The West Wing: The TV Show

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The West Wing Technology is growing fast, as is the new generations branching off with new forms of media and devices that provide us with the news. News and politics have had difficulty when informing its public and community of the events that happen in their community. Now the media and news are growing to reform to the earlier generation’s way of receiving the news and events related to them, by using media and popular culture. According to Wodak, for politics to air and to engage and intrigue its public, it must need scandal, rumour, and speculation (45). The West Wing, is a clear example of where the news and politics enter into the world of entertainment, but still informing its audience of the political world and events they may face. I will be analyzing The West Wing television series in relation to the representations of gender, race, and politics with support from examples and scholarly sources. The West Wing, is a show that is set within political parameters, focusing on each character with their own side stories, with a main emphasis on political events and how it gets dealt with within the White House. We have the president of the United States played by Martin Sheen, having a team made up with C.J. a female is the White House press secretary, a strong and stern woman that seems to show highlights of assisting everyone within the White House, who is also shown as the saviour of the team and who takes the fall when faced with the media public (journalists). The office contains Leo, Toby, Josh, and Sam, which are all part of the White House staff, part of the team. The four male figures mentioned focus on certain aspects dealing with the president and their image in the news and media coverage. The team mainly cons... ... middle of paper ... ...e West Wing." Television Quarterly 32.1 (2001): 39-42. Art Source. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Engelstad, Audun. "Watching Politics: The Representation of Politics in Primetime Television Drama." NORDICOM Review 29.2 (2008): 309-324. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Hungerford, Kristen. "The Male "White" House Of Hollywood: A Feminist Critique Of What It Means To Be Presidential." Ohio Communication Journal 48. (2010): 55-75. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Lewis, Ann F. "The West Wing." Television Quarterly 32.1 (2001): 36-38. Art Source. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”. The West Wing. 29 Sept. 1999. Video. 29 Mar. 2014. Wodak, Ruth. "The Glocalization Of Politics In Television: Fiction Or Reality?." European Journal of Cultural Studies 13.1 (2010): 43-62. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

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