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** The Path to the Supreme Court: Justice Sonia Sotomayor **
In **May 2009**, President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit **J****udge Sonia Sotomayor** to replace the retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Throughout her nomination in May 2009 and her confirmation in August, Sotomayor's media coverage was centered around her race as the first Hispanic Justice. Conservative media outlets exploited controversial statements she made in order to publicize her leftist views.



** Example I ** Media Coverage Surrounding the Historical Implications of Sotomayor's Nomination as the First Hispanic Justice

** Mainstream Media Coverage ** media type="custom" key="6193837" - ABC News Video 05.27.09. - Presentational Media seeks to paint the story of the nomination in terms of personal triumphs that allow good visuals - Seeks to portray the event in the terms of a story centered around relatable characters that invoke sentiment, such as the Latino Wisconsin school girl that now believes that her dreams can come true or the inspired and uplifted young students from Sotomayor's elementary school - The story is made to fit to the mold of an inspirational underdog candidate rising up to become a voice for an underrepresented minority and in doing so proving that dreams are possible for minority citizens across the nation - As stated it is reported as a "beautiful, historic, day"

**Citizen Media Coverage** Huffington Post

07.30.09.


 * "//The Supreme Court nomination of a Latina judge, Sonia Sotomayor, is forcing some Republicans to weigh the benefits of appealing to Hispanic voters against the cost of alienating the conservative base"//


 * "//Perhaps non-engagement is better than saying anything at all. Christie found himself on the receiving end of a critical editorial for playing politics with the nomination, which he first criticized, then described as "historic."//
 * //"According// [|////to the U.S. Census Bureau////]//, 6.6 percent of Virginia's population is of Hispanic origin, corresponding to a population of roughly 513,000. In New Jersey// [|////the percentage is much higher////]//. Nearly 16 percent of the state is of Hispanic origin, corresponding to a population of more than 1,380,500."//

- Offers more critical analysis of the concept of a "historical nomination" - Makes case that GOP can avoid criticizing nomination and alienating Hispanic voters by characterizing it as historic- with example of candidate Chris Christie of New Jersey - Raises critical questions about alienating Hispanic voters and supports claims with quotes and evidence - Links to citizen media sites and mainstream sites to support point - Lacks established credibility of mainstream media to simply state facts that are trusted to be true- therefore posts a link to backup facts



** Example II **


 * The Media coverage regarding Sonia Sotomayor's controversial "wise latina" comment and the subsequent opposition portrayal of her as radical and racially oriented **

**Mainstream Media Coverage** __New York Times Article__

05.14.09.
 * "//In her speech, Judge Sotomayor questioned the famous notion — often invoked by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her retired Supreme Court colleague, Sandra Day O’Connor — that a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion when deciding cases.// //“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees."//
 * //'This month, for example, a video surfaced of Judge Sotomayor asserting in 2005 that a “court of appeals is where policy is made.” She then immediately adds: “And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don’t make law. I know. O.K. I know. I’m not promoting it. I’m not advocating it. I’m — you know.”'//
 * //"The video was of a panel discussion for law students interested in becoming clerks, and she was explaining the different experiences gained when working at district courts and appeals courts. Her remarks caught the eye of conservative bloggers who accused her of being a “judicial activist,” although Jonathan H. Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University law school, argued that critics were reading far too much into those remarks."//

- Coverage of the issue is very thorough - it does not just discuss the controversial "wise latina" comment, it also provides the background, setting, context of the whole speech - Offers a broad and detailed coverage of all issues presented- gives credentials, names, and details about each person cited or quoted - Backs up every claim with facts and detail but does not usually provide links to support the facts because its trusted status as an institution is enough to support its information; provides links to pages of people cited or quoted and to Times Topics explanations - Offers perspectives on issue both from opposition to Sotomayor as well as from her supporters


 * Citizen Media Coverage **

Red State Article 05.30.09.
 * //"The nomination of Judge Sotomayor represents a natural evolution in parceling out Supreme Court seats. Rather than the so 1970s criteria of race and ethnicity, her role on the court will be to ensure that bigots and racial supremacists have adequate representation."//


 * //"She’s a member of a racialist group, the Council of La Raza, she has extolled her own ability to render “better” judgment because of her sex and ethnicity than a white male (aka, the guys who brought you Western Civilization), and she has ruled that race not trumps competence in civil service promotions. The future of bigotry seems to be in safe hands and Senator Hruska, unbeknownst to himself or anyone else at the time, has been revealed as a prophet."//

- Offers a very brief and narrowly supported coverage of the issue - Makes claim that Sotomayor is a "bigot" and a "racial supremacist" but offers not factual support in the way of quotes or references - Makes references to Sotomayor's backgroundas a member of an organization labeled as radical and her apparent ruling that "race trumps competence in civil service promotions" but offers neither details nor links to back up information but also lacks the institutional authority of a major newspaper or news broadcast which works to effectively cast doubt on the veracity of the claims made - Makes use of sarcasm and backhanded comments


 * Comparative Analysis ** 
 * In the case of Example I, there are significant differences in the new and citizen media coverage including the inherent differences between presentational and discursive media. The ABC News video chooses to approach Sotomayor's nomination as a historical event because doing so enables it to cast the nomination in a story complete with uplifting images. ABC treats the nomination as a newsworthy event in itself. In contrast, the new media article from the //Huffington Post// takes a particular slant on the nomination and reports the nomination in terms of its overall effects and repercussions.


