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
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