Politics and media weren't the only things Sandy Davidson brought together last week.  Davidson brought together a group of college freshmen to discuss politics in the media, and she had a lot of insightful opinions to share.  Davidson, the professor of Communications Law in the journalism school, has an understanding for both politics and media, and her presentation last week sparked some interesting ideas.

One of the topics she discussed in her presentation was the idea that the media pries too much into the personal lives of the politicians.  Although a goal of the media is to relay important information to people, a line should be drawn as to how far the media can go.  Information about political policies are important for people to know, and the media should present this information to the public.  What should be avoided, or at least minimized, is the media's prying into personal business.  The media should give an accurate depiction of the politicians without publicizing every little detail of their personal lives.  It's important for the public to know what the politicians stand for, and it's helpful to know background information and where the politicians are coming from, but there's a fine line between publicizing necessary information and publicizing the information just because the person is a celebrity.  

Cameras are constantly following politicians and political figures; they have no privacy.  During the day they are hoarded down by media trucks and journalists with press passes, and when they go home at night they are still being followed, only this time by photographers and journalists eager to make the breaking headlines for the next issue of the "National Enquirer."  Their lives are constantly being monitored, and they are always being watched, almost to a fault.  Everyone is watching them so keenly, waiting for them to make just one mistake so the next article bashing them can be published.

Even though the politicians should expect to have a lot of media coverage, the media coverage shouldn't overtake their lives.  They are people too, and they deserve some privacy just like all the other citizens in this country have.  Just because they are famous doesn't mean they should be treated any differently.  The media seems to be "out to get them" since they are accessible targets that will provide for a good news story.  Journalists should weigh their options and decide if the information they are publicizing is really news, or if it's just a publication of someone's personal life.