media – POLITICANA

Millennials in the media: 09/07/15

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Sarah Massey

Wow! What a great week for Millennials!

Thanks to Forbes, I learned there’s a formula to get me motivated in the workplace (because being unemployed for months didn’t do the trick). Although “Millennials are different in a number of ways. . . [they] aren’t as different as many people think. . . [but] one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to training the next generation.” For a moment there, I think they recognized that I’m a human being with individual traits or something.

Future employers aren’t alone; presidential hopefuls are trying to motivate me too. Although I prefer Hillary over Republican candidates, she made it awkward by thanking me for my vote in 2008. I could mull over my options by engaging in political discussion with my friends, but the New York Post reminded me that I don’t know how to have those – friends, that is.

I also learned that my credit sucks. My attempts to apply for a credit card are more likely to be denied, thereby lowering my FICO score even further. As a result, I’ve joined the 31 percent of my generation that has denounced credit cards altogether.

The good news? I don’t need good credit to apply for student loans! The bad news? My own debt is going to put me so far behind in life, I might not be able to help my kids pay for college. According to a research study by College Board, “Millennial parents will pay an average of $100,907.61 – not accounting for inflation– to send their children to a public college for four years, and that is without room and board, books or other costs.”

Maybe I should skirt around the social responsibility of furthering the species by becoming a nun. . . I would make one hell of a Catholic school teacher. After all, I am more likely than any other age group to be vexed by spelling and grammar errors. It looks like all of that texting has come in handy after all.

Despite all of this great news, the latest survey conducted by the Pew Research Center has me at a loss. For some reason, only 40 percent of people age 18-34 choose to identify as Millennials. Furthermore, I am more likely than any other generation to describe my peers as self-absorbed, wasteful, greedy, and cynical; older generations prefer the terms patriotic, responsible, hard-working, and willing to sacrifice when describing themselves.

The media savored the opportunity to point out how much I suck:

A majority of millennials don’t think they are millennials

Study Says Millennials Really, Really Hate Being Called Millennials

Millennials Sure Do Hate Other Millennials, According To Pew Survey

Millennials Are Pretty Terrible, According To A Poll Of Millennials

Show a little bit of pride, millennial generation

Interestingly, there were no headlines telling the Silent Generation to stop being posers – only 18 percent identified with their label, while 34 percent preferred to be called Baby Boomers and another 34 percent preferred to be a part of the Greatest Generation.

First, let’s ignore some of Pew’s methodology. I’m sure there’s a reason they surveyed twice more Baby Boomers than any other age group. I’m sure the researchers understood that descriptors such as responsible, hard-working, and willing to sacrifice typically increase with age, while being self-absorbed, wasteful, and greedy typically decrease with age (families and mortgages tend to have those effects). I’m sure their age markers are statistically sound, although more “Millennials” age 27-34 identify as Gen X-ers.

Pesky logistics aside, why am I so self-deprecating?

Maybe I’m less narcissistic than my older counterparts? Maybe just a little more self-aware? Maybe I don’t want to be represented by gaudy VMA headliners like Miley, Nicki, and, (I guess) Kanye? Maybe – just maybe – I’ve begun to internalize all of the negative connotations that come with being a Millennial, since I am repeatedly scapegoated for my predecessor’s problems.

Pew, what’s good?

Trump: 15 minutes of front-running?

Posted on August 30, 2015August 30, 2015 by Sarah Massey

On Friday night, Sarah Palin interviewed Republican front-runner Donald Trump – a match that could only be made more conservative by resurrecting the father of Reaganomics himself.

The segment aired on One America News (OAN), a small network with limited reach via cable providers. Furthermore, the network’s website crashed due to high demand several hours before the interview was scheduled to begin.

It sounds like the exclusive “interview of the year,” right? Wrong.

Palin addressed Trump as a martyr for conservatism, lauding his “sacrifice to hit the campaign trail.” Although she addressed the real estate mogul’s recent snafus with the “idiots in the media,” she failed to ask him any “gotcha” questions herself.

