The game-changers

 The Gamechanger Paper What is a gamechanger? Something that fundamentally alters the status quo – often permanently. This has become a cliché phrase now, but perhaps its most notable use was to describe the vice-presidential nomination of Sarah Palin. Given the fact she was pro-life, progun, a former beauty queen and female governor, she was supposed to excite the Republican base while also attracting women to the party. In fact, an excellent HBO movie was made about the decision, and it was called: Game Change. Well, we all know how that decision worked out. But just because it didn’t have the intended effect doesn’t mean it wasn’t a gamechanger. In this assignment, you will select your own mass media gamechanger, from the list below, or one of your own choosing (with approval). Over the course of 1,200-1,500 words (double spaced), you need to describe the gamechanger for me and address the FOUR following points: 1. The history/background of the gamechanger: You don’t have to tell me everything, but give me some context. Help me understand where this gamechanger came from. Who created the gamechanger? If the gamechanger is a person, who are they? Where are they from? If the gamechanger is a thing, who came up with the idea? 2. Why did this gamechanger need to occur? In other words, what made the gamechanger happen? Why did things need to be “shaken up”? For instance, for Sarah Palin, Republicans needed to attract women voters, as well as drum up some good publicity. They weren’t going to win with a ROWDy. NWA was necessary because no one in popular media was telling the story of the hood and L.A. The Star Wars prequels weren’t necessary, but George Lucas believed technology/money allowed him to tell the story he wanted. His money and new tech are what made the gamechanger happen (also greed and boredom, probably) 3. How did it measurably affect a medium or multiple mediums? What did the gamechanger actually change? How did it impact the medium it was supposed to be in? Did it cross multiple mediums? Let’s go back to Palin – she really changed political discourse, didn’t she? Would we have Donald Trump today if we didn’t have Palin before? How would we cover politicians if she’d never been around? Note: the word measurably is key. You need to show me some numbers, some facts, something to prove that it did change things. TV ratings, social media impressions, the rise of Trump, etc