"Stumbling Upon" Political News

When I first visited StumbleUpon, I was not looking for anything particularly enlightening. After seeing links posted by my friends on Facebook, I was curious to find out more about this Web site. During my initial search, I found a video of a talented street drummer, pictures of cute animals and an online game. However, there were also some useful pages as well – instructions on how to nap to maximize its benefits, a universal packing list and a performance comparison of web browsers.

The main page of the site includes a list of topics that the user can select if they are interested in “stumbling upon” Web pages pertaining to those subjects. Politics is one of these topics. However, it is more difficult to find this category because it is on a more specialized list (not the main list on the home page). There is also no “news” category. I wondered if one day the site could be frequently used to “stumble upon” political news.

Referral sites, like StumbleUpon, have become increasingly popular. They capitalize on the idea of discovery – users discover Web sites that interest them with the help of these specialized search tools.

According to volume three of "The Big Thaw," a study by progressive media outlets, entrepreneurs looking to the future of journalism have noticed the potential of these sites and the “Semantic Web.” The human-centered approach of these sites makes them attractive to online users who want to search for information that matters to them.

Is the potential of these referral sites untapped? Or are they already providing people with political news?

Digg has political news and political opinion sections. The user has the ability to choose the format of the news – written, videos or images. The site also lets the user customize his or her search. The audience is given more input on the site with the options to comment, share, bury and/or “digg” (give approval of the page). More "diggs" of a page makes it more accessible to the next digg.com visitor.

reddit.com had a large amount of information on their page about politics. The news is organized by what’s hot, new, controversial, top and saved. The source of the news is listed beside the title of each submission. There were several submissions from youtube.com, but there were also articles, editorials and blogs from sites such as The Raw Story, Daily Kos and The New York Times.

Users can also directly post about politics. The title of their submission is preceded by the word “self,” and instead of a site, self.politics is written beside it. One submission was a note from a user’s grandfather defending health care reform. Another was shorter – simply stating, “Ron Paul is a highly ideological libertarian and a creationist.” I found this interesting because it received numerous comments. The statement, although seemingly extremist, acted as a conversation starter for a political discussion.

An application called SkyGrid is accompanying one of the most talked about newcomers on the technological scene, the iPad. SkyGrid gathers information for users on a wide array of topics, which can then be filtered by category or user preference. This application stands out from the other referral sites because it streams straight to the iPad so that users receive breaking news as its posted. Not only does this application collect information from traditional news sites, but it also gathers news from social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter. In addition, it sorts information by reputation (although the criteria for trust is not given) and velocity (the fastest-changing information).

The Huffington Post and Alternet are more filtered referral sites. The political news on The Huffington Post, called Huffpost Politics, is from “reputable” moderated sources of political information. Bloggers featured on the site included the former Secretary of Labor and a digital correspondent of the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. The “Big News” topics of the day are also listed at the top of the page.

Meanwhile, Alternet compiles its own news with news from independent media sources. One of the site’s goals is to instigate action among users. Its tab of investigation news contributes to that effort. The site has some characteristics of traditional media sources – each category has its own editor as well as a weekly newsletter.

Do readers appreciate the extra filtering? Or does it decrease the democratizing effect of independent media?

Although these sites are less open to all of the available online information, I trust the news on these sites more because I know someone is policing the sources.

Despite the options available, StumbleUpon is the most popular among younger users. In fact, it was the only referral site I had heard of prior to taking this class. The site does not compile all the latest news on a single page or under a single tab, but instead it directs users straight to another Web site. This feature has its setbacks – users may not get the news they need. At the same time, users may “stumble upon” a video or article that they otherwise would not view if they simply saw its headline. News sources should capitalize on this feature and increase their presence on this site. After all, as "The Big Thaw" noted, younger Internet users expect the news to find them.

We don’t want to dig for news. We want to stumble upon it.

Smartphones and Political News: "There's an app for that"

Slogans, such as the Apple’s iPhone slogan above, have become mainstream as the demand for smartphones has increased. I briefly discussed the advantages of smartphones in an earlier post, but I wanted to explore this growing technology further. How useful are smartphones for accessing news, particularly political news? Do people typically use them for this purpose?

My interest in this topic was sparked by the fact that my phone recently broke, and I spent the past week without a phone. The experience was excruciating. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but needless to say it was difficult. Throughout the week, I became an avid Facebook user – even more avid than I already am. Facebook messages, Facebook chat and Twitter became my main sources of communication. I wondered what it would be like to access these sites on my phone.

It will take some time before I find out. My parents have always been technologically behind. I was the last of my peers to use AOL Instant Messenger in middle school because my mom was not convinced it was free. And the family computer had dial up until I was in high school. The dialing sound still gives me nightmares.

But just as dial up finally became ancient history in the Bryan household – and throughout most of modern society – so hopefully will a cell phone without Internet access.

Smartphones are phones with advanced software that allow the user to access the Internet, email, and other resources, such as GPS. According to Gartner’s market share figures released Feb. 23, Symbian and Research in Motion have the largest market shares for smartphones, but iPhone OS is increasing rapidly, nearly doubling from 2008 to 2009. With more than 91 million customers, Verizon Wireless, known for its slogan – “America’s most reliable wireless network”– offers several smartphone models.

