In late May 2011, former 6 term New York City representative Anthony Weiner used his public twitter account to display a link to pictures of his erect penis, however concealed by his boxer briefs. This was the first of two social media related scandals that Weiner was involved in. Which later lead to his resignation from congress in 2011.
After several years of denial in press conferences and interviews, and the many women that were linked to the case, July 23rd 2013 marked Weiner’s admittance to his habit of sending sexually explicit photos and texts to women online.
On Tuesday July 24, 2013, gossip website The Dirty confirmed that disgraced politician Anthony Weiner used an online alias of “Carlos Danger” when he sent X-rated messages and photos for almost a year after his resignation from congress earlier in 2011. The exchanges posted on “The Dirty” consist of sexually explicit images, fantasizing about various sex acts.
While the incident is no laughing matter, the scandal has provided comedians from all over with enough material to last a lifetime. Funnyman and Late Night host Jimmy Fallon was one of these people. He is notorious for his political campaign parody of Weiner on his show and now for his portrayal of Carlos Danger. Along with the plethora of parodies, there is also a website that allows one “get a name like Anthony Weiner’s alleged sexting pseudonym.”
As talked about in lecture agenda setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of noticeable issues by the news media. Media influences the order of which people receive news reports about issues in the public eye. There are two levels of agenda-setting theory: story length and position. These two criteria’s allows media gatekeepers to “select, emphasize, elaborate and exclude news stories to create effect.”
There were many different ways that media used agenda setting in the case of Anthony Wiener:
- · The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd
- · Weiner Spokesperson Barbara Morgan
- · The New York Times’ Susan Jacoby
- · MSNBC Host Thomas Roberts
- · Fox News’ Keith Ablow
Many of the articles related to the scandal surfaced within hours of the report being released, and it didn’t stop there. Anthony Weiner was the talk of all news aspects for a substantial amount of time. That was what was on their agenda. Reports would keep surfacing two years later. In Wieners best efforts to change the medias agenda and focus on his political determinations, which was quickly shot down. Their focus was on getting the public all of the backstory, breaking news and changes in regards to the scandals.
For most candidates, the latest revelations would be the final nail in the coffin of a candidate, yet they may not be for Weiner. Part of this is because we live in a 24/7 news cycle, were stories keep cycling, becoming bigger and bigger. What he should have done was hold a press conference answering every question that the reporters throw at him, with the requirement that Weiner will not address his scandal after the conference. He needed to consume the media in this. While some reporters will keep attempting to bring the issue up after the press conference, most won’t. Also, it would have been beneficial for him to talk about the issues and stay focused on what voters in New York are concerned about instead of denying his involvement in the scandals. Polls showed Weiner was competitive in the race before the first scandal hit, largely because he seemed to be addressing the issues in a way they could relate too unlike his opponents.
http://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-weiner-sexting-scandal-ridiculous-2013-8
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/anthony-weiner-boston-sexting-scandal-article-1.1416603
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/weiner-carlos-danger-was-a-joke/