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MESSAGE BOARD The Spirit of ’56
In “The Spirit of ’56,” Curtis
Wilkie argues that the demands
of television have sapped the
parties’ political conventions of
spontaneity and drama – and
led, ironically, to ever less
network television coverage.
Should the networks give the
conventions more air time?
Or do the conventions no
longer merit the coverage they
receive?
Page 1 Unless the system is changed so that there is some kind of unknown going into the convention, there's no point in covering them on television. However, with the reality TV trend, "Who Wants to Be Vice President?" might be a big ratings hit! Paula, Fall River cc copy Dear Menino, Due to your lack of fisical responsibility I will be starting the crusade to get you recalled from office! The latest setlements with all the police and fire unions just so you can have your parties at tax payers expense just proves it! All the loss of money due to the convention is the other point! You brought an unnecessary risks to the city with all the scumbag protesters this event attracts. You should have thought of these thing before you brought this event to the city! Bob bob, boston Yes, the networks should devote more time to live coverage of the political conventions. Clearly, the "dumbing-down" of America is a serious issue that impacts national and local politics. If citizens are uninformed about the prominent issues of the day, how can they possibly vote in a manner that will benefit the society to which they belong. It has become increasingly obvious that many Americans lack a substantive knowledge of the issues impacting politics and society in general, today. Our media must play a pivotal role in promoting and extending our society's "Information education". That, along with it's "watchdog" role seems to be sorely lacking of late with the conglomeration taking place in media circles. We need a diverse and independent media that is not afraid to present the truth for public consumption. By so doing, imbalances and injustices get corrected by virtue of public knowledge and reaction. The greatest danger to our democracy lies in the oligarchical consolidatioin of media in our society. The danger of inherent bias in such an arrangement will only serve the interests of the few over the legitimate interests of the many. Yes, the media needs to assume its full responsibility to educate and inform the public. An independent media is an important pillar supporting a true democracy. Without it, we are doomed to be the unwitting recipients of carefully sifted corporate news with a purpose. Mike, Wareham Of course not. Then shouldn't get any TV time. Everyone knows who's is getting nominated for both the Democratic and Republican parties. Nothing newsworthy is occurring, convention television coverage is nothing more than unpaid political advertising that benefits the two party system and helps in fostering the complete lack of true choices in politics. We have two people running that most people wouldn't dream of voting for except to try to choose the lesser evil. Supporters of convention coverage will say that the conventions must be televised in order for the country to hear what the candidates are all about, however, if we're already down to the final two candidates to run our country and people still are unaware what they are all about then its a pretty sad state of affairs. Lazlo, Watertown YES, The Networks should definitely give more air time to the National Conventions, and to the protestors. Joan, Salt Lake Utah Absoutely increase the coverage - for both conventions. I agree with the previous writer - stop dumbing down America. The change to state primaries with the delegate counts changed the conventions, not TV. States now determine the nominees, not convention delegates. But once the realization of the impact of TV, I agree that the scripting of elements of the conventions became the painful norm. Not sure how to fix, but lessening the coverage will make it worse. Kate There is so much lead time coverage given to the convention that by the time the conventions are actually here they are anticlimatic. We have seen the candidates. We all know who they are. We all know what they are going to say. It is all expensive hoopla. An excuse to get together, network with the good ole boys. Yes, they use to be note worthy. But enough time has already been spent. Cherune, Chelmsford Give the conventions more air time. kerry has made too many vague statements that i dont know where the hell he stands on the issues. war, jobs and how he will fix them. dan, tewksbury Please! NO! The conventions shouldn't be getting anywhere's near the amount of tax dollars they do, never mind soaking up my valuable TV time as well. Dan, Boston With everything decided...blah. I find the blogs much more interesting. So far the Globe is pretty dull, but things are just starting. I ran across a nice set of vignettes in the motor-pool blog at http://bostoneyes.blogspot.com/ TV can't or won't do the shading and detail that a good blog does. Mike, Jamaica Plain
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