Monday, June 29, 2009

Overexposed?

How many of you knew that ABC had an hour long special on the health care debate featuring a town hall meeting with President Obama? Apparently no one else noticed either. The ratings were abysmal. President Obama's town hall scored less viewers than a CSI:NY rerun and "i survived a Japanese game show". This brings me to a question that many media critics have been asking lately. Is Obama overexposing himself? Can a sitting U.S. President be too visible in the media? Why do you think the ratings are so bad? Was no one interested in the topic of health care reform? Was everyone interested in other summer activities? Or did people skim through the channels, see Obama, and think to themselves, "oh, it's him again?"

11 comments:

Lanna Nations said...

I was completely unaware that there was an hour long special on the health care debate with President Obama. I was fully aware, however, of every account of Michael Jackson's life from birth to death! I mean absolutely zero disrespect, but come on. I think that our society has their priorities so messed up. We are completely obsessed with pop culture, but yet we turn and look the other way or just don't care when it comes to a child being without healthcare. I truely don't believe that the lack of viewers had anything to do with Obama being overexposed. I think we as culture crave "eye candy" and thoughtless entertainment that we completely ignore the important issues.

Abbi said...

I was not aware that there was a town hall meeting held by President Obama. I think that the ratings were so bad because it is summer and people have things to do that are more fun than sit inside and watch a politician on television. I think that the overwhelming news coverage of Michael Jackson's death probably overshadowed the town hall meeting, but even if there was no big story (like Michael Jackson) to cover, the ratings would have still been very low.

I do think that in some ways Obama is putting himself out there too much. As bad as it may sound, I do have that feeling of "Oh, he's on t.v. again" when I see that Obama is making another speech or whatever it might be. Overall, whether it is right or wrong, I think people would simply rather spend their time doing something else.

marjorie said...

First, I would like to say that I do not think Obama is exposing himself too much. I think that if he tried to hide things, then the media would then try to expose him. I think he is doing a great job. Also, I think people may have been interested in other summer activites instead of the health care reform, which could be why the ratings were low.

On the other hand, I think people are simply tuned into what interest them. Also, I think Obama is shown so much because he made history because he is the first African American president, and he is being closely examined. Also, the majority of people are interested in his next move, since he seems to be making accomplishments. I also think that he is not watched much by people who are not in favor of him. Personally, I am not interested in politics, and I do not vote. Last but not least, I was not aware of the health care reform.

marjorie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ChaosandOrder said...

I was unaware that there was a town hall meeting about health care. I definitley would liked to have tuned in to what was debated.
Obama to me has not overexposed himself and I don't think that any sitting President could be in the media too much. More exposure means more openness. I do feel the same as Abbi that the coverage of the death of several celebrities overshadowed the debate and that not very many people pay much attention to political stuff unless they fell that they are being directly effected as in he election. Also I believe that the media did not properly cover the debate because it is a very controversial issue right now and could cause viewer loss.

mhayes said...

I actually like CSI:NY reruns. I don't pay much attention to Obama because I feel like he got elected and thats what I wanted. I feel like now that he is elected its his time to do his job. Is a situation really going to change because I am watching? It could be that people feel confident in him so they don't feel need to watch. So, no I don't think he is overexposing himself. He is the President so I don't think there is a such thing as overexposure. If we never saw him everyone would say he is not involved enough. So I just think this guy can't win. If he is involved he is criticized. And if he isn't involve he is still talked about. The media is the one who is making him too visible. Really how many of thought that Obama was too visible in the media before we heard it through the media? I don't think he can be too visible because of who he is and if he chooses to be on tv every night then at least we know we have a President who is involved. The cause may be that a lot of people are on vacation and are interested in the media.

Unknown said...

From viewing news channels I was aware that the President was speaking on health reform, however I did not plan to watch it, nor did I flip channels that day and land on his debate. I am sure that my family had CSI or a Michael Jackson Special playing in the background of our house this day. My reasons for not tuning on this debate may be that I am not a doctor and this does not impact me, or my industry directly. I think that the debate could possibly impact the doctors of America and hit their pocket, or impact the way the do business at the end of the day. My family and I have health insurance at this time and this single debate will not impact my children’s next trip to the doctor and the amount of my co-pay. If it does end up impacting me immediately, then I will see highlights of this speech on the local news, CNN, and/or FOX News. With the internet influence why watch his debate when you can Google it and scan quickly through the parts that interest you instead of sitting through the entire hour with no fast forward. Isn’t it a shame how fast paced our world has become?
I agree that Obama is on television a lot, everything from his family dog, him admitting that he casually smokes, on late night shows, and political topics. When channel surfing, I find that I don’t stop the channel when I see Obama’s face maybe because he is on it so much. However, him being the first African American President is enough reason for all media to want to capture his every move the first year in office.
~Terry Fisher

Unknown said...

I knew nothing of the town hall meeting until it interrupted a show I was watching. I would have to agree with Marjorie in saying that the media would have a problem if he wasn't visible as an active president. Healthcare is an important issue and one he has been championing since before he was elected into office. The one thing everyone should understand about Obama is that he is a president for the people therefore he is going to put himself out there as such. He will never know overexposure because pop culture won't allow it. There is always going to be a scandal, a high profile murder or a celeb exiting a car with no panties that with overshadow his televised appearances. I find politics boring and no matter who is discussing it I'm pretty sure I won't be tuning in. There are probably others that feel as I do thereby garnering sloppy ratings. Obama probably realizes that there are a lot of questions regarding the issues, and feels that he needs to clarify and simplify his plans for the nation so that everyone will understand his choices and decisions. Over analyzed...yes. Overexposed...no.

MR said...

Oh yes. He is always on tv. He is not a celebrity but the president. He needs to spend more time on the issues at hand than being a visilbe president.
I did not watch this because I did not know nor care. I may have filpped through the channels and if I saw him I most likely just thought oh it's him again. I know he is proud but he really has not done anything different in my eyes to be proud of. I just think he needs to get back to the basics.

Meryl said...

I, like others was totally unaware of the health care debate. I think that Obama is being over exposed, or more like his "new" is wearing off. All the hype about him has died down and now he is just fullfilling normal presidential duties, that anyone can keep up with from the headlines or checking their google account daily. Things such as Michael (Jackson) and Farrah were much more important to the people. Obama is not "hot news" anymore. I think people are interested in the topic, they just don't feel the need to watch an hour long program about it, when they can read a brief online article and get all the information they need.

Paige said...

From viewing the morning and nightly news I was aware there was a health care debate, however this topic came much later in the broadcasts as most stations have been completely focused first and foremost on Micheal Jackson's passing. I found myself wondering over the past few weeks why the media was so enthralled with Micheal Jackson, even Bill O'Reilly was reporting night after night about his death and the events/circumstances surrounding it. The media is not "fair and balanced" as some like to claim, its ratings hungry and simply put, Micheal Jackson was/is getting the ratings.
President Obama was just the person we wanted to see a year ago, he was the one who got the big ratings. He was a "super celebrity", saying the things people wanted to hear. Now, almost a year after the election, its time to get to the real issues, health care for instance, and we don't care. We would rather watch how many noses Micheal Jackson has had over the years than watch issues concerning ourselves and future generations. I believe President Obama was sensationalized by the mainstream media and thus has become too visible. Now,if President Obama held a town hall meeting about Micheal Jackson, THEN we would watch. -Steve Caldwell