Bettendorf HW

NFL Nationals 2010

FAUX NEWS AC

We affirm the resolution: Current trends in American political dialogue compromise meaningful democratic
deliberation.

The Random House Dictionary1 defines “trends” as: “the general course or prevailing tendency; drift:” The
implication of this definition is that the debate should center around social events that have a large influence on
American political dialogue.

Meaningful democratic deliberation would be productive deliberation, or discussion of all sides, according to
Princeton University2. Productivity, in this case, would be decision-making as that would be the end goal for
politicians in order to create policies.

A prerequisite for productive decision-making is factual information. Should political dialogue eschew evidence for
emotional appeals, then that would ultimately compromise meaningful democratic deliberation. Thus, if we prove that
current trends in American political dialogue have less factual information, then we win.

Our first contention is that current trends in American political dialogue decrease the use of factual information. The
media establishes a narrative by which they can justify created facts. The Colbert Report3 indicts Rupert Murdoch and
the Wall Street Journal by exposing the narrative created by these news organizations.

Specifically, the Wall Street Journal published a photo of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan playing softball in
college, which led to gay rights bloggers protesting against the baseless rumors that Kagan was a lesbian. After the
outrage, the New York Post, another publication Murdoch owned, covered the reaction to the photo with a headline,
“Does this photo suggest high court nominee Elena Kagan is a lesbian?” directly next to an opinion piece titled, “I
was token straight gal on gay team”.

Christopher Bartone4 of Ohio University describes the narrative process helped to start the Iraq War.

Mainstream news media organizations have adopted classical Hollywood narrative storytelling conventions in order to
convey vital news information. In doing so, these organizations tell news stories in a way that paints political realities as causal agents, delicate
international crises as sensational conflicts, and factual profiles of public figures as colorful characterizations.
By establishing artificial narrative lines and unnecessarily antagonistic conflict, the press has at times become an unwitting
agent of government policy and, in part, altered the course of international events. The classical Hollywood narrative is the storytelling

model on which the American media based its coverage of United States foreign policy after September 11, 2001.
The sensationalized coverage culminated in a cinematic presentation of events that led to the 2003 U.S.
invasion of Iraq. Since September 11, a narrative plot unfolded, the characters were defined, and the tension rose. The news media primed the audience as if the American people were watching a well-
executed and often predictable Hollywood narrative. And though there was no evidence that proved Iraq had played a role in the

September 11 attacks, by March of 2003 the war seemed inevitable and possessing of seemingly perfect
narrative logic.

"trend." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 08 Jun. 2010. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trend>.
2

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn. 13 June 2010. Princeton WordNet

3

"Confirming Elena". Colbert Report. Stephen Colbert. Comedy Central. May 13, 2010.
4

Bartone, Christopher. "NEWS MEDIA NARRATIVE AND THE IRAQ WAR, 2001-2003:
HOW THE CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE STYLE DICTATES STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES IN MAISTREAM DIGITAL NEWS MEDIA AND CHALLENGES TRADITIONAL ETHICS IN JOURNALISM."
Ohio University. June 2006.

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 Bettendorf HW
NFL Nationals 2010
FAUX NEWS AC

News narratives destroy meaningful democratic deliberation by replacing facts with trumped-up stories. Real goals
are hijacked by ridiculous fluff like the Kagan controversy, and the ultimate ramifications for this trend in American
political dialogue can be as severe as the war in Iraq.

Our second contention is that critical journalism is eroding interest in politics, and thus interest in meaningful
democratic deliberation.

Sub-point A: Critical news is a current trend. The Harvard Kennedy School of Government5 writes:

Critical news (that is, news about the failings of leaders, institutions, and policies) has risen steadily in recent
decades. Negative coverage of presidential candidates is an example. In 1960, about 25% of the evaluative
coverage of candidates was negative in tone. In the past three presidential elections, more than 50% of the
coverage has been negative.

Sub-point B: Critical journalism is eroding interest in politics. The Harvard Kennedy School of Government 6 writes:

The study also found that critical journalism is weakening the demand for news by depressing the public’s
interest in politics. Interest levels have dropped significantly in recent years. Critical journalism, the report concludes, "is not the only factor, nor
necessarily the major one" in the public’s declining interest in politics. But "negative news is eroding Americans’ political trust and interest. . . . As

politics becomes less attractive to citizens, so, too, does the news. Individuals who have a strong interest in
politics are three and one-half times more likely (83% to 24%) to follow the news closely than those with a
weak interest. As interest falls step-by-step, so too does news consumption."

Without an interest in news nor politics, citizens have neither the factual information or the will to create meaningful
democratic deliberation. The trend of critical news compromises such ideals.

Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. Shorestein Center. New Study Indicates Soft News and Critical Journalism Are Eroding Audiences and Weakening Democracy. Harvard Kennedy School. Harvard University, 12 Jan.
2001. Web. 8 June 2010. <http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/press-releases/new-study-indicates-soft-news-and-critical-journalism-are-eroding-audiences-and-weakening-democracy>.
6
Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. Shorestein Center. New Study Indicates Soft News and Critical Journalism Are Eroding Audiences and Weakening Democracy. Harvard Kennedy School. Harvard University, 12 Jan.
2001. Web. 8 June 2010. <http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/press-releases/new-study-indicates-soft-news-and-critical-journalism-are-eroding-audiences-and-weakening-democracy>.

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