ASSESSMENT 2: WRITTEN PRESENTATION AND WRITTEN ESSAY

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ASSESSMENT 2: WRITTEN PRESENTATION AND WRITTEN ESSAY

Written presentation

The presidential bid announcement made by Hillary Clinton on April 2015 has caused quite a stir with a number of newspapers expressing their views, as well as, other numerous political observations. The main reason behind this is to calculate percentage of words that used to express her ability to advocate for the rights of women and appeal to them. There are also considerable percentage of articles that have brought up her past failures and the issues that may affect her presidential race this time round. The bid has however, mainly captured the attention of many as it is the first time in both political parties that a woman may have the opportunity to vie for presidency. Regardless, both responses in the newspapers are essential in identifying the place the two countries lie in this issue at hand.

This presentation evaluated the comments and analysis made in three online based newspapers from each of the countries, namely the New York Times, Washington-the Globe and Mail, USA Today newspaper from America. On the other hand, there is the ABC WIRES newspaper, the Australian newspaper, Mashable Australian newspaper from Australia. The respective newspaper articles each has a summary of Hillary Clinton speech, the response of the author to the presidential bid and the critics on the policies she has set. The summary therefore has been grouped as a collection of data from the government bodies or representatives, the political field, the online newspaper media outlets and the public response. The results are thus used to compare the two countries response and place them in the positive, negative, or neutral context.

The period chosen to articulate this presentation is a of seven days time-frame starting from three days before the announcement and the three days after the same; that is 9^th-15^th April 2015. The reason behind this is to analyze the before and after perspective of the parties that are included in the data collection, to understand the reception of the policies or the statement in the presidential bid. The evaluation of the presidential announcement done via social media shows that most of the concerns of the politicians and the authors is whether Hillary Clinton did indeed address the matters that affect the ordinary people. In addition, the newspaper review will show Hillary Clinton’s women rights policies among other policies and the effect they will have on her bid. Finally yet importantly, the presentation shows that there are many past and current underlying issues in Hillary Clintons Life and it evaluates the consequences they have on the same.

On reviewing all the papers mentioned above, some were largely focusing on the negative aspects of Hillary’s campaign and others that were largely positive relating to her incredible credentials. Some of the articles have collective ideas that support the two and thus lying more on the neutral position of the matters. With regard to the publication of the story in both the Australian and American newspapers therefore, the authors combined seem to have an overall opinion regarding the topic. This therefore leads to the conclusion of the paper that the general tone, mood and response is generally neutral, and that the first steps of the presidential bid are reasonably accepted.

Written Essay

Data collection in Presidential Bid Story; American Newspapers

THE NEW YORK TIMES AMERICA NEWSPAPER

The New York Times American newspaper April 12, 2015 received the news with so much anticipation and released it to the public on the same date. The author of the article is supportive of the decision by Hillary Clinton because she states that, Regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 campaign will open a new chapter in the extraordinary life of a public figure who has captivated and polarized the country since her husband…” In addition to this, she emphasizes her humility to have had the ability to serve under the opposition that defeated her (2011 41).

The author recognizes that her presidential bid has a strong base especially based on support from the fellow women and explains that there are bids already underway due to the enthusiasm of having the first female president. The author further highlights how the announcement was timely with the National Equal Pay Day whereby the issue of women ages is among the issues she intends to address in her presidency. On the issue of gender once again, the author shows how her 2006 presidential bid was not gender related and it resulted in her acting tough with no distinction to her running mates. The tone in this newspaper therefore is one of admiration of Hillary Clinton’s achievements and the decision to run for president (2011 41). The author being a woman is appreciative of the move to vie and holds so much admiration for the candidate.

WASHINGTON-THE GLOBE AND MAIL (negative)

The article published in this online site, however, is different from the one in the New York Times (2015, LINE 8). The author, who in this case is male, does not venture so much into gender and how it beneficial to Hillary’s race. Instead, this article evaluates the early life of Hilary and the decisions she made in her 30s and 40s and the impact they would have on her race. In addition, the author mentions that the age of Ms Clinton may be an issue that may level the attention given on the effects her gender may bring to the table. “Women may hold a gender advantage with the public on some personal attributes, but age isn’t one of them.” In addition to age, the author raises the issue of her only consideration as a serious candidate being eight years ago and Obama still managed to beat her.

The author states that there is uncertainty as to whether her being a woman attracts any kind of support especially from African-Americans and the Hispanics. The author however reports that Critics insist that her previous serious head injury and her age are certain to affect the campaign (2015 Line 6). The baggage of her husband scandals may also play a role in affecting her bid because she is sure to have a few opponents or enemies along the way. Lastly, the author raises another issue that may be against the bid concerning the death of a US ambassador in Libya and the role Clinton played. The tone in this newspaper is therefore quite different from the previous one and this author is more hostile and indifferent to the whole idea of the bid basing his reasons on the past mistakes she has and her much older age.

