The Media of Choice In Appalachia

There has been a lot of speculation about why Barack Obama lost by such a wide margin to Hillary Clinton in West Virginia and probably as big in Kentucky. TalkPointsMemo.com posted a piece by Jonathan Tilove of the Newhouse News Service who suggests it's a Scots-Irish problem of "fighting" people who "migrated directly to the wilderness of the Appalachian mountains" and that these people are today in "...the lower rungs socially and economically."

In a New York Times Op-Ed Column, Charles Blow suggests that Obama has an Appalachia problem that includes counties from New York State down to Tennessee - a region that is "whiter, poorer, older, more rural and less educated than the rest of the country, and seems to be voting like a bloc."

The reasons Appalachia does not vote for Obama very well may include the people's fighting Scots-Irish heritage or the fact that they are poorer, older, more rural, and less educated. But I believe that another reason for their voting behavior is that they live in the "wilderness of the Appalachian mountains" where broadband Internet access is very low.

I searched via Google for cable television (the main provider of broadband Internet access) penetration in West Virginia and other Appalachian states, but was unable to find any recent statistics. Therefore, I'm going on a hunch and on my assumption that cable and broadband Internet penetration tends to be lowest among "poorer, older, more rural, and less educated people." If my hunch is correct, then the success of Obama's campaign and fund raising efforts is as much related to media access and usage as it is to race, age, income, or education.

People who get their news from and are heavy users of the Internet are probably more likely to support Obama than those who get their news from the dinosaur media - radio, newspapers, and broadcast television. These people probably tend to be older and mired in pre-1960 media habits.

As Joshua Green points out in his excellent article in the June Atlantic titled "The Amazing Money Machine," the "...story of Obama's success is very much a story about money," which was made possible by his brilliant use of the Internet. If Obama is elected in November, he will be the country's first Internet president, and he will owe his victory to a generation (mostly younger) of Internet-savvy voters and donors.

Not only was Obama able to outspend Hillary on television advertising ("six-to-one" as Hillary whined), but probably the video with the most impact was will.i.am's "Yes We Can" which has had over 7.5 million views on YouTube.com alone, which doesn't include the millions of views from its viral distribution, views on Obama's and other's Web sites, and coverage on television.

Another reason for the voting behavior of people in Appalachia, I believe, is anxiety - something close to the "bitterness" that Obama mentioned in an interview, referring to blue-collar workers in small towns in Pennsylvania. In an interview on the Harvard Business Review "IdeaCast" podcast (available on iTunes, in "Podcasts" and in "Business"), Robert Rosen, author of Just Enough Anxiety, said that modern Americans tend to be "...shackled by an outdated mind. Change and uncertainty is dangerous, it makes us anxious. We see anxiety as bad, as a sign of weakness." He also went on to say, "We do one of two things. We deny or resist the anxiety, which gets in the way of us changing and moving forward, or we try to attack and control anxiety - we get hijacked by it..."

I think the "whiter, poorer, older, more rural and less educated" people of Appalachia are anxious because they are anxious about the future and about change, and thus, stick with old ideas and old media. They not only more than likely do not have broadband Internet access, but are also more than likely anxious about using it if they did.

I can't imagine the folks in Appalachia grooving to will.i.am's "Yes We Can" video. They are probably watching re-runs of "I Love Lucy" on TV sets with rabbit-ear antennae and listening to "The Grand Ole Opry" on Saturday nights on WSM-AM radio - the king of Appalachia media. And they more than likely won't watch Obama's inauguration speech, which is sure to be a humdinger. But I can imagine that the majority of Obama's ardent young, post-racial, post-Appalachia supporters watching their president's inauguration address on their computers - the media of choice of a new, young, educated generation - not the media of choice in Appalachia.

Comments

[curioustorquemada]

If they only had cable and internet service they wouldn't be forced to sit on the front porch and visit with neighbors while the sun sets slowly behind the mountains. Just think, if they could only be exposed to Fitycent they could hear what real music sounds like.They could learn parenting skills from The Family Guy.
Instead of going fishing they could be reading Huffington Post for an accurate unbiased view of the news.

