Hi everybody!!!
I'm here to talk another time of the elections...and I am not pride to say that the situation in Italy is always worse. There are still two weeks before the day of the elections and I can't yet stand the debates on television and the newspaper articles. I have no words to describe the political situation in Italy: we are always looking at the appearence and not at the concepts. For example, the last problem was about the partecipation of the two candidates to a tv program. Because of the law on par condicio, if Veltroni refuses to speak at "Porta a Porta" also Berlusconi has to renounce to go. but the problem is that everybody in Italy, politicians and common people, have spoken about this fact for a week...this is incredible. We live in a country with much more problems than any other in Europe...and we matter about an interview!!!
I would like to know how the two main candidates think to solve the huge quantity of problems, such as health care, immigration, criminality, pubblic debt...and not to see everyday a soap opera. At the end of this useless electoral campaign, what will I do? Who will I vote? And which will be the future for the young generation...and that is to say for myself too?
I'm waiting for a sunny day...as a song of Bruce Springsteen says.
domenica 30 marzo 2008
lunedì 17 marzo 2008
the news about elections
The task of this week give us the opportunity to develop the knowledge of how the elections in Italy and in the United States are proposed in the newspapers of different countries. This work permits to compare the different perspectives or the similarities through language and images. I’ve to admit that generally I prefer to read a newspaper and not its online version; so, this is also a work in order to discover a new way to inform myself and to improve my knowledge of how it’s useful internet…sometimes more than a touchable thing.
For this reason I’ve decided to surf on famous and, I think, not too partial sites of newpapers: American newspaper New York Times (topics.nytimes.com), Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (www.corriere.it) and German newspaper Die Zeit (www.zeit.de) in order to understand how the elections are important in the countries which are interested in and in order to analyse if the American and Italian elections are considered (and how) in another European country. I have to say that I was really curios to know how we are considered abroad…and in particular in America, which is a so fundamental point of reference for us.
First of all I want to focus on the fact that in our online newspaper there is a section completely dedicated to the American election, called Speciale USA 2008, where you can find not only the articles about the political aspects of the elections, but also curiosities and links to videos of Hillary and Obama speeches or about the satire about them. There are more information about the challenge between these two candidates, also in the German news, because the newspapers live of the political fights and of the scandals!!! The news are recent and the sites are always updated with a lot of particulars of all different aspects of the American elections and of their worldwide importance. Both Italian and German sites are very precise and give a big visibility to the subject in the international section but also in the front page of the site, probably because all European countries are so dependent from the power and the influence of America.
On the other hand NYTimes offers obviously all the information about the American elections, the primaries’ results, all the rejections of the candidates, it’s possible to listen to the speeches again and to see the videos of interviews and conferences of the future inhabitant of the White House. Naturally, there are blogs and particular links where people can express their preference or only say their opinion and share information. In NY Times World section there are many news about, for example, France or other powerful countries which are politically or economically important for the general American and world situation, such as Iran and Afghanistan. But when I began to look for the news about the Italian political situation I was really disappointed: the site does not mention the Italian election or news about the electoral campaign and about candidates. The latest news about Italian politics was about the dissolution of the parliament by the president Napolitano and it was dated 25 Januar. That means that the Italian section of the site was not updated from two months…it is incredible how we are useless in the worldwide vision of what is important and not!
What I’ve noticed is that there are similarities in all three newspapers as regards the words and the images which are used to describe American elections and their protagonists, because I think that they are inspired from the own candidates words and gestures. For example, both German and Italian site underlines the points about the difference between Hillary as a woman and Obama as a man or the fact that Obama is black and, from this point, there are some discourses about the problem of racism. As both democratic candidates have same ideas and goals in their programs their battle focuses on their different personal roles.
For this reason I’ve decided to surf on famous and, I think, not too partial sites of newpapers: American newspaper New York Times (topics.nytimes.com), Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (www.corriere.it) and German newspaper Die Zeit (www.zeit.de) in order to understand how the elections are important in the countries which are interested in and in order to analyse if the American and Italian elections are considered (and how) in another European country. I have to say that I was really curios to know how we are considered abroad…and in particular in America, which is a so fundamental point of reference for us.
First of all I want to focus on the fact that in our online newspaper there is a section completely dedicated to the American election, called Speciale USA 2008, where you can find not only the articles about the political aspects of the elections, but also curiosities and links to videos of Hillary and Obama speeches or about the satire about them. There are more information about the challenge between these two candidates, also in the German news, because the newspapers live of the political fights and of the scandals!!! The news are recent and the sites are always updated with a lot of particulars of all different aspects of the American elections and of their worldwide importance. Both Italian and German sites are very precise and give a big visibility to the subject in the international section but also in the front page of the site, probably because all European countries are so dependent from the power and the influence of America.
On the other hand NYTimes offers obviously all the information about the American elections, the primaries’ results, all the rejections of the candidates, it’s possible to listen to the speeches again and to see the videos of interviews and conferences of the future inhabitant of the White House. Naturally, there are blogs and particular links where people can express their preference or only say their opinion and share information. In NY Times World section there are many news about, for example, France or other powerful countries which are politically or economically important for the general American and world situation, such as Iran and Afghanistan. But when I began to look for the news about the Italian political situation I was really disappointed: the site does not mention the Italian election or news about the electoral campaign and about candidates. The latest news about Italian politics was about the dissolution of the parliament by the president Napolitano and it was dated 25 Januar. That means that the Italian section of the site was not updated from two months…it is incredible how we are useless in the worldwide vision of what is important and not!