Instead, the interview was peppered with inaccurate statistics and political aphorisms. Both individuals spouted off numbers that were as inflated as their egos; unemployment is nowhere near 93 million, and Trump’s overall polling percentage is almost a third less than the 41 percent Palin claimed. After ten minutes of sound bites about taxes, veterans, and the Bible, political pundits everywhere were likely feeling underwhelmed.

The media response to the highly anticipated interview was lukewarm, if not laughable – and rightfully so. Trump milks the press as a form of free advertising. He makes bold, and often times offensive statements that no serious politician would dare to utter. Trump is living, breathing click-bait. After all, bad publicity is better than none at all.

However, I predict that the reign of the “Trumpeters” and “Trumpservatives” will be short-lived. As the general public grows tired of his distasteful exploitation tactics, the media will cease covering them.

Consider the 2012 presidential election. At this point in the election cycle (August 27, 2011), Rick Perry was the leader of the polls by 2.5 percent. Exactly two months later, the top spot was occupied by Herman Cain, former president and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. By December 27th, Newt Gingrinch was ahead by 2.8 polling points. Rick Santorum was leading by 3.3 points two months after that.

Despite the front-runners who came and went like contestants on The Price is Right, who was consistently in second place? Mitt Romney, who ultimately won the GOP ticket by a landslide of 52.8 percent – a whopping 33.8 points more than his nearest competitor.

For now, I’m not worried about the land of the free and the home of the brave being run by a reality television host. In fact, I’m rather enjoying the show.

Millennials according to the media

Posted on August 26, 2015August 27, 2015 by Sarah Massey

I am a Millennial. I was born in 1995 – the same year eBay launched, TLC topped the charts, and Time Magazine selected Newt Gingrich as “Man of the Year.” Based on my date of birth, I can learn exactly who I am according to today’s headlines.

I am clueless about cellphone etiquette, despite existing before the advent of smartphones, flip phones, and even texting. The Washington Post agrees, reporting that “a third of Millennials whip out their cellphones in public ‘for no particular reason’.” I suppose this is one of the many side effects of being raised with technology, and The Sims in particular. Additionally, I am distrustful of the digital economy involving personal security. Of course, everyone knows the over-thirty crowd loves identity theft.

Speaking of the economy, CNN states that “market chaos” is most harmful to Millennials such as myself. Therefore, it makes sense that I lack faith in the stock market – however, NBC News experts claim this is a problem as well. Why shouldn’t I give all of my excess income to Wall Street? After all, I’m not leaving the nest, and I’m crowdfunding my college tuition. Whether irresponsible or ingenious, I am changing the job market altogether as a result. That’s right, I’m the one who chose to be an unemployed college graduate.

In fact, my liberal arts education is likely why my morals are fast, loose, and up for political debate. I’ll put out in ten text messages or less, according to Mashable. I might even identify with the one third of Millennials who aren’t 100 percent straight. (I know nobody asked about my sexual preferences, but I let some researchers publish them in the Washington Post anyways.)

Thanks to Market Watch, I am just now realizing that growing up is hard to do. Is it because I have a bleak future, as The Week Magazine says? Is it because I’m reliant on social media, my parents, and memories that “only 90’s kids” remember? Is it because I’m investing my money in education, leaving myself at a loss for a mortgage, a 401k, and the stock market? Is it because I’m defined by the year into which I was arbitrarily born?

Major news media outlets report ad nauseam about Millennials: the “cohort of Americans born between 1980 and the mid-2000s” that makes up one third of the US demographic. We are polled, analyzed, and churned out as eye-catching headlines and statistics. We are labeled “diverse,” yet dissected by stereotypes based on our color, gender, sexuality, class, etc. We are framed in the context of conventional paradigms – but we are so much more.

My goal is to mitigate the negative portrayal of Millennials in the media. My goal is to demonstrate that we are capable of communicating without emojis. My goal is to promulgate ideas that might not appear on CNN, NBC, or FOX. My goal is to open up honest, bipartisan discussions to find common ground on issues that matter (not that cellphone etiquette isn’t dire to our survival as a species). This blog is ultimately about politics – but like my generation, it is about so much more.

Welcome to Politicana.