Numerous smartphone applications have moved beyond Internet access and email. According to Time magazine, the iPhone’s most popular applications include Yelp, a GPS system that includes consumer reviews of popular restaurants, stores and more, and Midomi, which identifies songs on the radio as well as songs a person is humming or singing.

The applications on smartphones have allowed people to stay more technologically connected than ever. According to an article in The Washington Post, some people worry it may even become an obsession. But are people using their advanced phones to stay up-to-date on politics?

Time magazine also reported that the NYTimes is a popular news source for iPhone users. In addition, the NowLocal application allows users to access local news, and Instapaper lets users save articles they find so they can read them later.

News channels sometimes offer mobile news updates, such as Fox8 News Mobile in North Carolina’s Triad area. Updates include the top local stories, weather forecasts, sports news, movies, flights and gas prices in the region. While the weather forecast and traffic updates may be a person’s first priority, local news is also available at a person’s fingertips.

Politicians have noticed the advantages of using smartphones as well. In Canada, political candidates are looking into campaign-boosting applications that allow users to donate money and participate in political polls. Until a greater percentage of the population owns smartphones, the polls may have skewed results, but the application has the potential to increase the power of public opinion.

With more opportunities to access news, I would expect people with smartphones to be more informed than ever – and I think they are informed about the events and things that impact their lives most directly. However, political news does not seem to be the most popular function of smartphones. With the breadth of information users receive on their phones, many people may skip over news updates.

Still, the potential to access political news anytime, anywhere exists. For me, an update about the town council may never be as exciting as an invitation to a party, but, with the news adjacent to my friends’ texts, I would be more likely to at least glance over it. And the information gathered from a glance is better than no information at all.

The instant access smartphone users have to information is an advantage. It also requires little effort. The user must only take a small step to access news – from making a Twitter account, to uploading an application, to reading an update. The news comes to them.

So when wireless phone companies offer an indestructible smartphone with a low-cost monthly bill, I’ll be more up-to-date than ever on both my personal life and community news. I’m already counting down the days.

Kids These Days

A poll for the Civitas Institute showed that North Carolina voters lack knowledge about state and local politics. In fact, only 49 percent of the voters in North Carolina know which political party is in control of the state legislature.

And according to the poll, who knows the least about local and state politics? Young voters.

Young citizens are often met with criticism regarding their lack of political knowledge. So who’s to blame? The media? The education system? The young voters themselves?

No one factor is the source of young voters’ ignorance. Both the media and youth can be held accountable for the lack of knowledge about local and state politics.

Young voters are not entirely apathetic about politics. During last year’s presidential campaign, I spent numerous lunch periods discussing the presidential candidates and their platforms. I witnessed many conversations go from nonchalant comments to heated debates about issues of the economy, healthcare, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more. My fellow classmates loved the controversy.

But, discussions about local and state candidates were few and far between. Even with Charlotte’s mayor, Pat McCrory, running for governor, the conversation focused on the national scale.

For all ages, there is a lack of attention on local and state politics. National politics take precedence over issues on the local level. While the media provides less coverage of local politics, it is often a response to citizens’ interest. Controversy between more high-profile politicians on the national level is more exciting than seemingly more trivial issues at the community level.

What citizens fail to see is that the smaller issues have a greater direct impact on their daily lives. All voters, not just young voters, do not realize how decisions made by local governing bodies like the town council will affect them personally. Why the disconnect? Frequently, citizens don’t know what decisions are being made. Other times they do not pay attention to the decision because it seems to impact others more than them. Or they may believe national decisions will have a larger impact on their lives than they really will.

When citizens learn about the decisions of local governments and make the connections between local governments and themselves, their interest in these governing bodies will rise. The responsibility falls on both the citizens to realize this, and the media to communicate exactly how the deliberations of government representatives are affecting these citizens.

For young voters, in particular, local political issues are often an even lower priority in our lives. Honestly, I’m more worried about my next exam than the amount of taxes I will be paying in five years. But this focus on the short-term and a lack of interest in the long-term is problematic. It is a product of necessity (sometimes, it’s easier to take each day one step at a time than to look years down the line), self-interest (we are less likely to care about issues that don’t affect us), and a lack of knowledge (we can’t care about issues we don’t know about).

The first part is hard to remedy. Political decisions that are made now often don’t affect younger voters until years later. Educators and informants should emphasize the impact today’s decision makers have on the future of the youth.

However, many political decisions affect us immediately, such as town council decisions about parking or safety measures in downtown areas.

The media can help communicate this impact, thus appealing to our self-interest. News sources have a responsibility to inform citizens about details of local and state politics relevant to their lives. With more specialized media sources like blogs and social networking sites, certain news providers can focus on how politics affect youth in particular. By making the information more audience specific, it will attract more young voters.

With the amount of time my peers and I spend on Facebook and other social networking sites, we certainly have time to catch up on the latest local news periodically. So why don’t we? Apart from a lack of emphasis on the impact local politics has on our lives as younger citizens, another reason young voters don’t frequent news Web sites is because news about local government lacks entertainment value. If the media makes the news more interesting to read, which some blogs have accomplished with a more casual, opinionated tone, it will attract a wider audience, including younger readers. Sites such as The Huffington Post have begun to incorporate a combo of news and entertainment.