[dignityandhonor]

Steamboat - For what it's worth, my advise to you is - relax. Unfortunately, perception is reality. Being from Detroit I have to listen to people talk about how they believe they're going to get killed the minute they hit the city limits or that a race riot will break out at a ballgame. Unfair? Yep, but you'll always have those that have never visited your fair state believe that you lead the nation in coal production, stills and banjos.

[steamboat]

dignityandhonor: My whole point is this and I'm damn sure you'll agree with me. These same liberal 'political-correct thought police' who shove it down everybodies throats when it comes to accusing people of stereotyping are guilty of doing it themselves.

Example: No other state and or region had captions underneath during their primaries on how many people in that state were college grads. Why?

Example: African-American columnist Mary Mitchell writes in the Chicago Sun-Times, "Obama was defeated in West Virginia by a bunch of white voters who were high school graduates."----that part about HIGH SCHOOL: -----CODEWORD: dumb and uneducated hicks.

dignityandhonor, my parents where from West Virginia. So I've visited there often. I actually live in Chicago, in the most politically corrupt county in America...............dignityandhonor, finally what is wrong with your 'Tigers'?

[JohnMayer]

I'm sure Mr. Warner is a right smart man with a head full of book-larnin', but I never knew ye could write a whole article based on hunches of what a region ye know nuthin' about is probably like. What d'ye reckon it's like over in Ee-raq right now, Chuck? Got any hunches? How's that surge thing a-workin'?

Way I heerd it, only about half of folks in EVERY part of the USA who make under $30,000 a year HAVE internet connections a-tall. So maybe ye're saying Obama SHOULD appeal mostly to the upper class. I'm thinkin' Hillary's policy-wonkishness would come across BETTER on the internet; Barack's plattytoods work fine in soundbites.

Here's another notion 'bout howcum Barack didn't do as well as Hillary: mebbe us stubborn mountaineers jist think Hillary DOES have some new ideas, thet electing the first US woman president is NOT the status quo, thet she was way ahead of the pack on healthcare, thet life was purty good with the Clintons in the White House, thet Barack jist haint been around the block enuf times, and thet she's jist the best candydate. Maybe Barack's failure in Appalachia haint got nuthin to do with racism, anymore than his success elsewhere is due to sexism.

Mebbe if'n he wins the nomination we mountain folk will give Barack another look-see, but till then we're a-stickin with Hillary. Reckon we-uns is just a buncha Hillarybillies.

[altohone]

You seem to be confirming low access for poor people.

That suggests a higher reliance on the corporate media for info too.


I'm not sure denying the reality of the exit polls is a sound argument, even though it's clear racism was only part of the reason, the numbers were higher than most states.

[steamboat]

Charles Warner, this is all GARBAGE.......Clinton beat Obama by a good margin in West Virginia, therefore, the people got to be dumb, uneducated, and unsofisicated-----Right? Afterall, CNN and MSNBC even had captions at the bottom of the picture reminding all of us "West Virginia had 17% of its population that have been to college". They never did that in any other primary.

So you know what, if people voted v. Obama, therefore, lets bring up the 'uneducated'-card. Guess what Charles, ITS A 2-WAY STREET ! Urban America is a Obama stronghold. Hey Charles, are you aware the HIGH SCHOOL graduation rate in the big cities of America is 49%? Talk about uneducated ! Detroit has a 25% graduation rate. Baltimore 31% and Indianpolis 35%. How come CNN and MSNBC didn't run captions underneath about that? Charles,why such a DOUBLE STANDARD?

[2cntswrth]

While this article has made some point about the lack of exposure to the media and internet; I'm not sure if it is as widespread throughout the Appalachian region as suggested here. Additionally, I'm not sure that the constant deluge of propaganda that is available via the media and internet has enough facts in it to honestly help people make informed decisions. In these regions, Fox news and Rush Limbaugh are probably pretty popular. And, unfortunately, there is no way to adequately filter things. About the best approach was noted when Chris Matthews challenged the conservative radio host last week about "appeasement." But not many in mainstream media will do it enough to get to the truth.

