This year's election has been an unprecedented rollercoaster and a turn in the right direction.
The last reported lynching was in Alabama in 1981 and 27 years later we find ourselves electing the first black presidential candidate, Barack Obama.
The fact that a black man has gathered such public support in a nation that is still very sexist and racist is a step in the right direction.
The same could be said about Senator Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Women were first allowed to vote in 1929. Less than 80 years later the country might well have elected a woman president or vice president.
These advances have been made with help from the media, which helped break taboos and stereotypes, I can't help but feel, though, that the most influential news outlets picked a side from the time the final candidates from each party was established.
The news media is supposed to keep people informed and be neutral at all times. However, at a time when ratings and money seem to be a priority rather than content we find ourselves catering to sensationalistic news.
Picking sides and reporting gossip as facts or attributing it to anonymous sources has become a norm. Comedy Central has become the focal and most watched political news source with satirical shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report, winning over CNN, Fox news and MSNBC in ratings.
Pretty soon candidates will host conferences on the cartoon network to get young voters.
As readers and viewers we are partially to blame for this. Nowadays we turn to gossip blogs and believe everything they post. These blogs are based on gossip rather than actual news and are not accountable when they misinform the public.
Who's to blame? Is it the media for not upholding to a set of standards or is it the public whose attention span has diminished?
Roberto Moreno
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