Week 5: Assignment and Student Response to Discussion One and Two

ThursdayNov 2 at 6:36pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Muckraking is a type of investigative journalism. In The Orange County Register article titled, Bocanegra groping case brings calls for Valley lawmaker to quit — and silence from him already boasts controversy. The article says, “The sexual-misconduct controversy started with a Los Angeles Times report Oct. 27 that an investigation, after Gyore accused Bocanegra of reached into her blouse and later followed her at an after-work event at a Sacramento nightclub in 2008, led the Assembly Rules Committee to conclude that his behavior “does not meet the Assembly’s expectations for professionalism.” The story also mentioned the incident was Published in the Sacramento Bee. Before that, “It came a day after the Daily News editorial board (which operates separately from the news reporting staff) published an editorial.”

Of the three types of muckraking; simple, leaping impact, and truncated this reports evolution seems to reflect simple muckraking best. It started with Elise Flynn Gyore (the sexually assaulted). Once the information was out there, California Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra made a public apology, and now he is being urged by the protesting public to resign his seat.

Mr. Bocanegra claims to be a one-time offender, as he expressed his apology and deep regret. However, he is a politician and now exposed by a few different articles. The situation was revealed, then written about, and now there is public opinion rising that may affect Bocanegra future in politics. However, it was also mentioned, if there are no other offenses unearthed, Bocanegra may not have to worry about his seat. As stated in the textbook, “Even if the public becomes highly concerned, political action does not necessarily follow” (Garber & Dunaway, 2015). Unfortunately, “you cannot go very far by reiterating that public officials are corrupt, that businessmen break the law” (Lippmann, Leuchtenburg, & Sitaraman, 2015).

-Mallory Murray

References

Graber, D. A., & Dunaway, J. (2015). Mass Media and American Politics (Ninth ed.). Thousand

Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Lippmann, W., Leuchtenburg, W. E., & Sitaraman, G. (2015). 1. The Themes of Muckraking. In,

Drift and Mastery : An Attempt to Diagnose the Current Unrest (p. 23). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Modesti, K. (2017, November 02). Bocanegra groping case brings calls for Valley lawmaker to

quit - and silence from him. Retrieved November 02, 2017, from http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/01/bocanegra-groping-case-brings-calls-for-valley-lawmaker-to-quit-and-silence-from-him/