In addition, media should meet younger audiences halfway. And it is starting to do so. As people make it a daily habit (or hourly, minute-ly, second-ly habit) to check Facebook and Twitter to catch up on their friends’ whereabouts, the media has taken advantage of this compulsion. Options to follow news sources on Twitter and become a fan or join a group of a news source on Facebook have allowed people, including numerous younger users of social networking sites, to intertwine updates from friends with political news.

News sources could take this idea to another level and capatilize on other habitual behavior, like online gaming and procrastination. For example, media could increase their presence on stumbleupon.com, a popular Web site that allows a user to randomly search his or her interests on the web. Then younger users would simply “stumble upon” news.

As the media develops more outlets that appeal to young voters, access to local political knowledge will increase. Still, it is up to young voters to have some interest in local and state politics. Even if it simply consists of local newspaper headlines on Twitter or status updates from a local official, a little information about local and state politics goes a long way.

Content Analysis

As the role of traditional media declines, skeptics of new media worry that the news available about local, state and national politics will decline with it. I recently had a conversation with a family friend who expressed his concern that city governments will become rampant with corruption as the newspapers that hold local leaders accountable disappear.

But do newspapers really provide a significant amount of local, state and national political news? Will citizens miss out if one day they’re gone?

Our citizens and media class set out to answer these questions by conducting a content analysis of six North Carolina newspapers – The Winston-Salem Journal, The Fayetteville Observer, The Greensboro News & Record, The Wilmington Star-News, The Charlotte Observer and The Raleigh Observer. We analyzed editions of each paper from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13.

I didn’t have very high expectations for the number of political news articles, especially local and state stories. As a Charlottean, I have witnessed the increasing skimpiness The Charlotte Observer over the past year and the rise in Associated Press articles. However, the results of the content analysis still surprised me.

Out of 84 newspaper editions, 6.4% of the articles were about local government and politics. 5.1% were about state politics and government. 10.8% were about national politics and government. Meanwhile, a whopping 27.1% of the articles were about sports.

Don’t worry. I don’t think newspaper readers in these communities are going about their daily activities with nothing but basketball scores and tournament schedules on their minds. 50.6% of the total number of articles fell under the “other” category. This included stories that can be very informative, such as articles about police activity, court cases, businesses and international events.

As I conducted my part of the analysis, I noticed a large number of entertainment articles. I was assigned several editions published over the weekend. Three of the five editions I analyzed included additional weekend sections, such as The Fayetteville Observer’s “Saturday Extra.” The Winston-Salem Journal included a section on food in their Feb. 3 edition and The Charlotte Observer even had a two-page Sci-Tech section on Feb. 8.

There is something to be said for entertainment news. The reviews of movies, restaurants and plays can be useful for citizens to make decisions about how to spend their cherished leisure time. Stories about community events, such as festivals and upcoming speakers, can inform readers about activities they wouldn’t otherwise attend.

Nevertheless, political news has great importance. Articles about the government hold representatives accountable and inform citizens so that they can make decisions about their leaders. But, according to our content analysis, political news, particularly local and state, is not a top priority for these six North Carolina newspapers.

The local and state political news focused on controversy, which is to be expected. After all, controversy attracts readers. The Raleigh News & Observer included several articles about the Wake County Schools heated debate about busing. Another article in The Wilmington Star-News reported the questionable campaign funds used by a local politician. One article about the John Edwards’ sex tape scandal had the prime combination of entertainment and politics.

The Wilmington Star-News was by far the most comprehensive paper in terms of local news. 9.1% of its articles covered local politics and government. In the edition I analyzed on Feb. 11, most of the local political articles were about the upcoming election. I was impressed to find an additional article about a town board’s budgeting and the policies of the Topsail Beach town board – not exactly what I would deem riveting topics.

Nevertheless, less than 10% of the paper covered local politics, and the other five publications were far behind. The Charlotte Observer, which had the second largest percentage of local political news, covered local government in 6.7% of its articles.

So where do citizens go for local political news apart from the newspaper’s meager coverage of elections and hot topics? Are they getting any news about their local governments at all?

The increasing number of microlocal blogs may be the answer. Don Evans and Nancy Oates, the bloggers of Chapel Hill Watch, a blog that covers the town government in Chapel Hill, spoke to our class on Thursday. They regularly attend Town Council meetings and post information citizens need to make decisions about their local leaders. Evans said their presence at the meetings lets town officials know that they are serious about their reporting. According to a Newsweek article, community news blogs like Chapel Hill Watch are on the rise.

Other local government news sources include Google groups, such as Carrboro Media, and citizen-driven blogs like OrangePolitics.

Because new media cover smaller communities than newspapers, stories that might seem insignificant to a larger newspaper audience are important to the site’s visitors. As a result, blogs and other online sources have found their niche putting the focus back on local government.

Social Media: A Good Starting Point

Before the rise of the Internet and social media at the end of the 20^th century, when Americans wanted to catch up on current events, they retrieved newspapers from their driveways or turned on the TV to tune in to the evening news. Now, with an increase in the number of online news sources as well as an increase in the various technologies people use to search for and receive news, the options are endless.

Average citizens have the ability to share news with others through social media. Not only do they have access to different avenues to voice their opinions, recent statistics show they also have enormous influence – as the influence of the traditional mass media decreases.