What I’ve noticed is that there are similarities in all three newspapers as regards the words and the images which are used to describe American elections and their protagonists, because I think that they are inspired from the own candidates words and gestures. For example, both German and Italian site underlines the points about the difference between Hillary as a woman and Obama as a man or the fact that Obama is black and, from this point, there are some discourses about the problem of racism. As both democratic candidates have same ideas and goals in their programs their battle focuses on their different personal roles.
lunedì 10 marzo 2008
Here we are again!!! The new semester has just begun!!
Well, this week I watched some videos about the political campaign in the United States and in Italy; I focused on the PD and the challenge between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The task for this first activity is very interesting because it has given me the chance to look for more information about the US election campaigns which actually I’ve been following day by day on the news. However, thanks to this activity I’ve done something which probably I would have never done, that is to say, listening to a great number of speeches of the two democratic candidates and, in this way, trying to understand the ideas of the democratic political side. What is interesting too is the comparison between the Italian political campaign and the American one…the passion and the clime that you can feel from American people, also here in Italy but I think everywhere because the American campaign has a worldwide resonance, an the absolute indifference of Italian people in front of a political situation that is the mirror of our country: simply confusion!
As for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s speeches, I’ve compared what they’ve said after the great day of the primary elections. As for Hillary’s speech, I’ve seen that she often uses very short and effective sentences, she’s able to focus the main point of what she’s saying very effectively;
She uses gestures, smiles, chosen phrases, a particular look and expression, or a tone of voiceand, moreover, she can joke with her feminine side, which is used as a connector with the audience. In her speeches she concentrates on health care, ending war in Iraq and winning war in Afghanistan, economy and hard work, which is her main solution to all the problems that need to be solved. During her speeches she always turns to the individuals, who she met or experienced working with, for example during the period she spent at White House.
On the other side, Barack Obama’s speeches are maybe less formal, but the sentences are longer and complicated than Hillary’s ones, and he’s got a different stress and I think that his style is very attractive, first of all for a young audience. That is because he is a real new prospective for America and I’ve noticed that he focuses on this aspect with effective sentences as: “I’m the new one”. However, from my point of view, the two candidates are very similar and the preference of American people is just according to the choice of one or another new reality.
As far as concerning Walter Veltroni, he has nothing in common with the emphasis and passion of the two American candidates. I don’t know if that is because I’m Italian and I understand better that he said only words without a real meaning and without looking for real solutions. However I’ve tried to be less critical and, what I can notice is that Veltroni tries to underline the importance of the development of the country from each point of view, always speaking with the smile. But the rhetoric and optimisms which he speaks with do not correspond to reality! Moreover, I don’t understand why Italian politicians want always to remember the mistakes of the previous government…why don’t we worry about the future?!
A very big difference between American and Italian elections is the environment and the clime around this moment, which should be the best representation of democracy. Unfortunately, we are not so patriotic as Americans.
Well, this week I watched some videos about the political campaign in the United States and in Italy; I focused on the PD and the challenge between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The task for this first activity is very interesting because it has given me the chance to look for more information about the US election campaigns which actually I’ve been following day by day on the news. However, thanks to this activity I’ve done something which probably I would have never done, that is to say, listening to a great number of speeches of the two democratic candidates and, in this way, trying to understand the ideas of the democratic political side. What is interesting too is the comparison between the Italian political campaign and the American one…the passion and the clime that you can feel from American people, also here in Italy but I think everywhere because the American campaign has a worldwide resonance, an the absolute indifference of Italian people in front of a political situation that is the mirror of our country: simply confusion!
As for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s speeches, I’ve compared what they’ve said after the great day of the primary elections. As for Hillary’s speech, I’ve seen that she often uses very short and effective sentences, she’s able to focus the main point of what she’s saying very effectively;
She uses gestures, smiles, chosen phrases, a particular look and expression, or a tone of voiceand, moreover, she can joke with her feminine side, which is used as a connector with the audience. In her speeches she concentrates on health care, ending war in Iraq and winning war in Afghanistan, economy and hard work, which is her main solution to all the problems that need to be solved. During her speeches she always turns to the individuals, who she met or experienced working with, for example during the period she spent at White House.
On the other side, Barack Obama’s speeches are maybe less formal, but the sentences are longer and complicated than Hillary’s ones, and he’s got a different stress and I think that his style is very attractive, first of all for a young audience. That is because he is a real new prospective for America and I’ve noticed that he focuses on this aspect with effective sentences as: “I’m the new one”. However, from my point of view, the two candidates are very similar and the preference of American people is just according to the choice of one or another new reality.
As far as concerning Walter Veltroni, he has nothing in common with the emphasis and passion of the two American candidates. I don’t know if that is because I’m Italian and I understand better that he said only words without a real meaning and without looking for real solutions. However I’ve tried to be less critical and, what I can notice is that Veltroni tries to underline the importance of the development of the country from each point of view, always speaking with the smile. But the rhetoric and optimisms which he speaks with do not correspond to reality! Moreover, I don’t understand why Italian politicians want always to remember the mistakes of the previous government…why don’t we worry about the future?!
A very big difference between American and Italian elections is the environment and the clime around this moment, which should be the best representation of democracy. Unfortunately, we are not so patriotic as Americans.
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