Obama will need to personally spend more time himself interacting with the people, answering their questions, and helping them understand the kind of person that he is. The time factors associated with the length of the primary campaign and its logistics in the last week or so hasn't worked out in his favor for states with such a large population of voters who wouldn't ordinarily support a candidate they were not somewhat familiar with (or had heard something bad about (whether true or not))--let alone a candidate who is African American. However, in a general election process, he can take more time and reach out more thoroughly in these regions to gain support with those he can.

[altohone]

Charles-

I wrote something similar following the WV election.

However, I don't think it has anything to do with videos or fundraising.
I think it has to do with facts... the truth.

Those who rely on the corporate media are ignorant due to the intentional Gordon/Judy Miller style reporting they've been subjected to on top of the Pentagon propaganda efforts.

Through no fault of their own, they continue to trust a media that has been corrupted.

The media refused to air a single story about the DLC New Democrats, and unless you were getting info from the web, you wouldn't know about the ideological split in the party, where DLC'ers like Hillary were in lock-step with pro-war and corporate interests. Nor would they know it by listening to Hillary's campaign rhetoric.

Name recognition was probably big, but the truth has swayed far more dems toward Obama than any video or biographical info.

[CharlesWarner]

Interesting point -- that the truth wins out. But I guess the underlying questions are how do you define the truth and where do you find your defined truth? I think that the concept of truth is rather more subjective than objective and we seek our individual defined truth in places that agree with our subjectively defined version of the truth. I believe that I am able to construct my subjective version of the truth best from a variety of sources which are available on the Internet -- sources such as the Huffington Post that provide a variety of opinions and versions of the truth.

[Attucks]

Wow! Thanks for the article. It sure will go a long way in adding fuel to the fire in November.

[rabiabidabi]

The world is getting smaller and will eventually reach even Appalachia. And they will come around to a more modern way of thinking, perhaps demanding better education and a better future for their children.

I don't believe anybody asks to be born into poverty and ignorance and we should be working just as hard to provide equality in education and opportunity for the people of Appalachia as we do elsewhere.

[Montanus]

I can't believe the ignorance of this article. Though I no longer live there, I grew up in West Virginia. Because the mountain terrain limited the value of antennas most people had cable TV beginning in the 1950s. All of Mr Warner's assumptions are wrong.
WV is one of the most rural states in the Union. There are no cities of any size. Politics is necessarily retail. Given a headstart of 16 years, the Clintons are well known. Without time to make up the huge deficit, Obama made a rational choice. Rather than squander resources seeking 5 possible electoral votes, he spent only 3 days campaigning in the Mountain State. He remains unknown there. Playing a different game, the Clintons - candidate, former President and daughter were omnipresent. It should surprise no one that their effort was recognized, appreciated and rewarded by the voters - making a rational choice of their own.
Just because the media went looking for and found a few idiots to confirm their own pre-existing biases about rural people and their presumed racial attitudes does not mean that they got the story right. There have never been enough black people in most of West Virginia for their to be any deeply rooted or meaningful racism. Recent Republican strength in this traditionally Democratic state can be attributed to successful campaigns by the NRA.

[CharlesWarner]

My premise is that one of the reasons that people in Appalachia preferred Hillary Clinton over Obama is because of low penetration of broadband access to the Internet. Obama and his supporters have used the Internet very effectively for fund raising and promoting his candidacy, in getting him recognized.

[steamboat]

Montanus, maybe these know-it-alls need a history lesson. You know, like how West Virginia was founded. The fact these folks were the Virginians who wanted to stay loyal to the Union.....Or the fact that ratio-to-population, the sons of West Virginia families had the highest ultimate-sacrifice of any state in the VietNam War. The war that was escalated by the hero of alot of these 'elitists' on this blog, Lyndon Johnson.

[Koa]

I don't believe cable t.v. was available in the 50's. I was born in 1954 and I really don't remember cable becoming widespread until the 70's. Could be wrong though, just wondering where your belief came from.
thank you

[CharlesWarner]

I agree, it is not all their fault, but one would hope they would be a little more proactive about change, including better education as you mentioned.

[steamboat]

So do you ever ALSO comment about the 50+% high school drop-out rate of the cities of America? Cities, by the way, that are almost all dominated by the democratic party . Do you also use the word 'ignorance' for that situation?