According to a Gallup poll of Americans’ trust in news media conducted in Oct. 2009, 45% of Americans reported that they had a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the media. 18% reported having no confidence at all. Traditional media is taking a major hit. In fact, a January survey by Public Policy Polling found that FOX News is the only major television network with a greater percentage of trusting viewers than distrusting.

Meanwhile, a Gallup poll measuring the number of Americans following political news in Sept. 2008 found that an increasing number of Americans – 43% – reported that they follow national politics very closely. Still taking the historic significance of the presidential campaign into account, Gallup noted that the growth in the amount of news sources on the web might have also contributed to this high percentage.

Additional surveys have shown Internet users trust their peers for information about new products and services over advertisements. In his social media blog, “Socialnomics,” Erik Qualman reports that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations while a mere 18% trust advertisements.

But are social media outlets credible news sources? What motivates people to trust the user-generated content of blogs, Twitter and Facebook over the professionals? And even if citizens do trust these sources, should they?

From personal experience, I ask myself two questions to decide whether news from my peers and other users is reliable:

1. What is the source’s intention?

Knowing a person’s purpose for posting news is crucial to assessing its trustworthiness. Typically, if a friend tweets or updates a status about a pop culture event, entertainment news or a strange fact, I take it with a grain of salt. Since pop culture isn’t a weighty issue for most, people post updates like these with little thought about the source of their information – whether it is a fan club’s Web site, a pop culture blog or another peer’s status.

For example, in January, Internet users prompted the spread of a rumor that Johnny Depp had died in a car crash. Fans mourned on Facebook and Twitter as word circulated about his death. A search of Johnny Depp on Google trends for the Jan. 2010 shows a significant spike in searches for him on Jan. 24 when the rumor spread. Soon after, major news sources like The Huffington Post reported the claims to be false.

In addition, I take into account a person’s beliefs. My peers with strong viewpoints may post facts from a one-sided perspective, manipulating the information or not reporting it in its entirety. Instead, they present facts that reinforce their opinions.

Contrary to what I have said up to this point, I believe people may have good intentions when they post news. This raises my level of trust in what they report. When my peers have a vested interest in their posts, the information they provide is the most credible.

For instance, after the earthquake in Haiti, several friends posted news about Haiti and ways to help. Many of these individuals spent a couple weeks in Haiti over the summer for a mission trip. Because they had invested their time to help the Haitian people, I knew they truly cared about the victims of the earthquake and would post information about reliable aid organizations like Partners in Health and the American Red Cross.

2. How much does the source know about the topic?

A source’s knowledge about a subject can come from education on a topic, continually staying up to date on it and/or experiencing it.

I am more inclined to trust people who regularly follow current events and study certain topics when they provide news. The updates on the Facebook profile of an economics major in my sorority who follows current events and is an economics teaching assistant are reliable starting points for news on the state of our nation’s economy.

Likewise, someone who has experience with an event is more reliable than an onlooker. This can be particularly helpful when people comment on products and services. For example, I trust restaurant recommendations posted by my friends who eat out on a regular basis.

As I reviewed my answers to these questions, I noticed the similarities to my criteria for a trustworthy news source on social media and the criteria journalists use to find reliable sources for their stories. Social media has eliminated the journalist, and it is now up to the citizen to filter out the credible sources from the misleading.

However, even if I decide a friend or another user is credible, I use their comments as a notification of current events. From this initial update, I check other at least a couple other sources. What sources you ask? Traditional news sources – newspapers, online articles and television networks. I have my reasons for this decision as well.

1. Accountability

Traditional news sources are held accountable by not only their readers, but also by their advertisers and the government. When newspapers print an error, they print the correction to maintain the trust of their readers. In addition, federal laws prohibit newspapers from printing libelous statements.

2. Professionalism

Reporters are well-educated in the field of journalism. They are trained in information gathering and news writing. In addition, newspapers and television networks have a lengthy editing process designed to decrease the frequency of reporting errors. Several pairs of eyes read over a story before it is delivered to the public. Articles printed in The Daily Tar Heel are read by at least three editors before going to print.

3. Objectivity

Newspaper articles and broadcasts include data and several sources from both sides of a subject. Stories typically include information and quotes from at least three reliable sources. This creates well-rounded stories and gives both sides of an issue representation in a single article or report. Also, it has now become common practice to include links to primary sources in online articles so citizens can review the sources for themselves. Traditional news sources are more likely to link to the most credible primary sources – but not always.

I found it interesting that most of the links in a New York Times article about Obama's expansion of healthcare led to explanations about the person or subject by other articles in The New York Times. Even then, I still trust the breadth of articles in The New York Times. Together, I rely on them for more accurate news than a collection of blog posts.

While social media has its upsides when it comes to providing news, it is still ridden with underlying flaws. In the future these failings may be worked out, but for now, I’ll stick to my trusted sources for the final word on current events. And on that note, I’m going to check my RSS Feed.

The Internet Experiment

Background:

The WORLDwide web. When you actually consider how much information is at your fingertips when you access the Internet, it can be daunting. Sorting through the excess information to find exactly what you’re looking for can be even more challenging.

A few years ago, USA Today’s Andrew Kantor wrote that there was too much information on the Internet to organize it systematically. Recently, new search engines, such as bing (the site with the clever commercials), have attempted to alleviate this problem and streamline the search process.

