“Not only is Barack Obama our first black president, he's also the first not-American president!” - Jon Stewart
"I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest, but I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness." - Barack Obama
In 2008 the first allegations that Barack Obama was not born in the United States surfaced. In response to these accusations, the Obama administration released his short-form birth certificate. Here is an analysis of some of the media coverage about this situation.
"I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest, but I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness." - Barack Obama
In 2008 the first allegations that Barack Obama was not born in the United States surfaced. In response to these accusations, the Obama administration released his short-form birth certificate. Here is an analysis of some of the media coverage about this situation.
When the birther issue first made its
way into the news media lime light Politifact.com took on a very similar task
as us, that is to uncover the truth behind the origins of President Barrack
Obama’s birth and to set straight any false accounts, or truthiness, regarding the subject.
An article originally released by Politifact.com
on June 27th, 2009 has seen many revisions and alterations as the
birther issue has matured. In the original article (read article here) Politifact.com told
the public their findings in hopes that it would put to rest, once and for all, any doubt about the president’s birthplace. Politifact.com first tried to go
straight to the source for the information they sought after. When they
inquired the state of Hawaii about obtaining a copy of the birth certificate
they were informed that Hawaiian birth certificates “…aren’t public record.
Only family members can request copies.”
Then, on June 13, 2008 the Obama administration
released his short-form birth certificate or “certificate of live birth” which is the typically presented proof
of birth in Hawaii. Following the release of this document Politifact.com again
decided to contact the state of Hawaii to verify its authenticity. After
acquiring a copy of the certificate of live birth Politifact.com reported, “We
e-mailed it to the Hawaii Department of Health, which maintains such records,
to ask if it was real.” They received a reply from spokesman Janice Okubo
stating, “It’s a valid Hawaii state birth certificate.”
Some time later, on April 12, 2011, Fox’s Bill
O’Reilly appeared on the program Talking Points and also boldly took it upon
himself to valiantly shoot down false accusations targeting President Obama.
Among the many statements about the president that O’Reilly covered was the
issue of Barrack Hussein Obama’s birthplace.
The claim that O’Reilly challenged was
that “No birth certificate has been made public.” O’Reilly reported with
impressive accuracy and truth that though Obama’s birth certificate had not been made public, it had been verified
as being on file in Hawaii and that a certificate of live birth had been
released to the public. In addition, O’Reilly stated that an “Investigation also
showed Mr. Obama was born in a Honolulu hospital, and we stand by our
reporting.”
This is a great example of a newscaster’s ability
to wade through the muck and present the truth. With the tons of accusations
and rumors flying around in regards to Obama's birth place, it would have been
easy for O'Reilly to grasp onto the most sensational story and report it to
appeal to a vast audience. Instead Bill O'Reilly did what any reporter that
values a socially responsible medium of news should do and represented the truth
rather than the many alternative stories, dripping with truthiness, that were
available.
Following O’Reilly’s comments debunking
the birther’s accusations, John Stewart appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily
Show to give his reaction (view video here).
Stewart took it upon himself to poke fun at
other Fox newscasters for showing a certain level of incredulity about Obama
really being born in Hawaii despite the release of his verified certificate of
live birth. In regards to the fact that many reports were unwilling to
take a firm stand on the issue or in some cases even showing a level of support
towards the birthers, Stewart said, “When we’re this deep into the crazy hole,
it’s very tough to climb out. Can anyone throw us a rope?”
Enter Bill O’Reilly. As John Stewart so eloquently put it, O’Reilly took it upon himself to refute the “Obama birther bull-sh*t,” and all other “Obama internet based bull-sh*t.”
Enter Bill O’Reilly. As John Stewart so eloquently put it, O’Reilly took it upon himself to refute the “Obama birther bull-sh*t,” and all other “Obama internet based bull-sh*t.”
With an applause and a tip of the
imaginary hat, Stewart commended Fox News for their “impressive O’Reilly
action.” Stewart makes it clear how appreciative he is of the bold and blunt
way that O’Reilly portrayed the cold hard facts of the matter.
