Say "Good-bye"... to stereotypes

I watched the final farewell by former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich. He began speaking around 5:02 p.m. from outside his home, which worked for him from a political standpoint. I observed several strategic actions taken during the broadcast. He chose to come down from his home steps to address the people. This depicted vulnerable,  a sense of humbleness and allowed him to relate to the public. It was a completely different Rob then the one I saw during the trail. But the former governor was not the only one who had an agenda. News media outlets were utilized in order to heighten his message and attract the attention of viewers.  Essentially the broadcast earned ratings and generated revenue for both parties involved.

Blagojevich chose prime time to deliver his final goodbye ensuring his message could reach masses. Media conglomerate NBC choice to offer a live streaming of the final goodbye online for viewers who couldn’t reach a television set. Furthermore, NBC 5 (the network I chose to emphases on the most), chose to use social media as another outlet. Continuously tweeting on Twitter and having their anchors and reports upload posts. One anchor, Rob Elgas, not only helped deliver the afternoon segment but also posted quotes that Rob would state during Blagojevich speech.  This caused conversation and social media traffic under his posts, filling up a good majority of the Facebook News Feeds.

Blagojevich chose the evening news, which benefited the delivery of his message because this is typically when most viewers would be home from work. By choosing a time when it was still daylight out, it allowed for supporter to be able to come out to his home with children and help rally behind him. There were a large amount of supports in front of his home, making it a political event. It isn’t a fluke when looking at this politician that his message and back drop were all meticulously constructed. This ties in well with scholar Richard Dyer’s article on stereotyping. His article emphases on stereotyping and the way it affects how the public views certain groups of people.

Agenda setting must be taken into account when watching any media outlet. The way we see Blagojevich is only further supported and constructed by media outlets. Through these media outlets we build impressions and assemble ideas of who Blagojevich is and how we should feel about him. I attempted to watch the news broadcast without any noise, and bias. After the broadcast I then decided to investigate global news site BBC. Ironically and not much to my surprise, they had no mention of Rob Blagojevich when typing his name in the search field. After must investigation it was clear the last story they covered on the former governor, was done in December 2011 when he was sentenced. It was evident that his final farewell was astronomical enough to affect the world or even make it into a mention of the site. My idea of Blagojevich has not changed since the broadcast of his final farewell. In fact, I still feel very sorry for him. He was not only a politician but a father. It is evident that if one does not hold true to their own beliefs they may be manipulated by everything that surrounds them through television, radio, Internet, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, or the general public-- others.