Research Question:

So where has this information overload left the public? Can citizens access the information they need to make informed political decisions?

The Internet has been praised for its democratizing effects on our society. The web provides citizens with updates on campaigns, elections, government actions and representatives from official government entities, news sources, leaders themselves, databases, and more. They can even be informed by other citizens.

National politics and news have a dominant presence online, but what about state and local politics? And obscure information that citizens need to understand and influence the policies of their community?

Method:

To investigate, I will try to answer the following three questions presented by Professor Towns using the Internet…

Results:

1. What did Gov. Beverly Perdue’s last campaign finance report show for cash on hand?

Step 1: I searched “governor beverly perdue campaign finance report” on Google. The search did not produce results about how much “cash on hand” she raised, although I did learn about the controversy over her expenditures on undisclosed flights from the first page of links. Next, I added “cash on hand” to the end of my previous search. Success! The second link took me to the North Carolina Democratic Party Web site that reports Perdue raised $1.4 million cash on hand.

2. How many voters are registered in NC – and what is the breakdown of R, D, and I?

This time, I searched “voter registration north carolina.” The first link was the North Carolina State Board of Elections Web site. Easy enough. The bar at the top of the home page lists the total number of registered voters in North Carolina – 6,038, 531. The breakdown? Democratic: 2,734,258; Republican: 1,918,603; Libertarian: 6,733; Unaffiliated: 1,378,937. And it’s up-to-date. The numbers are based on registration data from Feb. 14, 2010.

3. Pick a prof – any prof at UNC – and find his/her salary.

Hmm…since I’ve been studying for my international politics exam tomorrow, I’ll look up how much my associate professor of political science, Thomas Oatley, makes. Searching “thomas oatley” produces information about his research, education, blog and teaching experience. But what about his salary? After scrolling through the first six pages, I had no luck.

The faculty and staff data page of the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Institutional Research and Association Web site did have links to charts that list the demographics of the professors as well as the median and mean salaries of each position in the schools. However, there were no specifics. Bummer.

Next, instead of searching specifically for Professor Oatley, I searched for applications and tools that could help me find out his salary. This proved to be the superior method. The North Carolina System Salary Database on triangle.com listed his total salary and his hire date. The Daily Tar Heel’s data center is also a good source of statistical information about the university. It too has a tool to look up the salaries of UNC system employees.

Analysis:

The first two questions were extremely easy to answer. I was impressed with how fast I was able to find reputable sites that gave me accurate results. Information overload or not, search engines know how to sort prominent data.

The last question – more personal and local – was a challenge. The more specific the information, the harder it is to find. Ironically, specific information is often more applicable to citizens’ lives. It applies to their communities and the people who directly influence their daily lives.

Conclusion:

While there should be restrictions on how much information is available on the Internet, practical information, like the data above, should be accessible for the average citizen. After all, if the people who would use the information can't access it online, the Internet does not serve one of its main purposes.

Facebook and Twitter: Legitimate News Sources?

Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the way we view social interaction. These social networking sites provide a link of constant communication between individuals, friends, families, businesses and organizations. Users can update friends about what they’re doing, upload pictures and post comments.

But it’s not strictly fun and games (No, I’ve never played Farmville. I’m too scared I’ll get hooked). Twitter and Facebook have connected citizens to traditional news sources as well as to government officials. Status updates, event invitations and group messages communicate political information on a daily basis. So what may seem like aimless browsing on these sites can actually be enlightening.

Facebook, invented by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, is a social networking pioneer. The profiles themselves are informative as well as the various applications – fan pages, groups, messages and events. Politicians have capitalized on the popularity of Facebook, using it to gain support and trust from some of the over 350 million users.

Local leaders, including Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and the Town Council members (with the exception of Laurin Easthom and Penny Rich), have Facebook profiles.

Sure, it may be interesting to know that if Mark Kleinschmidt were a Greek god, he would be Zeus (according to the quiz results on his wall). But his Facebook also includes news about Chapel Hill, including status updates about emergency weather conditions and the dedication of a new community center playground. His Facebook comments about current policy-making, such as the passage of Kansas death penalty repeal bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee, give viewers further indication of his views on specific issues – views that will guide his future decisions as mayor. Finally, he updates users on national political decisions that will directly affect North Carolinians, like federal government’s high-speed railroad investment.

Politicians’ profiles can be particularly important during campaign season. From information on Facebook, voters can make decisions about which candidates they support. Student government candidates at UNC have wisely chosen to hop on the Facebook bandwagon. Exposure is everything. And what better way to get your face out there than on Facebook? Supporters have changed their default pictures to the candidates’ campaign images with captions that remind viewers to vote on Election Day. Candidate groups are even more informative, often listing platforms and updates on the campaigns.

Facebook groups and fan pages are also developing into reliable news sources. Fan pages for traditional media sources are my first choice for news on Facebook. National news sources are most likely to have pages with links to news articles and breaking news reports. For example, the fan pages of The New York Times, Fox News and CNN all included updates about Sarah Palin’s keynote speech at the first national convention of the “tea party” coalition.

Local news was harder to come by on Facebook. The Daily Tar Heel has a strong presence on Facebook – a DTH fan page and three groups. On the other hand, The News & Observer only has a group for past employees, which is not very useful for citizens who want to know more about local politics.

