I am interested in using the "Tea Baggers" as a case study in the conservative right's use of social media. Obama's campaign was extremely successful in engaging the public through the means of social networking, and most of the media coverage is on the left's use of technology. Recently, the "Tea Baggers" were able to effectively communicate and organize large gatherings to protest US government tax and spending policies. I will be looking into whether the conservative right is now diving in and making the most of social networking, or if this event was an anomaly.
Thanks to the help of the class, I now have some related topics to delve into: the National Association of Scholars follows the political agendas of the extreme right wing; there is a history of films being distributed to churches that combine religious and political agendas; chain emails, particularly attacking President Obama, and how rumor becomes part of the discourse (Fox News, for example).
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I noticed this in a Google Alert for "National Association of Scholars." Kimberly, you might want to exercise some "critical thinking" in your work for "Critical Approaches to Digital Media." The term "tea baggers" is an epithet used by people hostile to the small-government, anti-tax protesters who call their movement the "Tea Party." Your adoption of an insulting term for it exhibits your lack of fair-mindedness. Calling the National Association of Scholars a group that "follows the political agendas of the extreme right wing" likewise exhibits your carelessness about the facts. I am the president of the NAS and we are a classically liberal group of college professors devoted to academic freedom and scholarly standards. It looks like you have something to learn about both.
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