Ryan ChartrandDoes the media really influence votes? Find out at the next Associated Students Inc. True Life Series event on Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in Chumash Auditorium.
Cliff Kincaid, editor of conservative watchdog organization Accuracy in the Media, and Norman Solomon, founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national association of policy researchers and analysts, will debate the topic, “Does the media sway votes?”
“The True Life series is really just an event that provides students with the information and education to make up their own minds about controversial topics,” said ASI Program Coordinator Michelle Curro. “It’s a way to provide students with an education without being biased one way or another.”
The True Life Series happens once a quarter and Curro said they wanted to do something related to the election for fall. With no way to get the actual presidential candidates on campus for a debate, and with the popularity of shows like “Saturday Night Live,” Curro said ASI decided on a media debate.
“(We wanted to see if) there is a debate out there that talks about the effect of the media and do they sway votes?” she said.
They called a production company that gave ASI the names of two people, Kincaid and Solomon, who were touring college campuses debating that very topic. Neither man is a journalist, however, which may seem strange given the subject.
“We try to choose the two people who have the most experience in the topic and they happen to be Cliff Kincaid and Norman Solomon,” Curro said. “We feel pretty confident that Kincaid and Solomon are going to be able to debate both sides incredibly accurately.”
ASI tried to bring in Cal Poly journalism professors to moderate the debate but it didn’t work out, she said.
Due to increased student involvement in politics, Curro said students should definitely attend, especially those who are casting their vote on Nov. 4 based on what they hear in the media.
“(Students should) figure out for themselves if what they are voting on is really what’s going on, if it’s just what they’ve heard in the media there might be a different spin on it,” Curro said. “When you’re voting, you really want to make sure that it’s an educated decision.”
Journalism senior Toni Whiteside said she probably won’t attend the debate, but she thinks the media does affect voters.
“The reason I feel so strongly that they do (sway voters) is because of my public relations background,” she said. “Anyone can see that marketing works. I can see the inside part (of public relations) and how much we use marketing to our advantage to sell a product.”
“Politics are advertised everywhere,” she continued. “I can see Obama everywhere on Facebook because his campaign is doing such a good job of marketing him. Why wouldn’t people market politics if they market everything else?”