Shifting Campaign Style, Coverage

Since listening to both of the keynote speakers and one of the panels from the Shuneman Symposium, I have given considerable thought to the connection between new media and Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Over time, presidential campaigns have evolved significantly – since William McKinley’s presidency campaigns have typically been “consultant-based.” However, with Obama’s very successful and innovative campaign strategy, I’m interested in whether the predominant campaign style (and as a result, campaign coverage) will shift.

Any campaign now that neglects new media seems destined to fail. Campaigns must be ever more responsive to deal with the growing number of bloggers and Twitter users. In the same vein, any news outlet that does not utilize these budding media options will lose out to competitors.

As Steve Hildebrand said, reporters changed the way they covered the campaign cycle during this election. It can certainly be said that the campaign style itself also changed. So, what does this mean for the traditional political reporter? It’s tough to say. But, with the emergence of new outlets like Scoop08, evolution appears necessary for reporters’ survival. I think it would be interesting to look at the evolution of the political campaign in connection with the evolution of new media.

I was also interested in the “Political New Media” panel, particularly GWU professor Albert May’s comments. He focused on the online and local TV explosion in coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The first appearance of the Internet in presidential campaigns was in 1996, he said. Now, with several of the 2008 presidential candidates announcing their candidacies on YouTube, it’s clear that a new brand of political campaigning is on the way.

Other statements of note:

Amy Goodman
-The media is moving towards fewer moguls owning more spaces.
- The closing of newspapers means the shutting down of local voices.
- We need to make sure that the Internet remains open and free.
-While the Internet is full of valuable information, it is also a great global rumor mill.
- When the mainstream media got the WMD stories so wrong, smaller places had the story. My question: Are bloggers the new watchdogs?

- Caitlyn Zachry