April 26, 2016
In the Article “Toxic Communication: How the Water Crisis in Flint Corroded the Governor’s Credibility”, Dr. Jeanette L. Drake (2016) states that the current water crisis in Flint, Michigan has decreased the credibility of the current Governor.
Dr. Drake wrote the article with the purpose of informing the public of the politics behind the issue, in addition to criticizing the governor, and the media, for delayed reactions to the problem.
Drake reveals that when “thousands of emails became public” in February, the Governor’s credibility declined, as the emails showed that he had previous knowledge of the water crisis. Various members in office, working for the Governor, had been let go because of this. As a result of this issue, “Some 69 percent of those surveyed in January said the Republican governor has handled the crisis poorly, and 60 percent gave him “fair” to “poor” marks for overall performance” (Drake, 2016), as groups call for him to resign.
She also discusses information sharing with the media, stating, “It took 18 months for the media to truly legitimize the problem, and without media coverage, a would-be problem is unlikely to enter into public discourse or become part of the larger political conversation” (Drake, 2016).
As for the issue itself, Dr. Drake explains that boil- water advisories were sent out when the water first became toxic with E.Coli. When the water became more toxic with THMs, the “government leaders sat on the bad news for nearly five months before making it public” (Drake, 2016).
Meant for an active audience, this article shows the power of politicians, along with the influence and lack thereof, of the media on certain issues. It is controversial, as it deals with politics, decisions, and reactions of the Governor of Michigan. What began as a local issue, turned into a national one as the city needed help from outside sources. The article serves as a reminder that the same issue could happen to any city in the United States, as the “country’s outdated water infrastructure” (Drake, 2016) needs to be reevaluated.
Source:
Drake, J. (2016, April 26). Toxic Communication: How the Water Crisis in Flint Corroded the Governor's Credibility. Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/TheStrategist/Articles/view/11476/1125/Toxic_Communication_How_the_Water_Crisis_in_Flint#.V23j3bgrK01
2. “‘Brexit’ Talk on Social Media Favored the ‘Leave’ Side”
June 24, 2016
In the article, “‘Brexit’ Talk on Social Media Favored the ‘Leave’ Side”, John Herrman explores the topic of the social media impact on the UK’s membership of the European Union.
Throughout the article, Herrman discusses Facebook and the impact it has made on the situation: “By Friday, a primary page for the “remain” campaign, Britain Stronger in Europe, had passed 558,000 followers. Its close counterpart — Leave. EU — led in followers, at just over 767,000.” In addition to more followers, the “Leave” page also had almost triple the amount of millions of interactions.
In his article,Herrman referenced “Vyacheslav Polonski, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, who published a study of Brexit campaigns’ activity on Instagram”. The study showed that those in favor of “Leave” were more active on Instagram as well. Polonski discussed the importance of the use of social media.
Hashtags on Twitter varied between the sides of “Leave” or “Stay”.
EU took advantage of the social media platforms themselves by posting, “SHARE IF YOU CARE,” in a post published two hours before the polls closed across Britain. “Make sure you vote NOW before it’s too late,” read a post an hour later.” (Herrman, 2016).
This article brought up both interesting and important points. Polonski stated about the pro- “Leave” social media users: “They also tend to be more passionate, active and outspoken in their online behavior,”. This was relevant because the act of the UK leaving the EU has a potential effect on everyone. The use of social media was interesting as both supporters and non-supporters used the various platforms to voice their opinions, debate, and potentially convince people to change their minds. The use of social media in politics remains important as voters use the platform to voice their thoughts, and politicians use it themselves to push their own thoughts and campaigns.
Source: Herrman, J. (2016, June 24). ‘Brexit’ Talk on Social Media Favored the ‘Leave’ Side. Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/business/brexit-talk-on-social-media-heavily-favored-the-leave-side.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Media
