Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Scandals and Soap Operas

Sara Nealeigh
sn115009@ohio.edu
@saranealeigh


With the election over and the big decision made, ABC News has shifted focus from election coverage to good old scandal patrol. And ABC writers have gone so far as to call them real-life soap operas. 

The front page of ABC News is mostly concentrated on scandal stories. Headlined, of course, with the Patreaus affair. But as you scroll further down the page, you see headlines such as "'Elmo' Recants Sex Claims," celebrities that have been married for years after drunk weddings in Vegas, and a slide show titled ‘Sex, Spies and Scandals.’”

Another article focuses on the lawyer of Broadwell in the Patreaus affair. It describes the lawyer that plans to represent Broadwell is from the same firm that represented Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton affair scandal. Why this is front page news escapes me, I don’t think it matters who her lawyer is enough to have an entire article on it and how the firm caters to high profile clients.

Another Patreaus article hits on many points, some that have been discovered, and others that we will “never, ever understand.” It includes some statements from Paul Ryan about this and the Fiscal Cliff.

The OTUS page includes a countdown similar to one they displayed as a ticker down to Election Day. This time, it's been titled "U.S. Reaches Fiscal Cliff," counting the seconds until the U.S. reaches that particular moment in what will become history. They also added a link to an infographic as to what the Fiscal Cliff is and what it means to people with different incomes.  


ABC.com writer Z. Byron Wolf goes on to question if more support toward NOT repealing Obamacare is the same thing as supporting it, which is an interesting position I wish he had expanded on more. It currently sits as a brief paragraph under a subtitle in a much larger story. It will be interesting to see if in the future this gets expanded on more. 


No comments: