Should newspapers endorse candidates? La Rotonde did it in the General elections. The Fulcrum did not. The French paper plans on doing it for the By-elections. Should it? Why? Why not?
What about Blogs?
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The SFUO Blog™ is your one-stop website for all of your Student Federation of the University of Ottawa news. We have interviews, debates, podcasts, photos, analysis and insight on everything that happens during these elections.
Lost? Start here.
The SFUO Blog™ encourages you to post any opinions you have, but please read the Commenting Etiquette.
Inspired by Kady O'Malley, Wassim will be liveblogging throughout the elections from
Lost? Start here.
The SFUO Blog™ encourages you to post any opinions you have, but please read the Commenting Etiquette.
Inspired by Kady O'Malley, Wassim will be liveblogging throughout the elections from
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Email: sfuo@wassim.ca
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27 comments:
What is the function of a newspaper editorial? Typically one would say it is the only place where the newspaper expresses an "institutional opinion", but we all know than in reality the stance of a newspaper appears implicitly in the news coverage, the choice of front page, the decision of what is and isn't newsworthy.
So the editorial might rather be the place where the newspaper explicitly takes a stance. In that case, if you know that the newspaper is supporting certain candidates or certain ideas, it allows you to go back and put in perspective the entire elections coverage.
This can be seen as a bad thing for those who believe the newspaper creates credibility by an appearance of neutrality, or as a good thing for those who believe neutrality is a myth anyway and it's better to just be open about where you stand.
The SFUO blog should disagree with whatever the Rotonde says. We'll get Wassim checked out for multiple personality disorder.
The Fulcrum's news editor officially endorses no candidates in the upcoming by-election.
He does, however, hope that voter turnout is not as dismal as is expected. How low will it go?
I am announcing here on the SFUO Blog the creation of a new Voter Turnout Estimation contest, much the same as that run during the SFUO general elections.
It is sponsored exclusively by the Fulcrum's news editor.
Any turnout estimates can be sent to news@thefulcrum.ca.
The winner of the last Contest is Ramy Sonbl. He still has to claim his prize.
I am saying, on the record, that voter turnout will be between 5.5 and 7%.
I don't think you can pick a range, you gotta pick an actual number! Let's see who's the closest!
Ranges are this contests' equivalent to a cop-out.
So far, this contest is three times as popular as its predecessor.
Just a note.
10%
13%, here.
YES
It's called freedom of speech and freedom of opinion.
BRING BACK THE AWESOME PRESS OF THE 19th CENTURY!
RAH!
8 % with a majority vote for one candidate.
Making it 4 % total vote, making it barely "legitimate".
I enjoy the optimism gentlemen (Jason and Ted) but I don't see this on breaking the 10%.
People turn out in numbers when:
1. Their money is involved (referendums (a?))
2. When there are ideological differences between already popular individuals (and while there are large differences in this election, two of the candidates do not seem to have much of a pre-existing support base).
My guess is 7.2%
Get this
If 6 % vote and the number 1 candidate gets 45 % of the vote, meaning less than 3 % of the student population vote FOR him, is his election legitimate?
7.7 %
I have a tendency to be overly optimistic when it comes to voter turnout, so I'm going to aim low this time around. Let's say 4.8%. If I'm right, I'll be so disappointed.
Here's another question: who will get higher voter turnout (by percentage,) GSAED or this by-election. Thoughts? I think it'll be close.
GSAÉD gets 1 % turnout. I do believe we'll get more just with the machine gun theory.
BUT WILL IT BE LEGITIMATE!
Ah that is the question.
Beware of the 3 %!
Is 10% or even 13% of potential voters really more legitimate than 3%? In the end, anything that low isn't really all that legitimate.
That's not the point. The point is that under 3 %, according to the constitution, an election isn't legitimate.
yes newspapers should take stances. All organizations should. Thats how you get involved in the political process.
5.7 is my guess
Actually it's 5 %.
Désolé.
I say 7.7% of students will show up to vote
Please proove me wrong the higher the better
5.7%
Im going 2 for 2
I think 3% is a little disapointing even for a guess... hopefully not as sad as it would be if thats the actual turn out.
I'll go for a nice friendly 6%... still a shame... but not unreasonable considering people cought apathetic fever rather than elections fever.
7%-8% (I can't predict to the decimile...) okay, fine. 7.5%. Why? Because of the hype around these 3 candidates. This blog, even if say only 100ppl read it, makes the candidates feel as though the race is crazier than it is. Wassim is making actually contenders out of guys who would be considered "nobodies" in a traditional campaign. This makes them campaign harder, and makes the race more visible. This coupled with a big La Rotonde endorsement will get us over the 5% mark. I have also heard that there is a strong movement behind Dean because of the initial bilingualism matter. If that momentum holds it can be a decent showing, although, in my opinion, nothing below 15-18% is anything to be relieved about or content with.
Here's hoping these three candidates can mobilize students, because if you can't do it with your own ass on the line, than you certainly won't be able to do it while holding the position of President and trying to get people to care about the SFUO on a daily basis.
I'm going to say 6.2%
Amy Kishek:
"This blog, even if say only 100ppl read it"
We have over 250 unique visitors per day, and we do surpass the 300 mark on certain days. :P
Medias can have a significant impact on the way an election turns out, and the question of whether or not to maintain neutrality is important.
As a student voter, I have to admit that my main source of information about each candidate, apart from any website or posters they may have, comes from leafing through the Fulcrum and la Rotonde.
What I want when I read up on student politics is a fair appraisal of each candidate's strength and weaknesses. Given that I will probably not attend the debate and that I will probably not be approached by a student politician outlining his/her platform, the written word of the medias weighs heavily in the decision of my vote. In this sense, it is very important for the newspaper not to be biased in the profiling of candidates, because what I want is the necessary information to make a critical decision myself.
That is not to say, however, that the institution should not take a stance. True objectivity is not really the absence of a preference for any which candidate, but a fair presentation of the situation. I value other people's opinions, and they help me ultimately decide who I think would do the better job. Let the newspapers have their opinion. It is their right. However, if they print it, they must be prepared to justify their judgment; not to do so would be an insult to their readers, whom they must never discount from having critical thought.
one dollar bob
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