USA TODAY NEWSPAPER (neutral)

The newspaper starts by describing the different strategy that Clinton has decided to use. The author shows how the attention on the small organizations may be helpful especially to the middle class. In addition, there is a revisit to Clinton’s strong lead over all her potential rivals due to her suitable credentials and service as the senator of New York (2015, LINE 19). Despite being considered a role model that advocates for women as seen in her effort to advocate for a health care legislation, others find her to be abrasive and discriminatory to those of lower classes. This article therefore has calm and comforting tone but ends in a pessimistic tone hence making the authors views less biased on one side.

Data Collection on Presidential Bid Story; Australian Newspapers

THE ABC WIRES NEWS NEWSPAPER (negative)

The author of this article expresses the plans that Clinton has to address economic inequality and the need to be the first female president of America. The author emphasizes on the need for her to create a more down to earth side with the voters, and the her expectations to grow in touch with the liberals that find her very connected to the former president. The author however refers to a memo by manager that showed she had every intention to involve the “everyday Americans”(2015 Line 17). The author highlights the pre-emptive attacks by the republican candidates concerning the Obama-Clinton foreign policy that one of the members claim ruined relationships. In a part of this article, he suggests that there is a statement made by a politician concerning the struggle with most Americans to come out of the middle class and that is what Clinton intends to do so. “Most Americans are in the middle-class or struggling to get into the middle-class or identify themselves as middle-class, so it is a good heartland demographic to go for.”

The article also has a part that explains that there are critics in the Australian politics that show the article connects more with minority groups than the ordinary groups of American citizens. The ordinary ones in this case are those that are poor and survive on food stamps or the others that are well off or doing just fine. The article criticizes the policies she has set up and explains how unlikely they are to be laid out clearly without clearly detailing her reasons for running. The tone and mood of the article here are expectant as the author shows that Clinton does indeed have potential but it ends a bit skeptical of the same and hence arriving at a neutral observation.

THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER (positive) 

The author starts by referring to the praises by Obama to her presidential bid and sends warning to how closely the two relate to each other (2015, line 10). The article also shows that polls place her at the top of all the other democrats by 60% of voters that say they would indeed vote her in. There is the insistence on a humble approach once again, and the scandal on the use of the private mail is brought up regarding her position her secretary of state. Regardless, the author encourages the bid and shows the possibility of success. The tone of this article is also expectant but there are doubts as to the same making the response to the issue a bit of both hence neutral.

MASHABLE AUSTRALIA NEWSPAPER (positive)

The newspaper looks widely into the women nominations in the USA with reference to Geraldine Ferraro a democrat in 1984, Sarah Palin a Republican of 2008 and now Clinton. The stepping back of Clinton into the political arena serving as the secretary of state in 2009-2013 and her winning the nomination will be the first time the two major U.S. political parties will have a female presidential candidate (2015 line 4). The newspaper emphasizes on the gender role of her bid once again and strengthens the possibility of her eventual success. The tone in this article is largely appreciative of the efforts of the various women in America that have the same opportunities as Clinton and also, the author is excited to see the bid go to victory.

Conclusion

In conclusion, therefore, it is certain that the general data collection has varying opinions, some of them very positive and others equally negative. The appreciation, expectation, and excitement tones seen in the American newspapers are a lot more fuelled than those in the Australian newspapers are. The negative, pessimistic, and skeptical responses in the American newspapers are also more intense compared to those in the Australian newspapers. The Australian newspapers nonetheless are equally optimistic and pessimistic to each article in their newspapers and thus making their authors approach a lot milder. The difference in intensity of course may be because America is the country that the bid mostly affects and the excitement or lack of in the possibility of the first woman president is America’s achievement. Generally, from the collected data above and the analysis of the same, the presentation suffered a few issues in identifying the status because of the different takes on the matter and the varying intensity of the participants. The general evaluation on the comments and the remarks made by the politicians however show that this matter is still at the starting point and not much can be compared to arrive at a more distinct conclusion. The overall analysis on the views of the people, the politicians, and the media coverage in the two newspapers however provides an overall neutral perspective.

References

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Campbell, K, K 2011, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential Bid: The View from Academia. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 41.

Cohen, R, E 2007, SPECIAL REPORT: Left to Right – Of the four Democratic senators who are running for president Barack Obama had the most liberal vote rating in 2006, followed by Christopher Dodd, Joseph Biden, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Among the Republicans considering a presidential bid, Chuck Hagel was the most conservative, followed by Sam Brownback and John McCain. This look at the presidential contenders kicks off a 41-page special report on National Joumals 2006 vote ratings of members of the House and Senate. National Journal. 39, 20.

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Martha t, Moore and Catalina, Camia 2015 Hillary Clinton launches 2016 presidential bid, USA TODAY 29 April 2015

Mcmahon Neil, Hillary Clinton to run for United States president in 2016, says she wants to be country’s ‘champion’ 2015 ABC/wires News, 29 April, 2015

Paul Koring 2015, Hillary Clinton election machine set to launch on Sunday, Washington-The Globe and Mail Last updated Friday, Apr. 10 2015.

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