Politics, Polarization, & Partisanship

This week we learned about the 3 P's - Politics, Polarization, & Partisanship. There were two sides of this topic, with each side being represented by different people; Horkheimer, Adorno, and Sunstein. Media effects are generally more limited than critics would have you believe they are, which really puts the whole movie rating system into a new perspective. If the media effects are so limited, what is it that we as the consumers of media are missing out on and being held back from? Horkheimer and Adorno did not appreciate the positive role that was being played by the general interest intermediaries, while Sustain may have idealized them.

In today's day and age, business models are constantly changing. However, this does not stop personalized nor mass media from being produced. Neither are disappearing any time soon. Despite Sunstein's concerns, some sources of information are more diverse than ever before. As we grow, our knowledge increases and we store this knowledge in various ways. This means that our sources of vast knowledge and information are constantly growing and changing as well.

Finally, we learned about a man named Dan Kreiss. Kreiss believed that new technologies for convening political supporters don't necessarily coincide with deeper underlying changes in the management of campaigns. This means that the two things don't necessarily work together like a clockwork mechanism; it is simply coincidental that the two are happening at the same time in today's society. Just because political figures such as presidential candidates are now using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter to gain more supporters for their campaigns does not mean they are the reason behind the new and changing ways that these campaigns are behind managed.

My question relates to the final paragraph. Will new technology and campaign management ever fully coincide? Since our technology is evolving faster and faster every day, who knows what future political figures will be using for campaigning in the coming years. Will we one day rely on technology so much that we can't have "deeper underlying changes" without it?