It's That Time of Year Again...

The proverbial groan is heard all over the country from every type of American citizen. Yes, that time of year has come again. Taxes are due once more. Most people do not like doing their taxes, but do them because they have to. It is part of our civic duty as US citizens. Taxes are often one of the main issues talked about during elections as well as at the top of the list of grievances about the government that American citizens have. This year was the first year I had to do my taxes; well, sign them really. It was eye-opening about the amount of taxes I and also my parents had to pay. I always knew that my parents had to pay quite a bit of taxes, but I never realized the true extent that my parents paid taxes to the federal government and the state of Illinois. A consensus of average federal income taxes paid  done by the National Priorities Project shows how much on average Americans pay in federal income taxes by each state and how each state wavers either positive or negatively in the amount citizens of those states must pay in taxes compared to the national average.

It often seems like we pay these huge amounts of taxes to the government, both federal and state, but don't really know to where it goes. I was curious to see where the bulk of taxes paid really goes in the government. In an article by CNN, they break down how the average amount of taxes paid by an American citizen is used in different ways by the government. They show that for someone who paid roughly $15,000 in federal income taxes, the government used a slight majority of it on the military, then on health, interest on the debt, unemployment, food and agriculture, education, etc., in descending order of "importance." In the pie chart below, there is a visual of the break down of what the government spends people's taxes on.

It's amazing to see what the government actually spends tax money on, because often it doesn't feel like they use any of it in ways that we can concretely see. This is explained well from the government using the biggest chunk of our tax money on the military, which the majority of us are very separated from, so therefore it makes sense that we often believe, and rightfully so, that the government isn't using our hard earned tax money in correct ways that directly affect us. The military, however, does directly affect us. When polled, most Americans would say they like having the strong and large military that we have, but most also would say that they do not agree with the amount of money, in the billions, that is used to fund the military. People want to have their cake and eat it too, but we really can't. We can't have all of the nice and comfortable and needed amenities such as the fire department and good education without taxes. Everyone wants to have these amenities, but no one really wants to actually have to pay for them.

In most media outlets this week, there is some sort of article discussing taxes being due. Whether it be reporting on ways people seem to get around paying taxes, or how some companies avoid paying taxes which hurts the American people, or just the plain fact that we have to pay our taxes right now, the media is covering this subject right now. The media understands that everyone, from politicians themselves to ordinary citizens have to pay their taxes and want to be able to read about other people feeling the exact same way that they are. Having a connection makes it easier to get through situations. The media benefits from reporting on the subject because they know the timing is right and that the subject is on their minds so therefore the public wants to read about it. The media isn't reporting on taxes because it is anything new or very interesting, but because they want views and ratings and the best way to do that is to report on subjects that the public wants to know about.

On the other hand, one of the main reasons that politicians year in and year out always talk about taxes and what they plan to do about them is because that's what the public wants to hear about. Both the media and the government understand that taxes are always going to be a hot topic to talk about due to its nature. The media and government only really benefit from talking about it to the public. Most politicians have taxes high on their list of priorities because of its extreme importance to the American people. Each different politician in both parties all the time try to come up with different ways to deal with the problem of citizens wanting to not have to pay the type of taxes they do. Both the media and politicians are going to continue to discuss politics because as stated, its what the people want to know about.

Can I Have All of Your Attention On The Airplane Disappearance Please Ladies And Gentleman.

Have you learned anything lately regarding Ukraine? Syria? How about Iran or North Korea? Thought not. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has monopolized the most time and energy of all of the major news outlets both on TV and in print. It has pushed the "yesterday's" crises off the front page and out of the half hour news. Yet, from a global importance perspective, any of the stories surrounding the above countries is of greater long term international importance than the plane disappearance. If Russia annexes Chrimea, formally or otherwise, that alters geopolitical calculations. If Iran achieves nuclear power, that upsets the balance and raises tensions throughout the Middle East. A saber rattling North Korea creates tensions in Asia. Syrian massacres have profound humanitarian concerns. Do these far-reaching global problems not need to be covered? I have taken screen shots of four different news outlets today, Saturday, March 15th, and the all have the same story front and center. In fact, they all have had some facet of this same news story on the front page ever since it happened. Heres the first, from CNN:

All of these situations have facts and aspects that the global media can delve into. All are of continuing importance. Global media can and should take the time to educate the public and explain the nuances of each. Instead, the media has chosen to focus on speculation of what dribs and drabs of incomplete information concerning the missing airplane means; and it has done so for hours and days, and now weeks, on end. In the CNN story, the reports are speculating about whether or not it was the pilots' faults, and the say that the U.S. officials investigating the disappearance, "lean toward 'those in the cockpit'". Similar claims are brought by the other three news outlets. Like the Chicago Tribune:

Or on the New York Times:

Although some news outlets such as the New York Times do have some traces of a few others stories, such as about Russia and Ukraine, that isn't their main focus, and it certainly isn't their top story.