 * The stance ABC chooses to take is made evident from the very beginning of the video, when the anchor characterizes the event as "President Obama's Historical Supreme Court Nomination" and couches the historical formal process of Senate confirmation hearings as "battle lines" in order to add popular interest to the story. The video then proceeds to examine the effects the nomination has had on Latin communities in the form of a series of hopeful visual clips accompanied by a voice over. The video focuses on celebration at a New York radio station with Latino citizens shouting in celebration in Spanish and then the camera focuses on young "dreaming" Wisconsin schoolgirl Fabiola Navarro who says of the nomination "It tells me that I can do that or even bigger things." Afterwards, the video focuses on the change seen for Latinos in Los Angeles, without citing any particular details apart from the nomination. Overall the initial images focus on the feelings stirred up in the Latin Community by on the nomination of Latina Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Finally, ABC showcases images from Judge Sotomayor's junior high school which is presented as a picturesque, classic elementary school complete with chalk board and children in uniforms. In this final stage of the video, ABC solidifies its process of casting Sotomayor's nomination as a story of a repressed minority rising up and overcoming boundaries. Young Latino schoolchildren explain that the nomination shows "us that we are having power,"" we are important in this country," and "we're not the underclass anymore." With the hopeful faces of young schoolchildren, ABC furthers its framing of the nomination as a story of class conflict being overcome. The piece draws to a close with the statements that Hispanics are America's largest minority group forming 15.4% of the population and are underrepresented with just 6% of congress. While Sotomayor's nomination will in no way directly increase Hispanic representation in congress, the nomination is portrayed in this way as an overdue historical pivot point that will empower Hispanics across the nation.


 * The New Media article from the //Huffington Post// represents both presentational and discursive media. However, the small pictures that accompany the story are not sufficient content to merely have an article focus on the purely historical aspect of Sotomayor's nomination. The readers would not be kept interested if a mostly discursive story focused solely on that issue without changing images to keep their attention. Accordingly, the article "Sotomayor Creates Problems for GOP Gubernatorial Candidates" by Sam Stein is a thesis-driven piece which critically examines some of the specific effects of the nomination. The story supports its thesis, that Sotomayor's nomination is forcing certain Republicans to try not to alienate Hispanic voters while simultaneously maintain their conservative base, with evidence in the form of quotes and facts. With a recognition that the Huffington Post, while a relatively respected new media source, still lacks total institutional credibility or ethos, the article supports much of its evidence by providing links to back up the information.


 * In Example II, the mainstream //New York Times// article and the new media //Red State// editorial offer starkly different perspectives and coverage of Sotomayor's controversial statements about her race affecting her judgement. The actual quote from Sotomayor that was picked and propagated by various media sources is "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." However, one would never know this is exactly what Sotomayor said if one were to bypass //The New York Times// and only read the //Red State// editorial. While the //Red State// article fails to give either the full text of the quote or its context, it does expound the unsupported and rash characterization of Sotomayor as a "bigot" and "racial supremacist." //The New York Times//, on the other hand, offers no such sweeping judgements or unsupported statements. While this fact is undoubtably due in part to the fact that the //Red State// article is the only editorial of the two, it also has to do with the institutional weight and long history of thorough reporting from T//he New York Times//. //The Times// article offers a complete, balanced, and supported overall picture of Sotomayor's statements. The article provides much more quoted material from Sotomayor's speech (as well as a link to the full text of the speech), as well as the complete context of the statements. For instance, when the article discusses the 2005 video of Sotomayor asserting that a "court of appeals is where policy is made" the article does not stop its coverage there; it goes on to provide the remainder of Sotomayor's statements and explanation as well as the location and context of the remarks. The Times also provides informed perspectives on the issue from professors such as Case Western Reserve law Professor Jonathan H. Adler who is referenced as arguing that her remarks were being read too far into by critics. While //The New York Time//s is thoroughly endowed with a strong sense of institutional trust and credibility of ethos is the validity of its information, the article still provides sources and links to further support its information when possible.


 * The //Red State// article, however, lacks the institutional ethos of //The New York Times// and still fails to offer any support of its information. It's failure to provide links to support its information, as the //Huffington Post// article from Example I does to back up its facts combined with its lack of institutional ethos both work to call into question the verifiability of its information. This phenomenon is particularly true in the case of its rather rash and startling claims about Sotomayor: "She’s a member of a racialist group, the Council of La Raza, she has extolled her own ability to render “better” judgment because of her sex and ethnicity than a white male (aka, the guys who brought you Western Civilization), and she has ruled that race not trumps competence in civil service promotions." No basis or references are provided for any of these claims. In addition, the article uses a sarcastic tone and comments to enhance its conservative the slant. The fact that the article offers such an unsupported and conservative doctrine-based perspective makes it clear that it seeks only to play on the fears and beliefs of a very specific demographic of people who will readily believe the statements of this article because they are already firm supporters of this ideology. Overall, the //Red State// article offers a clear example of one of the dangers of Citizen and New Media; the danger that unsupported ideology based pieces can be easily made public and be reported as and considered reliable news by certain citizens. In a democracy, a media system that exists only to tell people what they want to hear promises to be a very precarious institution.