John Stewart used his satirical
approach to current news to expose how rare it can sometimes be for someone to
step up, above the rest, to report the truth. He commented on the lack of
conviction that many of the other reporters of Fox addressed the issue, and how
badly he wished there were more reporters willing to stick their necks out to
tell the truth like O’Reilly did.
This is one example of how even though
there are many imperfections and inconsistencies in the news casting of Fox
News on the birther issue, they still do make attempts at setting the record
straight and presenting the truth rather than the truthiness of the matter.
Unfortunately, presenting the truth
is not always the priority among news media. Here is one example of how bias interfered with the representation of the facts.
CNN’s Lou Dobbs raised the question: why won't President Obama release his birth certificate? Dobbs gave a voice to many of the arguments that birthers have, questioning the president’s motives for withholding his long-form birth certificate. Among these arguments Dobbs referred to the short-form birth certificate pointing out “It is a document that says there is another document.” There is a large divergence between the short-form and long-forms of a birth certificate; though the short-form certificate is an acceptable birth record in Hawaii where Obama was born, it provides little more information than the city and time an individual was born. In saying this Dobbs was not advocating that he believed Obama really to be foreign born, but that the issue could be rapidly dispelled upon the release of Obama’s long-form birth certificate.
The persistence with which Lou
Dobbs continued to report his desire to see “…the dog-gone birth certificate
and be done with it” eventually led to his forced resignation from CNN. After
Dobbs’ emancipation from CNN he was interviewed by Fox’s very own Bill
O’Reilly. In the interview Dobbs asks O’Reilly why the media can’t ask
questions without it becoming a controversy. O’Reilly retorted, saying, “If you
ask a question Barack Obama doesn't want to answer, you're going to get
hammered by the Obama people and that's what happened.”
To the surprise of many people,
the release of Barrack Obama’s short-form certificate of live birth actually
fueled the fire with many birthers. In an article from Politifact.com we found
that at the time of Obama’s short-form birth certificate’s release, only a
quarter of Americans believed he was born in the United States (read article here). Jo Maniaci, a
follower of the birther movement, voiced his opinion after the release of
Obama’s short-form birth certificate saying, “Just because he presented
‘something,’ is no indication of its authenticity." In the same article President Obama was quoted
as saying, "I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which,
no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest, but I’m speaking
to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not
have time for this kind of silliness."
What we see
here is an excellent example of selective retention among people withholding birther ideologies. Driven by human instincts,
many birthers are resistant to accept any information that doesn't support
their existing beliefs. Obama is correct in saying that for some people it doesn't matter what evidence is released, they will never change what they
accept as the truth. This is also a prime example of gate-keeping CNN fired Lou
Dobbs because they didn't want him to continue reporting what he was reporting.
This was an attempt by CNN to control the information being portrayed on their
news station. Additionally, if Bill O’Reilly is correct in saying that the reason Dobbs was
fired was because he asked a question that Barrack Obama didn't want to answer, then this could also be argued as a case of agenda setting.
Jon Stewart again took it upon
himself and his cohorts at Comedy Central to shed a different light on the
matter, using comedy as their weapon of choice (view video here). Stewart mockingly suggested, “Not
only is Barack Obama our first black president, he's also the first
not-American president!” He continued, “What is going on here? Can anyone just
show the proof that President Obama was born here?” As Stewart's talk show
escalated into a full blown rant he explained how despite the confirmation from
the governor of Hawaii that Obama was in fact born there, birth announcements
in Hawaii, officially released photos of his short-form birth certificate, and
verification from the Hawaii State Department of Health that Obama’s birth
certificate was on file in Hawaii, the issue was still being questioned.
Stewart concluded in disbelief that the birther movement was still unresolved
despite all of the evidence.
These
videos depict the major differences in how information is framed by the media. The opinions held by viewers of news shows can be greatly impacted depending on which program they view. Their ideas and views could be manipulated and skewed by how the information is presented on air. Despite the constant
evidence being provided towards Barack Obama's American citizenship, the Birther
movement is still supported by many and continues on today. One can only hope that viewers will dig deeper and find
the truth for themselves, rather than listening to the biases of others.
