November | 2016 | Make Mexico Pay for the Blog

Let’s Rally

On October 27th, 2016 I attended my first political rally. Though I am not a particularly political person, I felt that it wasn’t an option for me to see go see Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton speak. I was overwhelmed before I even entered the venue. As I waited in the horrendously long line people…

Not Voting is the Real Crime

While waiting for Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, I sat with thousands of my closest friends in the LJVM Coliseum. As congress members and candidates came up to speak, I mostly people watched in efforts to make sense of what was going on. Going into the event, I was not sure what to expect given…

Hillary and Michelle take on Winston-Salem

I, along with roughly 11,000 other people, attended the Hillary Clinton/Michelle Obama rally at our very own Wake Forest coliseum last week. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama’s rally was centered around the importance of voting and was understandably attempting to sway voters to the left. I found it immensely interesting, however, that Hillary was the…

Girl Power

Deborah Ross’ panel was centered around domestic violence and the importance of having women in political office. Alongside Ross stood several other strong women who hold well-respected positions within Winston-Salem, as well as several Wake Forest ‘Wake the Vote’ students. Ross began her talk by highlighting the importance of the working woman and the goal…

Americans: Lovers of Outrage

Outrage gets the American people talking and thus is a goldmine for advertisers. The Outrage Industry makes money for name-calling. In December 2013, Martin Bashir made news for calling Sarah Palin a “world class idiot” and saying that someone should dedicate in her mouth. Wow. Gross. Comments such as these are now common place and…

Outrageous Politics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGPbl-werw In the current presidential election, I feel as though outrage has been an incredible tactic that both parties have used in their respective campaigns. One of the strategies that Jeffery Berry and Sarah Sobieraj discuss relating back to outrage is the vilification of their opponent. This video is a prime example of the attacks…

The Squeaky Wheel Gets Their Candidate Elected

Imagine a world where someone with a strong opinion and a show on television could influence the results of an election. Or, turn on Fox News or MSNBC. It’s no secret that media has a big influence on American voters in the 21st Century, but the genre of “outrage media” as defined by Berry and…

We Should All Be Outraged

Tune into the Rachel Maddow Show on any given night and you’re bound to catch a gem like this. On her actual “news” program, which Maddow claims has a role in “providing useful and accurate information about the news to the American people,” she does nothing but spout her personal opinions about the political landscape…

How Far Is Too Far?

For as long as I can remember, politics has created a certain tension that results in subjective or often vulgar comments. The Outrage Industry by Berry and Sobieraj puts into perspective just how outrageous politics can and have been. After reading the article, I realized the presence of outrage politics today. The Wake Forest bus…

To You, Lovers of Liberty

There is a new genre of political opinion media called outrage media because it uses tactics to provoke emotional responses from “the rhetoric that defines it, with its hallmark venom, vilification of opponents, and hyperbolic reinterpretations of current events,” (Berry and Sobieraj, Chpt 1). Outrage media has risen to be extremely popular since the 1970’s…