« Shaggy owl stories | Main | Snow in Austin » January 16, 2007New media and politicsABC has a good article, "Getting Beyond 'Gotcha,'" on the impact of new media (e.g. YouTube) on politics. ... many presidential candidates have tried to get beyond the "gotcha" with their own versions of behind-the-scenes videos. John Edwards paid a team of bloggers to travel with him and document his presidential announcement tour and has also produced a series of "webisodes" that explore his campaign from behind the scenes. Edwards says the webisodes, which are uploaded to YouTube, are "based on who I really am, not based on some plastic Ken doll …" Chuck Olsen, a Minneapolis-based video blogger for Rocketboom.com, was one of those whom Edwards paid to come along on the tour. Olsen got to hang out on the campaign plane, chat with Edwards, and even drink wine with the campaign staff after a town hall meeting in Iowa. He kept his camera rolling, and posted a dispatch on his Web site, MinnesotaStories.com "I know I'm being used," says Olson, who openly questions whether he could have provided an unbiased perspective of the campaign. But he realizes the power of online video to hold candidates like Edwards accountable. "Candidates have to always be 'on,'" Olson says. "If they screw up, suddenly a lot of people will see it."(I've met Chuck, and Olsen with an 'e' is the correct spelling, incidentally. Not meaning to criticize the editors at ABC News. After all, "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.") jon posted this at 8:21 AM |
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