~~ Yes the Internet is becoming part of the political campaign arsenals.
But has the internet produced better candidates or any major shifts in power ?
It is still the democrats and republicans.
The medium may be new but the players are the same.
Not only the mega- political players,
but the mega- media players too are the same .
In the end the Internet has re-enforced the status quo. See here for more .
Yes Blogs have some impact, but it is still the mega-media that makes "what is news" , so there too , the Internet has done little to tilt the power center.
The hope of the Digital Age was that people would produce a better, a fairer and more representative government through cyber involvment.
Well the Internet is only really 10 years old, so maybe there is still hope.
~~ technopolitical
-----------------------------------
But has the internet produced better candidates or any major shifts in power ?
It is still the democrats and republicans.
The medium may be new but the players are the same.
Not only the mega- political players,
but the mega- media players too are the same .
In the end the Internet has re-enforced the status quo. See here for more .
Yes Blogs have some impact, but it is still the mega-media that makes "what is news" , so there too , the Internet has done little to tilt the power center.
The hope of the Digital Age was that people would produce a better, a fairer and more representative government through cyber involvment.
Well the Internet is only really 10 years old, so maybe there is still hope.
~~ technopolitical
-----------------------------------
Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics - New York Times:
April 2, 2006
Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
"The percentage of Americans who went online for election news jumped from 13 percent in the 2002 election cycle to 29 percent in 2004, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center after the last presidential election. A Pew survey released earlier this month found that 50 million Americans go to the Internet for news every day, up from 27 million people in March 2002, a reflection of the fact that the Internet is now available to 70 percent of Americans.
This means, aides said, rethinking every assumption about running a campaign: how to reach different segments of voters, how to get voters to the polls, how to raise money, and the best way to have a candidate interact with the public. In 2004, John Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina and his party's vice presidential candidate, spent much of his time talking to voters in living rooms in New Hampshire and Iowa; now he is putting aside hours every week to videotape responses to videotaped questions, the entire exchange posted on his blog.
'The effect of the Internet on politics will be every bit as transformational as television was,' said Ken Mehlman, the Republican national chairman. 'If you want to get your message out, the old way of paying someone to" {end quote]
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/washington/02campaign.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=003299f756f21d88&ei=5094&partner=homepage
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