Banning Media from Invading Privacy - Essay Example

The news media should be legally prohibited from digging into and exposing the private lives of people running for political office. This opinion isbased on three main reasons. The first reason the news media should be legally prohibited from exposing private lives of politicians is most of the reports are false or exaggerated. The second reason is many times people close to the politician get hurt. Finally, all of the dirt dug up has nothing to do with how a politician does his job. All of these reasons are the news media should be legally prohibited from exposing a politician’s private lives. Due to the massive amount of examples of the media digging into a politician’s private life, this paper will limit the instances examined to the 2008 Presidential Election between Barack Obama and John McCain. In the 2008 Presidential Election both Obama and McCain were targets from the news media. The numerous reports caused major problems for both Obama and McCain and their families. Exaggerated news and hurtful reports about the candidates’ families had nothing to do with Obama and McCain’s record in the senate. This type of news reports only divided an already troubled country. Below are only a fraction of the examples for each candidate. Barack Obama Obama was the target of many exaggerated news reports. The most famous was his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In a sermon on the Sunday after 9/11, Rev. Wright preached: ‘We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye,’ Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001. ‘We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. Americas chickens are coming home to roost.’ (Ross and El-Buri) Then in 2003, Rev. Wright gave a sermon stating: ‘The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no, God damn America, thats in the Bible for killing innocent people,’ he said in a 2003 sermon. ‘God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.’ (Ross and El-Buri) While this was a harsh assessment on the American government, it was Rev. Wright’s opinion. In America citizens are supposed to be able to have opinions and the right to speak them freely at the pulpit. Obama explained “Rev. Wright ‘is like an old uncle who says things I dont always agree with,’ telling a Jewish group that everyone has someone like that in their family” (Ross and El-Buri). The media took Wright’s statements out of context. The media did not release or summarize all of Wright’s sermons. This exaggerated report cost Obama his home church, the church he was married in, where he had his daughters baptized. Not only did the media go after Obama’s personal religion, but his wife as well. News reports wanted to portray Michelle Obama as un-American. Media made Michelle look bad for this statement “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country, because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback” (O’Reilly). First Michelle is saying she is proud of America. Secondly many African Americans have felt despair at their situation in America, especially in Detroit. The problem is it does not matter if Michelle Obama was a card carrying Communist, she was not running for office. The only issue should have been was Obama patriotic. This attack on his family had nothing to do with what kind of president he would make. John McCain McCain was not immune to the exaggerated reports of the media. After losing his bid for the White House, a Russian supposedly surfaced with this astonishing claim: We were preparing to leave when the sirens sounded again," he said. ‘Two American F-4 Phantoms flew in. We had two missiles out of six left. The Vietnamese fired first. Their rocket missed, it fell into the jungle. One plane went round the hill, the other came over the bridge. We fired at this one.’ After McCains plane was downed, the North Vietnamese quickly discovered him in a nearby lake…McCain, as the son of a top U.S. admiral, was a major catch for the North Vietnamese. Trushyekin recovered McCains identity card, and even brought it back with him to the Soviet Union. However, he has since mislaid it. (World Rss) First it is a common fact that although the Russians supplied weapons to the North Vietnamese, not one American soldier ever saw a Russian soldier in Vietnam. Another point is if Trushvekin recovered McCain’s identity card, why did it take the Vietnamese weeks to find out who McCain was? This whole report is based on the exaggerations of one man. It is irresponsible at best. What does the opinion of a man from Russia claiming to have shot down John McCain have to do with how McCain does his job? It has nothing to do with it. Cindy McCain was also dragged through the mud by the press. After accusations of having an affair due to the age difference between her and her husband, Cindy’s account of overcoming her drug addiction to pain pills were brought into question. One new reports state: Her misuse of painkillers prompted an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local prosecutors that put her in legal jeopardy. A doctor with McCains medical charity who supplied her with prescriptions for the drugs lost his license and never practiced again. The charity, the American Voluntary Medical Team, eventually had to be closed in the wake of the controversy. Her husband was forced to admit publicly that he was absent much of the time she was having problems and was not aware of them… ‘Its not just about her addiction, its what she did to cover up her addiction and the lives of other people that she ruined, or put at jeopardy at least,’ Gosinski said. (Kindy) This report states that her husband was not aware of her drug addiction. Even if McCain knew, how many people would want their lives exposed to all the drug addicts they know. Many Americans have and addiction of some sort. By throwing rocks at Cindy McCain, reporters never stopped to think about the people in their lives. Cindy McCain did not have anything to do with how McCain would have acted as president. Both Obama and McCain had exaggerated news reports ran about themselves before and during the election. Their families and friends were attacked. None of these stories had anything to do with how suitable the two men would be as president. These men were only caught doing what every American has a right to do; live their lives. The media should not have access to a politician’s private life. Americans should only hear about issues that would affect the office the politician is running for. Bibliography Kindy, Kimberly. “A Tangled Story of Addiction.” 12 Sept. 2008. The Washington Post. 27 Jul. 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103928.html O’Reilly, Bill. “Does Michelle Obama Dislike America?” 20 Feb. 2008. Fox News. 27 Jul. 2009. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331428,00.html Ross, Brian and Rehab El-Buri. “Obamas Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11.” 13 Mar. 2008. ABC News. 27 Jul. 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/DemocraticDebate/story?id=4443788&page=1 World Rss. “Soviet officer who shot down McCain over Vietnam speaks out.” 17 Nov. 2008. RIANOVOSTI. 27 Jul. 2009. http://en.rian.ru/world/20081117/118360632.html Read More