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The "First Hundred Days" is a Media Ploy to Increase Advertising
by James Glaser April 30, 2009 Do you remember a big media blitz for Bush's, Clinton's, or Reagan's first hundred days as President? No, you can't, because there wasn't any. Oh sure, there were a few "hundred day" stories about Bush and Clinton, but if you Google it, you will see the stories revert to Obama on the first page of articles, and Ronald Reagan didn't even get any articles on his first hundred day report card. That is one of the hooks the media is using. The media is telling us that they are qualified to give President Obama a report card on what he has accomplished in his first hundred days—like the American media is qualified to report anything. Remember, it was the media, as much as George Bush, who sent us into our two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. How about we do a report card on the American media for the last eight and a half years? Let's score it with the number of innocent lives destroyed by bad reporting. For extra points we can add up the number of American troops killed or maimed. Who likes this Hundred Day thing? Well the media's star pupil, Barack Obama loves it. He knows he is getting high grades, after all he aced the test and the media loves him. So, to help the media out with this Hundred Day thing, the President of the United States is going on television to give an oral report about himself. Can you believe it? Are you surprised that some people think Barack Obama is a narcissist? Here is a prime example of the media love affair I am talking about. Yesterday, in the New York Times, the story wasn't about our economy and an analysis about what the President was doing about it. No, it was another positive spin story. The headline was, "After the Great Recession." Here we have a story about what is going to happen after Barack Obama fixes everything, and I mean everything. President Obama discusses how better schools, alternative energy, more affordable health care, and a more regulated Wall Street might change daily life. Of course it is always fun to talk about a pie-in-the-sky future America. However, we all know that with 23,000+ Americans losing their jobs every day since Obama was inaugurated, pie-in-the-sky talks do nothing to fix our fiscal problems. Also, talking about "what ifs," is meaningless because the recession has to be overcome before we can talk about huge spending issues like health care reform and school spending. But let's face it, Barack Obama is fun to listen to, and he can make most Americans on the left jump for joy when he says, "Yes we can." The media eats those words up, and advertisers write out checks so they can be seen as bringing Barack Obama to the American people. They are bringing Obama to us through this Hundred Day Report Card media blitz. It is being touted by almost every media outlet and was invented as a way to increase advertising revenues, and to get viewer and readership numbers up. Anyway you look at it, having your employee (President Obama) decide if he is doing a good job for you, is a bad idea. Beside that, America has had a tradition since George Washington was President in giving each new president a grade on their performance. It is called an election, and we hold it not every 100 days, but every four years. When Barack Obama has finished his term in office, we will all decide if he deserves another. |
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