Event invitations are another great way to learn about on-campus happenings, such as the upcoming UNC A Capella concert to raise money for Haiti. The periodic messages sent out by event planners (although sometimes pesky) can be helpful reminders to attend and participate.

Twitter, the microblogging site invented by Jack Dorsey in 2006, resembles an RSS feed with updates from family and friends, news sources and even individual reporters like Anderson Cooper and Bill O’Reilly.

News sources have recognized the value of including links to articles, pictures and videos. Url shorteners like bit.ly allow them to post shorter links to make the most of the 140-character limit.

I prefer Twitter to Facebook as a news source because it’s more convenient. The updates about current events in addition to updates from my friends and family are all in one place. It’s fast and convenient – two qualities my generation values.

Facebook and Twitter have noticed the growing affinity for technology that is quick and simple. The sites have teamed up, further connecting users to one another. Facebook has an application called the Twitter exporter that translates tweets into status updates on users’ Facebook profiles. This allows people to spread news on two different sites at once, maximizing their audience.

The best part about these sites is that people no longer have to seek out news. Instead, news comes to them. Owners of smart phones (unfortunately, I am not one of them, ahem mom and dad) can check Facebook and get Twitter updates straight to their phone. Now that’s breaking news.

It’s also a two-way street. Traditional news sources not only increase readership through Twitter and Facebook, but they also get immediate feedback from their readers through comments and retweets.

News sources are capitalizing on this line of communication by asking readers for story ideas and input about articles. For example, the story idea for an article I wrote in The Daily Tar Heel about damages to Knotts Funeral Home came from a tweet from a former staff member a couple weeks ago. A tweet today from Newsweek also solicits users’ responses by asking them for their thoughts on the necessity of corporate layoffs. The catch? Responses must be six words or less. Talk about short and sweet.

Social networking sites provide us with some of the most up-to-date political news. Facebook and Twitter are the link between readers and traditional news sources. The sites also fuel discussion about current events among reporters and readers.

State of the Union: Straight Up

According to the White House blog, I was one of almost 1.3 million people who watched President Obama speak to our nation’s leaders and the American people in his State of the Union address on Jan. 27. Despite the atypical length of the speech – approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes – watching it firsthand made me feel empowered and informed as a citizen.

Since I received the information directly from President Obama, the primary source, I could interpret the speech from my perspective. Reporters and bloggers sift through the speech and select what they believe are key parts. However, what may be the most important issue to one person may not be as important to another.

For example, The Daily Tar Heel reported that Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt tweeted about Obama’s goal to eliminate the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy for homosexuals who wish to serve in the military. At the same time, Laura Rozen, a blogger for POLITICO, focused on the president's little emphasis on foreign policy.

Although specific issues, such as the proposed freeze on non-defense spending, were consistently topics of controversy among analysts and government officials, their perspectives on the issue were quite different. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who delivered the official Republican response to the address, said that the freeze will not be enough to alleviate economic hardships – that instead government needs to be limited further. Meanwhile, Paul Krugman, a columnist for The New York Times, called the freeze a “dumb policy idea.”

In addition, analysts and bloggers often focus on the tone and delivery of the speech more than the content. Michael Crowley, a blogger for The New Republic, wrote that Obama gave a “strong, fluid speech” with “some memorable, lighthearted moments.” On the converse, Jennifer Donahue, a political analyst refererenced in a CNN article, noted that the speech was “underwhelming” and lacked middle ground.

Many of the specifics of the speech, such as the timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq and the executive order to create a Bipartisan Fiscal Commission, were omitted from articles and blogs more focused on the themes of the speech or what Obama was missing. Even though some of the specific promises may seem challenging or unrealistic to critics (e.g. doubling the nation's exports in the next five years), Americans should still be aware that these proposals are being considered.

Witnessing the atmosphere of the chamber both added and detracted from the speech’s impact. Although the applause delayed the speech, it gave some indication of how much support each issue has among members of Congress. For example, there was less applause for the spending freeze than for other issues, such as clean energy and education reform.

The reactions of specific individuals and groups to Obama’s remarks were intriguing. The president’s critique of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was defied by Justice Alito. Also, the Joint Chiefs of Staff met Obama’s proposal to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy with stoicism.

At the same time, the expressions of Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi frequently detracted from the speech, attracting my attention toward them and away from the president. Unlike the other individuals who were temporarily caught on camera, Biden and Pelosi were conscious of their presence onscreen. As a result, their response to Obama’s comments were contrived. At best, Biden’s constant nodding and Pelosi’s disappearing and reemerging smile were entertaining.

I also witnessed the occasional tension in the chamber during the speech and Obama’s forced use of sarcasm. When he did not receive a positive response to the spending freeze proposal, Obama noted that the freeze would not go into effect until next year when employment conditions have improved. He then awkwardly joked, "That's how budgeting works." He also called out critics of global warming, stating "I know there are those that disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence" for climate change. Finally, he continually referred back to the faults of the Bush administration, remarking that the deficit and war existed before he "walked in the door." After noting all the problems he inherited, he said that he was "just stating the facts." These moments showed Obama's struggle to gain support from both the Republicans as well as his own party.

