Weekly Discussion

Alejandro Aguirre

February 22, 2014

SOC 122 – M/W 3:30 PM

Kubal

 

Weekly Discussion

 

      In the discussion of Democracy Now on Venezuelan Protests: Another Attempt by U.S-Backed Right-Wing Groups to Oust Elected Government?, it was generally expressed that the U.S Government was supporting groups to dismiss such a government from operation. There seems to be a conflict with this support since it was also mentioned that President Barack Obama funded Venezuelan government. The prominent individual in opposition to the Venezuelan government is Leopoldo Lopez, who is a highly educated person, but who has been incarcerated by his own government. It seems that he is attempting to rid of these protests through speech. It was mentioned, however, that these movements are actually the foundations of this government in that they try to build their government – perhaps a better government. This seems accurate considering the issue of insecurity these people are known to possess. This insecurity can be their strongest influence in achieving their goal.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/20/venezuelan_protests_another_attempt_by_us

 

      Sarah Sobierraj’s Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility discusses the problems activists have with the way the media portrays or broadcasts them. For example, even when activists make a significant effort to be “media-friendly”, which includes being professional, quotable, and credible, journalists will find them less appealing. In other words, activists may not know that they are following the wrong guidelines to truly be noticed by the media. It brings them more to a disadvantage that these “rules” are not explicitly addressed to these activists. Aside from knowing these rules, what would also bring activists to an advantage is if they are promoting a marginalized group (or if this group is the marginalized). The reason for this is that it will become mainstream because it would allow people to analyze or reflect on these new ideas and questions, thus strengthening their sense of democracy. It was also covered that certain forms of media (i.e. the news) is more effective than others because it provides this service on a larger scale rather than those that more exclusionary in the physical sense (i.e. church, school, park).

 

http://ase.tufts.edu/sociology/documents/sobierajReportingConventions.pdf