Ooh the scandals and controversy associated with the former Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin. Who has not heard the media talking about the life of this politician that has been running for the Vice President in the presidential elections in 2008 with Senator John McCain?
Yet, it is not my intention or goal to be talking about politics this time. It is the former governor’s relationship with the media that strikes me. Sarah Palin has been the attention of the media not only because of her political input but also because of her personal life that is very much talked about publicly.
Joe McGinniss, a best-selling author recently wrote a book “The Rogue” where he targets Sarah Palin and talks about her personal life but of course not leaving out any political connections.
Now to be clear Mr. McGinniss decided that the best way to be able to write a book as such, he should probably move next door to the Palin’s residence, which he certainly did. In an interview for MSNBC he stated that Sarah Palin is “An absolute and utter fraud”. Mr.McGinniss interviewed many people in Wasilla, the hometown of Sarah Palin, where he said he found that “the people that know her the most like her the least.”
I am not a Sarah Palin supporter and I certainly do understand that celebrities or such people as Palin are in the public’s eye and went into this career knowing that they are going to be exposed. I understand that public personalities are into some extend not protected by the law when it comes down to privacy and they all are after all stepping into this knowingly. However, my question is if the book ”The Rogue” is in fact a credible, useful and critical source for us to read?
Is it in fact crucial for somebody to read in order to understand Sarah Palin’s political views or are you just going to learn bunch of rumors that Mr. McGinniss heard from that guy or that girl? After all would a non-biased person who is trying to look at FACTS critically call another person a fraud?
I wonder what it says about the author of the book. I believe that the author either went there with the intentions to find the negative and the “garbage” about Sarah Palin. We all are well aware that no matter who you are somebody out there has something bad to say about you. If the author of the book wanted the reader to take his book seriously he would have provided us with more useful information and not just a word of mouth rumors. And if he would in fact decide to focus on such topic he should have provided the reader with both the negative as well as the positive outlooks from people that know her to some extent.
I guess my final question is what is in today’s society really newsworthy? In my opinion this book is not a news piece worth looking at. But what is your take on this?
You can watch the author’s interview for MSNBC here: MSNBC "The Rogue" author interview
One other question that I constantly have in the back of my mind is how much does the fact that Sarah Palin is a WOMAN that is strongly politically active affect the media and the coverage they take on her. I cannot help but see a little bit of bias being there. Instead of focusing on her campaigns most of the time I hear something that has nothing to do with her political career or life.
Besides seeing the bias being present I wonder how much can we really stand behind Sarah Palin being dragged on the news for non-sense media coverage. After all wasn’t it the former governor’s idea to start her own reality show? I wonder what was she thinking? Reality show is exactly what people do when they want the whole world to see their personal lives and the way they live. Isn’t that a personal invite for the media to discuss it then? I believe we are walking on a thin ice when it comes down to this issue.
What do you think she was hoping to change with her reality show? Was it just a way to gain attention for the upcoming elections?
All in all it is interesting to see what lines people are capable of crossing in order to gain attention or publicity. With that being said I am interested to see how well the book is going to do on the market. I guess that will give us an idea on what people really consider to be newsworthy and why are such topics being covered by the media.
Another great link you can check out to see what do media really think about the book is here:
Another think that strikes me about the Sarah Palin's reality show is the way she is trying to represent herself and her family. In my opinion she does not belong to the working class but yet is trying to present herself as a working class mother who is in its own way a so called "tomboy". How does this help her relate to the viewers? Any ideas?
References
Dines, G. & Humez, J. (Eds.) (2008) Gender, Race, Class and Media (Third Edition) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Butsch, R. (2007). Ralph, Fred, Archie, Homer, and the King of Queens. In Dines, G. & Humez, J. (Eds.), Gender, Race and Class in Media (101-109). Location: Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage.
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