OPINION Mainstream media only sees Clinton 8
The Observer • Oct. 22 - 28, 2015
Editor-in-Chief//Maria Harr
cwuobserveropinion@gmail.com
BY GRACE LINDSLEY/COPY DESK CHIEF
If you’ve been following the democratic primaries at all this year, then you already know that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and mainstream news media has been having a torrid love affair with Hillary Clinton. You want fewer debates so your competition can’t gain exposure? Of course, Senator Clinton. We’re happy to purposefully limit our democracy. Anything for you! Other candidates are rising in the polls? Well, that’s never going to actually happen. We already know who our candidate is! Stop trying to pretend there are options. The Clinton bias in the media and DNC leadership has not been subtle, but it has been very wrong.
Many people have cried oligarchy in response to Clinton’s presidential campaign and, while exaggerated fear mongering is detrimental to a healthy democracy, it’s hard not to notice the hints of truth in what’s said. The media’s response to the first DNC debate on Oct. 13 has only strengthened the opposition’s argument. During and after that first debate, focus groups results, social media posts and online polls all poured in. The reviews were mixed, but Clinton was not a clear winner by any standards.
CNN
In fact, she regularly came in second, after other democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders. Despite this response from the public, almost every big-time mainstream media outlet proclaimed Clinton as the deniable champion of the debate. CNN, who hosted the debate, claimed that Hillary “triumphed” and was “poised, passionate and in command.” The separation between the public and media’s opinion is staggering. In response, many have tried to explain why. Ultimately, it’s a complicated
issue to tackle; explaining bias isn’t always clear-cut and there are a lot of factors at play. First off is name recognition. Though not her only selling point, the Clinton name has played a big role in Clinton’s initial popularity, especially in the press. Hillary Clinton is already well-known and not generally disliked. As much as Americans love an underdog story, we also like to know what we’re getting into. It’s the “I’ll support Hillary because she’s the only one I’ve heard of ” mindset. Which is what makes the DNC’s refusal to broaden debate opportunities seem very much like a bid for Clinton and why so many people were upset about this perceived “coronation” of a candidate eight months before the primaries. Perhaps a bit more damning are Clinton’s donation records. Clinton is rather predictably primarily funded by a string of multi-million dollar corporations. Number seven on her list of top donors is Time Warner. Time Warner owns many subsidiaries and one of those is CNN.
CNN proved they’re a supporter of the Clinton campaign. The question of vested corporate interest in politics is brought up once again and it doesn’t reflect well on Clinton or CNN. News outlets shouldn’t be tied to any candidates or all their coverage will be inherently bias. It’s basically asking for more corruption and corporate control in our already problematic democracy. Others argue that the real issue is the media’s perspective versus the public’s perspective. According to Bill Curry in an article on Salon, both Clinton and the national press fail to even understand issues that are central to this presidential election. “Having spent the ’90s promoting globalization, and her adult life raising money from those who profit from it, she’s too wed to the system to see its fatal flaws,” Curry said. “It’s a big reason why...the national press says Clinton won: they see the world as she does.” I believe that Curry is right. The media sides with Clinton largely side with her because they share her perspective. And, as far as I’m concerned, they aren’t right.
Say goodbye to “Bye Felicia” BY FELICIA KOPPERDAHL/SCENE EDITOR
For the last 20 years of my life, I have had to endure the horrible defamation of my name through the popular phrase, Bye Felicia. The phrase was coined by actor Ice Cube in the 1995 film “Friday,” when he was trying to get rid of his freeloading neighbor, Felicia Jones, played by actress Angela Means. The term gained notoriety in 2008, when an anonymous user uploaded the definition of “Bye Felicia” to urbandictionary.com. The site definition is: “When someone says that they’re leaving and you could really give two shits less that they are, their name than [sic] becomes “Felicia,” a random bitch that nobody is sad to see go. His or her real name becomes irrelevant because nobody cares what it really is. Instead, they are now Felicia.” Ouch! I get why someone would upload that as the definition. But, what I can’t wrap
MARK TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM
my mind around is why people think it is so funny. Majority of people that I know that use the term don’t even know where the phrase started or who Felicia is. And it drives me nuts. Put yourself in my shoes. I work as a server at a fine dining restaurant at a resort. I walk up to a table with six guests and I introduce myself. “Hi! How is everyone doing tonight? My name is Felicia…” Smiles and stares instantly surround the table. I continue to introduce myself. The response I get in return from one of the
guests is, “Do people ever say BYE FELICIA?” and everyone breaks into laughter. I literally hear the phrase about five times a day on average and it’s a bit ridiculous. Oh, but it gets better. According to thenewsnerd. com, in 2007, a Californian woman by the name of Felicia James, filed for a trademark of the phrase “Bye Felicia.” It was approved in 2014 and she soon went on to file lawsuits against 105 different companies, who were using the phrase. She is expected to win each of her law-
DEAR READERS:
suits and could be granted as much as $25 million. Are you kidding me? James told thenewsnerd.com, “I was surprised to see the phrase was not owned by anyone, so I jumped at the opportunity.” I wonder if she ever thought that the other thousands of Felicia’s out there just wanted the phrase to die. And trademarking it just keeps it alive forever. I honestly don’t want that and I’m pretty sure other people named Felicia would agree. And it gets even better. In 2014, VH1 released a new
reality show called, “Bye Felicia.” Life coaches, Missy and Deborah, take on the task of changing trashy LA woman into classy all-stars. The point is for the LA women to say bye to their inner ratchet and say hello to their new selves. First of all, this show is so degrading to women because it’s saying the women aren’t good enough as who they are. Secondly, the point is to say goodbye to your inner Felicia, which is meant to be a bad thing. My name is not a bad thing. According to sheknows.com, Felicia is a Latin baby name. In Latin, the meaning of the name is happy or lucky. My name went from something positive to such a negative context in the last couple of decades. To top it off, the 2015 film, “Straight Outta Compton,” has a scene where Ice Cube used the phrase again this time to a cheating female character named Felicia. The whole theatre burst into laughter. I’m just over it. So, the next time you decide to say, “Bye Felicia” to someone, think about what you’re really saying; you’re saying they are a cheating, freeloading “bitch.” It’s degrading. My reaction, as a Felicia, is “fuck off.”
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