By By Tamara Baluja Jan 29, 2009 in World Obama-mania is taking over the news - all news. It is time to step back and take stock if every article or newscast needs to include Obama. But what I cannot take is the sheer number of Obama references in Canadian news in stories that have nothing to do with Obama! For example, while watching CTV 11 o'clock news with Lisa LaFlamme, the top story of the day was the Liberal decision to support the Federal budget pending certain amendments. After stating the Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's intentions, the very next line was "Obama will be meeting with Stephen Harper in February on his first official visit to Canada". As if this detail is more important than specifying what exactly the amendment is, or what the other opposition leaders thought of Ignatieff's move! The very next story did not even indicate it had anything to do with Canada. This is how the story opened. "Obama had some fun at the expense of Washingtonians". Cut to a clip of Obama saying how cute his 7 year-old daughter is. Apparently, she noted that her school was shut down for a little bit of snow, but that would never have happened in their hometown Chicago. Cut back to LaFlamme saying how back home, Canadians are coping with a major winter storm all the way from Newfoundland to Ontario. Someone please explain to me why Obama needed to be referenced in this story?! The only relevant piece of information would have been that Obama declared federal emergency in Arkansas and Kentucky after the winter storm caused power outages. However this fact was not said during the newscast. Another newscast last week about the Hudson river airplane landing also had a reference to Obama. "It made me think, if everybody did their job, whatever that job was, as well as that pilot did his job, we'd be in pretty good shape," Obama said in a clip in this newscast. These are just examples from a few newscasts, but this is the pattern I have noticed in newscasts since Obama's inauguration. Perhaps media channels notice a spike in ratings if Obama is mentioned. Perhaps people are still riding on the wave of Obama-mania. But the time has come to focus on what Obama is really doing in office. I might be sceptical of how much Obama can actually accomplish, but what the public and media needs to focus on is what strides he is making towards fulfilling his campaign promises - not silly attention grabbing news bytes. No one is denying that Barack Obama has "made history" by becoming the first African-American President of the United States. Even though it was irritating to see the media hype around his inauguration, I can forgive people for obsessing about the numerous balls, the designer working on the Obama family attire, etc, etc. After all, the Obamas do have a touch of Kennedy-type glamour and he does seem to inspire a lot of hope for change in people.But what I cannot take is the sheer number of Obama references in Canadian news in stories that have nothing to do with Obama!For example, while watching CTV 11 o'clock news with Lisa LaFlamme, the top story of the day was the Liberal decision to support the Federal budget pending certain amendments. After stating the Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's intentions, the very next line was "Obama will be meeting with Stephen Harper in February on his first official visit to Canada". As if this detail is more important than specifying what exactly the amendment is, or what the other opposition leaders thought of Ignatieff's move!The very next story did not even indicate it had anything to do with Canada. This is how the story opened. "Obama had some fun at the expense of Washingtonians". Cut to a clip of Obama saying how cute his 7 year-old daughter is. Apparently, she noted that her school was shut down for a little bit of snow, but that would never have happened in their hometown Chicago. Cut back to LaFlamme saying how back home, Canadians are coping with a major winter storm all the way from Newfoundland to Ontario. Someone please explain to me why Obama needed to be referenced in this story?! The only relevant piece of information would have been that Obama declared federal emergency in Arkansas and Kentucky after the winter storm caused power outages. However this fact was not said during the newscast.Another newscast last week about the Hudson river airplane landing also had a reference to Obama. "It made me think, if everybody did their job, whatever that job was, as well as that pilot did his job, we'd be in pretty good shape," Obama said in a clip in this newscast.These are just examples from a few newscasts, but this is the pattern I have noticed in newscasts since Obama's inauguration. Perhaps media channels notice a spike in ratings if Obama is mentioned. Perhaps people are still riding on the wave of Obama-mania. But the time has come to focus on what Obama is really doing in office. I might be sceptical of how much Obama can actually accomplish, but what the public and media needs to focus on is what strides he is making towards fulfilling his campaign promises - not silly attention grabbing news bytes. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. 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