Political Public Relations (PR): The Internet’s Increased role in the US Election 2008

Dear participants of the conference, I’d like to present my research to you titled “Political Public Relations: The Internet’s Increased role in the US Election 2008”.

So that to make it easier for you to follow my points, let me introduce the outline of my presentation.

• First, I’ll give brief information on the US Election 2008.
• Second, you’ll hear a couple of passages on the role of mass media in the election process.
• Third, you'll see some examples of how the Internet influences and shapes the public opinion of the electorate.
• And at the end, there will be my conclusion.

Well, the USA Election 2008 will culminate on December the 4^th this year. Now the presidential campaign is in full swing although there are about 10 months ahead. The so-called Primaries are taking place. The parties are choosing their candidates for the General Election. If the Republicans have already chosen their candidate - it’s John McCain, a senator from Arizona - the Democrats are still in the process. The thing is there are two democratic nominees: Senator Hillary Clinton from the state of New York and Barack Obama from the state of Illinois. Both nominees are exceptions rather than the rule. The first one as you know is a woman. The second is a black American.

The US mass media is doing its best to cover the campaign trail. Its role is important in the modern society. It is considered to be the forth branch of power because it influences both the society and the other branches of power. It is an intermediary and main channel for transmission of different messages for the general public.

During the election campaign, people learn a lot about the nominees, candidates and their actions thanks to the media. It is obvious that it is the most effective way for candidates to deliver their ideas to the electorate, thus creating their own unique images and motivations for the public to vote for them. The mass media is a public opinion shaper. It informs and creates stereotypes and changes notions. It can be rewarding for a deed and punishing for a misdemeanor. It possesses a real power. This power is vested in press, TV and radio. They are really available and cheap. But now the Internet is advancing towards the foreground. The US Election 2008 is a good proof of that.

I have studied lots of articles on the ongoing presidential election campaign. And most of them point out that the Internet is becoming one of the leading sources for news about the campaign for all Americans and those who are abroad. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in December 2007 among 1,430 American adults. According to its findings, 24% of Americans regularly learn something about the 2008 campaign from the Internet. The figure almost doubled since the 2004 campaign. Then it was 13%. And it almost tripled since the 2000 campaign. It was 9% only.

There are some self-evident reasons for this Internet's increased role in the 2008 campaign:

1. (First) The increased number of desktop computers and laptops. They have become available for the many.
2. (Second) Easy access to the Net at home, work, public places like Starbucks coffee shops, universities, airports ... etc.
3. (Third) High speed of connection through WiFi ['waifai]. It gives independence from cables and fast download of data.
4. (Fourth) The appearance of new social networking sites.

The Internet has become a ubiquitous tool for people who want to get updated on anything: from what movies are showing to what the candidates are saying. Besides, the users are no longer information consumers only. They have become contributors of information both on small and large scales. (This has become possible due to new social networking sites. The user can write his comments, for example.)

Although the Internet is readily available, another research shows that it is more popular among young Americans: 42% of those ages 18 to 29 regularly take information from the Web. Comparatively, older Americans prefer TV programs and daily newspapers. Only 15% of people above the age of 50 use the Internet at all.

The Internet hosts many sites on political issues, elections included. Among the popular sources are MSNBC, CNN and Yahoo News.  But there are so-called non-traditional sites, which roles are increasing dramatically in the 2008 campaign. They are social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, - by the way, we have similar sites like odnoklassniki.ru or vkontakte.ru - and, of course, online video portal YouTube. Using these Web resources people can not only receive the information about campaigns, they can also enjoy a kind of "interactivitiy" by becoming "a friend" of one of the campaigners or responding to them through a home-made video on the site. Thus, having a feedback, the candidates engage with potential supporters on a far more personal level, on their terms, in their environment. These sites tear down the traditional barriers between in power – be they celebrities or politicians – and their fanbase or supporters. If you can be “friends” on MySpace with Paris Hilton, why not Senator Obama?

According to the data provided by the Pew Research Center, 27% of younger Americans use social networking sites; 4% of Americans in their 30s and 1% of those ages 40 and older received information in this manner. On the whole, one-in-five of all Americans (22%) is a member in an online social networking sites. These findings emphasize the relevance and strength of such online communities.

And candidates use this strength. The social networking sites are being used most successfully by the Democrats, and notably Barack Obama's campaign team. Obama's approximate 170,000 MySpace friends were the most of any candidate, and his 11 million YouTube Channel views placed him ahead of the competition. Hillary Clinton was on the second place. She had 133,000 friends and 849,000 Channel views by August the 23d 2007.

As you see, the largest number of views were attracted by Youtube (http://youtube.com/). It is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. It has become one of the crucial Political Public Relations tools in the ongoing campaign. No wonder. According to a survey, 24% of Americans say they have seen either a speech, interviews, commercial or debate online. The percentage goes down as the age groups get older, but even among those ages 65 and older, 7% have seen an election video online.

As examples, I wanted to share two video clips and comment on them. 

• The first one is a pro-Obama music clip starring a Black Eyed Peas singer and other celebrities. It is a collage style music video inspired by a speech delivered by Barack Obama. The performers echo his words in a hip-hop manner as his voice plays in the background. There are several files with this clip on Youtube. One of them, by April 19, had attracted 6,993,126 views, another - 5,052,401 since its release on February 02, 2008.
• The second clip debunks Hillary Clinton. During one of her speeches earlier in March she mentioned how she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire but CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) channel exposed real Hillary Clinton's Bosnia trip where there were no snipers at all.  The clip has drawn  1,909,119 views since March 24, 2008. The clip has drawn 1,909,119 views since March 24, 2008.

Here, you have seen only two Youtube examples. The clips can be viewed freely by anyone at any time.

CONCLUSION 

In my conclusion I'd like to say that with the increase of the Internet speed connection and new Web technologies, the Internet is turning into an important tool of online Public Relations. The social networking sites, like the mentioned above, give people a tool to interact online and extend their social lives beyond imaginable. And what's really interesting and important for campaigners is that social networking sites are increasingly having hard-to-target teens and young adults involved. Senator Obama and his team are the first to recognize this power. They address the young, the older generations in the way new to election campaigns. As a result, the Internet is now the focus for campaigners, marketers, PR managers and activists.

Undoubtedly, the Internet gives the candidates an extremely cost-effective way to reach millions of potential voters. And the Internet's role in the election process will only grow.