Kim is selling the show that has not yet been aired to the viewers and is informing the viewers that her famous sisters will be starring on their own television show. Kim is using her identity and familiar name as a way to indorse her sisters’ new television show. Turner mentions that celebrities use their name and images for marketing television programs (Turner, 2004). Why would Kim use her name to market a television show? Well because celebrities need to maintain their identity so they try to promote themselves through these interviews in order for viewers to keep posted with Kim and her family’s life (Turner, 2004). Kim is also doing this because of the money she is receiving from companies to promote television shows and products.

Having Regis and Kelly make a comment about Kim’s body and how it is very appealing makes a negative notion seem weirdly accepted, and they have recognized what the media’s portrayal of beautiful or pretty is and subconsciously encourage it. Kim sells her body and her attractiveness to the viewers because she knows that is how she will maintain her socialite status. Kim’s publicity activity works immensely well because she is aware what the viewers interests are and she knows that they love her family therefore she will inform viewers about current activities in their life (DeHaaff, 2010). In addition she is conscious that she is attractive and fit and that most American’s are desperately trying to find “something” that will help them loose weight fast. Kim encourages Quick Trim and knows that after the interview people will Google the dietary supplement and learn what it is about. After they will check out the Kardashians and further information on them because of their popularity in the media oriented world.

Therefore Kim is successful in both a cultural and economic sense because she is helping herself become more known in society, Quick Trim is gaining more awareness and as well the television program is earning money due to the special guest on their television show. Kim tries to maintain a relationship with the media since it is a must in the Hollywood business of promoting and selling themselves so the celebrity, their agent, their television show or product they are endorsing all receive revenue at the end of the day (Turner, 2004).

Why does it matter? Why does it matter if Kim is selling herself in order to maintain her status as a socialite? Why does it matter that this negative perceived notion of what is beautiful is praised by the media? It matters because it influences society’s decisions, values and beliefs. The North American culture is unfortunately surrounded with celebrities and their drama and crazy lifestyle that is publicized everywhere. Sometimes people tend to forget that the purpose of these celebrity interviews is not to please the viewers and their needs but to benefit the “third party” such as the production companies, PR, agents and obviously the celebrity themselves( Turner,2004).

Works Cited

DeHaff, M. (2010, December 22). Kim Kardashian most searched celebrity in 2010[Web log post].Retrieved from http://www.customerthink.com/blog/why_was_kim_kardashian_the_most_searched_for_celebrity_in_2010

Graeme, Turner. (2004). Understanding celebrity. London: Sage Ltd.

Kardashian, K. (2010, May 31). “Kim Kardashian Interview On Live With Regis & Kelly” [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSiHbHe8578

People Magazine. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.people.com/people/kim_kardashian/biography

Quick Trim. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.getquicktrim.com