Although the speech itself is my first choice as a source for information about the State of the Union, newspaper articles and blogs do have several benefits and are great supplements to the address. Reporters compile information about relevant current events and put the speech in political context. The "State of the Union: Reactions, Analysis of Obama's 2010 Address" on The Huffington Post's Web site provides multiple comments from political experts who look at Obama's speech through the lense of his actions over the past year.

Political analysts also have a more comprehensive idea of what to expect. An article on FOXNews.com, "Obama to Push Jobs, Education Spending in State of the Union Address," outlined Obama's goals, including an increase in educational spending, an increase in jobs and a persistent push for healthcare reform.

Also, reporters can compare the speech to speeches by past presidents in comparable political situations. The News and Observer's article, "Obama channels Ronald Reagan: 'Stay the course,'" likens Obama's address to Ronald Reagan's speech in 1982, which also encouraged citizens to have faith in his policies despite hard times. (The president may have noticed this similarity -- he said that he was embracing the vision of Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy when he discussed the threat of nuclear weapons.)

Just as the intervening applause during the speech was grating at times, the personal attacks and ad hominem arguments of bloggers can get in the way of relevant information about the speech. However, blogs present a wide variety of perspectives from Michelle Malkin to the Daily Kos.

The comments on blogs allow for political debate that can increase readers' knowledge and present ideas that one may not have considered. Talking Points Memo blogger John Marshall invited comments from readers an hour before the speech, asking his audience to "bring it on" with their expectations. The Washington Post editor Robert G. Kaiser asked for questions and comments from audience members about his State of the Union: Analysis and responded to their posts, creating a political discussion.

Blogs and newspaper articles add to readers' understanding of the State of the Union, but they are no substitute for the real deal. So next January, grab the remote -- or your laptop (YouTube, anyone?) -- and tune in.

Political blogs in North Carolina

An increasing number of North Carolina voters are turning to blogs for political news. The influence of blogs, including news and political opinion blogs, continues to grow as their readership rises. This week my Citizens and Media class is exploring two North Carolina blogs on opposite ends of the political spectrum – Blue NC and Civitasreview. I was curious to find out more about the credibility of each blog. Does their bias distort the information on their site or are the blogs trustworthy sources of news?

One of the first things I noticed about Blue NC – the left-leaning blog – were the entries posted by government officials and candidates for office. Phillip Gilfus announced that he is running for a seat on the Cumberland County Board of Commission. Elaine Marshall, the North Carolina Secretary of State and candidate for U.S. Senate, posted an argument for financial reform. While Gilfus talked in a more conversational tone than Marshall (he even went as far as to say “ladies and gents”), both made their posts personal, as if they were speaking directly to readers. This makes them more relatable, like they genuinely care about the concerns of voters And as seen through recently-elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's campaign ads, such as his "Hey Dad" campaign ad, relatability is a valuable quality in an election.

Kenneth Lewis, a candidate for U.S. Senate, posted a statement about a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding campaign contributions. By posting the press release, he eliminated the middleman of the press. Readers can use their own judgment to interpret his statement in its entirety – a statement that has great emotional impact with its use of heated phrases like “dangerous ruling” and "arrogant display of judicial activism.”

In these three cases, the blog provides political leaders with the opportunity to connect with voters. This transparency establishes a sense of trust between candidates and supporters. The blog may help them mobilize more politically active citizens to support their campaign. While this is beneficial for the candidates, this makes the site a form of propaganda, and readers should keep that in mind when they use it to find out information.

There were also several posts critiquing government action and soliciting support for legislation. While they were opinionated, the posts were informative, often containing quotes from credible sources and links to sites with more data and background. Economic envelopment was almost entirely composed of links, giving readers access to a large pool of information.

Two additional posts called for collective action by readers:

Facing the barrage asked readers to become more astute observers of campaign ads in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

NC Congressional Delegation: Missing in action? requested that readers contact their legislators to support the SOS Bill. (On a side note: It's ironic that the blogger jokingly offers to buy a beer for readers who successfully solicit support from legislators. In class last Thursday, we discussed how politicians would reward voters with rum punch on election day during the early years of American government. This blogger may not be an esteemed gentleman in the House of Burgesses, but he is suggesting the same type of compensation for political activity. I guess history really does repeat itself.)

Civitasreview – the right-leaning blog – included several posts that exposed government corruption. Many of these posts, including one that was titled Peeling Away the Left's Lies (not exactly subtle), used inflammatory language. Although the language was emotional, the posts were still informative because, like Blue NC, they frequently contained links to primary sources and objective news articles. The posts themselves are accusatory at times, but they still serve an important function once solely fulfilled by traditional media sources: they hold leaders accountable for their actions. The blog empowers everyday citizens to call out officials for wrongdoing.

In UN Having to Admit More (and more) Mistakes, the blogger discusses the ClimateGate scandal. The use of the phrase “anti-human, climate-change advocates” in the first sentence seems extreme, but it did catch my eye. Once the post grabbed my attention with this opening sentence, I read further, learning from the Times Online excerpt that a 2007 report on Himalayan glaciers was misrepresented. Animated language like the phrase above may be over the top. Yet, it attracts people who, ideally, will then read on for more information.

The accusations made in the post about the corruption of the ABC boards in Wilmington and Charlotte were less provocative. The post relied heavily on monetary values to prove that board members are acting in self-interest. It also included a link to a report documenting the need for changes. The data makes the post extremely informative even with its cynical tone.