Or on Fox News:

The Chicago Tribune and the other news outlets are speculating that Malaysian authorities believe, and yes they said "believe" that the plane's crew, or a passenger on the plane deliberately diverted it. Again with just the speculations. No real facts. All of these "believes" and "could haves" are not real, cold, hard facts, which is what should be reported on. The truth is, there are no facts to really report right now regarding the dissapearance, because no one really seems to know what the hell happened to the plane. Instead of reporting on events and stories that they have real facts about, the media continually reports these speculations and theories about what happened. Why? Because this is what the American people want to hear and read about. The average American doesn't want to here about the doom and gloom of what is really going on in the rest of the world and the problems we as a global community are facing when it comes to these problems in the Middle East and Asia for example.

The disappearance of this plane is basically soft news. Human interest about all of the missing passengers. And as we learned about in class, people in America love soft news. We love reading about the kitten who can skateboard or the dog that can juggle. Media companies increase soft and generic news because of the danger of being an outlier. What if one of these four news agencies had a very different  story on its front page regarding Iran's achievement of nuclear power, for example. Would people read that or would they switch to another news source that was reporting about the airplane? It seems that the media thinks they would switch, and that is why they are all reporting on precisely the same story, and the same speculations.This type of behavior from the media is exactly like what we learned about. It's the Market Model of journalists serving the public whatever the public demands. And the public definitely seems to be demanding to hear speculations about what happened to the Malaysia Airlines plane because that is all we have been getting from the media in the past week.

The Same-Sex Marriage Debate: How The Media and Politicians Are Dealing With It

Allowing for same-sex marriages to be legal has been an ongoing fight for a long time among states, but has finally started to show some results. Out of all of the social issues, same-sex marriage is one of the ones always up on the hot-seat these days. Is that good or bad? Everyone has their own opinion on that. And I mean everyone. In today's society more than ever, social issues are extremely important to the public, so they are extremely important to politicians and the media. Whether politicians and news outlets are for or against same-sex marriage laws, they are still always talking about them.

Advocating for same-sex marriage has come a long way in America. A Pew Research poll conducted last year shows that approval of same-sex marriage throughout the country has a slight majority of a little over half the nation (52%). That is huge! It shows what direction in the coming years and even into this year the country is headed. And yet there is still so much animosity surrounding the subject. There probably will be for a long time to come. And honestly, that's okay. There will always be people who are for and against things. With more and more states allowing for same-sex marriages to be legal, the fight for gay couples' equal rights is far from over though. Currently, sixteen states (plus Washington D.C.) have legalized same-sex marriage. Below is a map provided by CNN of an interactive map that shows the current status of each state in regards to same-sex marriage.
























More and more over the last few years, politicians and media outlets have had to respond to the interest and debate among American citizens about same-sex marriage. Since 2011, 11 out of the 16 states have legalized same-sex marriages. Just in the last three years this has become a super topic for both politicians to fight for or against in their states and for the news media to talk about. Both politicians and the media gain things from talking about the subject over and over again. Politicians get support from their constituents if they speak out and follow the wishes of their citizens with which way they vote in the matter, while the news media in a way benefits even more. One main way the news media benefits by continuing to broadcast stories about same-sex marriage is through ratings on the TV or hits on their websites by people clicking on the story. The news keeps putting the stories out, because the American people want to read about it. Plain and simple. As we talked about in our Media and Politics class, if stories are viewed as timely, important, and interesting, then they will be put forth more. It's packaged for consumption. The people want to know more and more about it, so the media is going to keep putting it forth. As we also discussed, what is presented by the media most, also has to have some sort of presence of conflict; the topic is the result of a struggle. Conflict is just more interesting to the public. We all know it. We all love a good drama. And the same-sex marriage debate is definitely a conflict here in the U.S. and is definitely a struggle for those on both sides of the issue.

In an article I read recently by CNN, it discusses the recent stance of the Kansas House and how it has approved a bill "allowing refusal of service to same-sex couples." In a very republican dominated house, the politicians approving this bill were doing it because their constituents in the state of Kansas want this bill to go into effect. It makes sense that the bill would be approved due to the nature of the ideals of the people living in Kansas. And it makes even more sense that CNN or other news organizations would report on it because it is such a hot topic. People on both sides of the debate want to click on this story and see what's going on. Especially since as stated in the article, "The Kansas bill would seem to buck the trend." This very different direction that Kansas has moved from that of many other states, is even more of a reason CNN would want to write about it, because even more people will want to read and talk about the state that is swinging the other way on the issue. With so many states legalizing same-sex marriage, it is even more interesting to people to read about the state that is doing the complete opposite and taking it to the next level even. 

Whether you are for or against same-sex marriage, it is undeniable that this issue is at the forefront of social issues in politics as well as one of the top reported social issues in the news media in America, and it isn't going anywhere for a long time to come.