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Holding A Finger To The Blogosphere Wind
Reprinted from Thursday's PM Edition of Technology Daily:
By Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily
MADISON, Wis. -- Political campaigns are now relying on blogs to "test market" new messages with small, niche audiences before transforming them into full-release commercials and press releases, Republican and Democratic consultants said Thursday.
The trend started on the state level but is going national with the 2008 presidential campaigns, experts said here at the Online News Association's regional conference.
Wisconsin Republican strategist Brian Fraley indicated that statewide blogs are an excellent tool to "test ideas -- and see if they are press release worthy." He said campaigns overall are now devoting more staffing and money to monitoring and cultivating bloggers and online sites.
Fraley cited this week's example of Fred Thompson, a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, releasing an online video in response to a recent trip to Cuba by liberal filmmaker, author and activist Michael Moore.
Thompson previously had criticized the trip, and Moore challenged him to a debate. Thompson answered the challenged in a video released through the Internet rather than the mainstream media. In the video, Thompson noted that another documentary filmmaker had been put in a mental hospital in Cuba. "He made quite a point of emphasizing the words 'mental institution'" when speaking to Moore through the video, Fraley said.
Democratic consultant Ted Osthelder agreed that the Internet video had a dramatic impact on Thompson's visibility as a potential player in 2008. "I don't think campaigns are going to spend $100 million on YouTube.com" like they might on traditional campaign ads, Osthelder said, but more people may well remember Thompson's inexpensive video.
That's because the mainstream media gave the ad national coverage, Osthelder said.
Fraley also said opposition researchers will be on the hunt during the 2008 campaign, with video cameras in hand to capture candidate miscues.
As a result, though, Jim Brady, the executive editor of the washingtonpost.com, said even routine campaign stops at diners will become even more scripted.
The Thompson episode and another video featuring Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as "Big Brother" earlier this year demonstrate that campaign strategies are starting to change because of blogs, panelists said. There are risks to the strategy, however.
Fraley said campaigns can more easily "screw up" than they have before and have that information reverberate throughout the blogosphere and into the mainstream media. Others concurred. "This has resource implications for campaigns," Osthelder said. "Internet strategy must be integrated into the main campaign strategy."
Brady told the ONA audience of about 100 people, including some Wisconsin bloggers, that the 24-hour news cycle has become the "1/2-hour news cycle." The Washington Post has responded by hiring a blogger who updates his site several times a day, Brady said.
"Our audience is not satisfied with one post a day by David Broder or Dan Balz," he said of the paper's longtime political reporters.
Fraley and the other panelists, however, cautioned against campaigns focusing too heavily on technology. "Congratulations if you are on the cutting edge," Fraley said. "But politics is all about winning. There has to be a balance."
Posted by Danny on May 18, 2007 09:59 AM | Permalink
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Comments
As Bob Krum blogged the other day, "Fred Thompson is the first politician anywhere to understand how the speed of the internet can change politics."
Sometimes a cigar is NOT just a cigar
Sissy Willis | 05.18.07 11:07 AM
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