In Citizens and Media class last week, I proposed that traditional forms of journalism were necessary to report local politics. Beat reporters who follow specific politicians and attend town meetings are essential to communicating information about local political activity – or so I thought.

A post on Civitasreview, Early Childhood Education and Care Consolidation, shattered this point of view. It included the three essential things covered during a meeting of the joint legislative task force – a spreadsheet documenting 2009-2010 investments, a key speaker’s presentation and an organizational chart explaining the sources and flow of funding. The blog post was actually more useful than a print newspaper article about the meeting because it included links to these three items.

Both blogs provide their audiences with information and access to several reliable sources. The conversational and controversial writing style of the posts makes them more entertaining than traditional objective news articles. However, the main purpose of the blogs is the same as traditional sources of political news – to inform readers so that they can make rational decisions and influence government.

If a person only reads one of these blogs, he or she will have a one-sided perspective on current events. Still, a one-sided perspective is better than nothing. These citizens are halfway there to becoming the ideal “rational, informed citizen.” And as enthusiasm for political engagement declines in the United States, it’s a good start. Perhaps blogs, with their casual, approachable format, are the best response to political apathy among Americans, especially the younger age group.

News in the Queen City

Hey! I'm a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill double majoring in journalism and political science. I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even though I spent a large amount of my time growing up in suburbia, I'm definitely a "city kid." I absolutely love the action and excitement of places with numerous people and events packed into a single location. Something about the atmosphere of uptown Charlotte at its peak hours (while it doesn't exactly compare to New York City) gives me a rush of adrenaline.

I was also born and raised in a family of die-hard Tarheel fans so my decision to attend Carolina was met with great enthusiasm by my relatives. In fact, I think I would have been disowned by my family if I hadn't chosen UNC (my uncle hummed the alma mater every moment he was around me for months, no joke). However, when it came down to final decision time, I was truly drawn to Carolina by the journalism program and the great college atmosphere.

I have enjoyed writing my entire life -- creative writing was my first passion, but throughout high school, my interest in journalistic writing as well as my fascination by politics increased. I became an avid reader of Newsweek and Time and began frequently watching the news. In the evenings, while I was working out at the Y, I watched two adjacent televisions showing FOX and CNN respectively. With the reputations of the networks as biased news sources, I was intrigued to see how they covered the same stories. I never discovered any drastic differences (except perhaps between the talk shows), but it was still quite the experiment. My final news source was somewhat of an accident. Although I wasn't thrilled about it at first, I spent many car rides with my parents listening to NPR. As a kid, I begged to listen to music instead -- especially when my incredibly unreliable cassette player failed -- but it eventually grew on me. I did learn quickly though that discussions with my parents could not be held until AFTER the show was over.

I attended Myers Park High School, a huge public school with a diverse population of around 2800 students. While most of my peers weren't consistently up-to-date on current events, I was surprised to find that many paid at least some attention to the news, especially during the presidential campaign last year. Many students watched the Colbert Report or the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (watching it every night is a favorite pastime of my brother and I).

Another news source of my peers was our school newspaper, The Hoofprint. It was actually fairly popular among the student body (and I'm not just saying that because I was on the staff). We strived to produce a paper that was controversial and acted as a voice for the overlooked members of our school's population -- even in the face of opposition from the school administration. We included stories on homosexuality, underage drinking, overcrowding, students' rights, and the achievement gap. We balanced those with human interest pieces and funny columns to create a well-rounded paper. Features about unusual individuals, such as a teacher's brother who was biking around the world and two teachers who compete in the Highland games, drew students in with their originality. The paper may not have reached everyone at Myers Park, but on distribution day, it was exciting to see how many students spent class time flipping through the newspaper (although some teachers weren't particularly pleased with the distraction).

The Charlotte region's main newspaper is The Charlotte Observer. The paper's once stocky appearance has become increasingly slim, and the decrease in the number of stories written by local reporters is equally alarming. I believe more and more Charlotte residents are turning to the Internet as their primary source of news. Much of Charlotte's economy revolves around the banking industry -- an industry that depends heavily on nationwide events and companies -- and, as a result, people with careers in this field turn to national news sources online such as The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times. With the state of Charlotte so closely tied to the national financial industry, local news often takes a backseat. In addition, the local news network provides a brief rundown of noteworthy events -- a quicker and more convenient alternative to reading the newspaper. Other publications, such as Charlotte Weekly and Charlotte Parent, target specific groups of the population and are read by a limited group of people.

Gossip is a source of news for almost everyone in Charlotte (whether it is intentional or not). Some residents are experts at spreading news through carpool lines, phone trees, PTA meetings, clubs, and social events. I have witnessed this firsthand with my mom's book club -- their discussion of novels often morphs into a discussion of the personal lives of themselves and others. But don't get me wrong. In my opinion, this is not necessarily a horrible thing. I think gossip has gotten a bad rep; pop culture frequently associates it with catty girls and harmful rumors. Honestly, though it may not be the most reliable source of news, it is still an effective way to spread information. It provides basic information to people that they can then further investigate themselves. Individuals who might otherwise never learn about an event may hear about it from a friend and look it up. In the end, this exchange of news is unavoidable. We should embrace it and make more accessible tools for people to check the validity of gossip, enhancing the positive news-sharing aspect of it while negating the potential for spreading rumors.