Assignment 7: Vote John McCain and Tina Fey!!! (I mean Sarah Palin)

SNL is racking up their ratings with their new skits on the political campaigns.  The most popular seems to be Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin.  If you have seen it you know why it has been such a big hit.  Whether you support Palin or not, you have to admit Fey does one hell of a job.  This skit has been spreading across the Internet faster than a potato famine in Ireland, and generating lots of laughs.  It is even putting SNL back on the map, since their all-star cast left to do cinema.  

In Megan Boland's Digital Media and Democracy chapter 16, "Whacking Bush: Tactical Media as Play," by Graham Meikle, discuss the wave of tactical media that arose during the 2004 election.  Meikle discusses the evolution of tactical media, being first used on "Bushwhacking," then moves on to discuss it's importance.  Most of this type of media is in the cheap form and performed with the use of new consumer electronics.  Meikle finishes by stating that tactical media is a form of play, but "play is a deadly serious business."  I agree with Meikle's view here, I also think that is a form of play but can be very influential, and detrimental to these politicians.  

Our most recent example of tactical media is not in such a cheap everyday format.  But on a widely viewed TV show.  Does this still make it tactical media? Well I think so because it serves the similar purpose.  What does this skit mean for Palin, well now every time she speaks and appears in public some people will have trouble taking her seriously.  When Palin speaks, people maybe be hearing and visioning Tina Fey and chuckle, rather than critically think about the issues and side Palin takes.