New Media, Views on News • December 11th, 2008

The problems with print

by Chris Lato

In this down economy, it’s no secret that all sorts of businesses are struggling and going under – including the newspaper industry, which was thought to be on a long, slow slide to oblivion anyway.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Newspapers need to figure out how to make real money off the Internet and adjust to the change in revenue streams. Print media outlets will continue to face serious fiscal challenges – some will fade away entirely, while some will adapt to an exclusive online presence. Reporters and editors will lose their jobs as newsrooms work to maintain consistent output with fewer resources.

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Creative, New Media, Views on News • August 12th, 2008

A campaign communication first

by Chris Lato

You have to hand it to the Barack Obama campaign: they have consistently shown they know how to use current communication technology to their advantage.

Rumors that John McCain was going to make his VP announcement via carrier pigeon went unanswered by the McCain campaign. (JK!)

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2008 Primaries, Creative, Global Concerns, Messaging, New Media, Promotions • July 28th, 2008

The GOP joins the Twitter generation

by Chris Lato

Hey, give ‘em points for trying. Some College Republicans are touring the nation, visiting only ‘red’ Congressional districts across the nation and pitching in with volunteer work.

Although one of my first thoughts was, gee, this must be costing them a lot in gas money.

The perception is the Democrats are young, hip and wired into the latest technology – that they’re swamping the GOP in appealing to the Twitter generation. Republicans, by comparison, are stodgier and slower to take on these new ways of communicating.

That said, in 2004 the Bush campaign and RNC invested a lot of dough in technology advances connected to collecting data on supporters for use in driving voter turnout. At that time, it was pretty clear the GOP was working to get ahead of the game. Presumably, improved versions of these tools will be employed to help John McCain this fall.

We’ve written about new technology and social media on this site before, and it’s difficult to say at this point how much this stuff moves the political numbers. However, any campaign ignores these tools at their peril, and they will only get more important to use as time goes on.

They may seem like bells and whistles, and a powerful TV ad or well-timed press event with plenty of photo ops (hello, Obama World Tour!) can still cut through the clutter like nothing else. But campaigns are well advised to use these relatively low-cost, potentially high-impact communication tools in ways that help spread and control the message.

One other note: I have argued in the past that widespread liberal bias in the press is more myth than fact – that of course there are reporters who are biased but in actuality, reporters prefer a good fight or a ‘gotcha’ than they do a nakedly partisan stance. But in the face of evidence like this, it’s a bit harder to make the case. Follow the money, indeed.

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Messaging, New Media • July 8th, 2008

Will McCain catch-up online?

by wispundit

Okay. So there’s roughly five months until the big day for Obama, McCain, and the American people. The candidates are racing to raise money, maintain their images, etc. so that on November 4^th, you will vote for them. One medium that seems like a no-brainer to help accomplish these goals is the internet. Some candidates seem to understand the power of the web, while some just don’t seem to get it. The question I’m asking today is: why hasn’t McCain used the web to reach out to prospective supporters?

YouTube has shown how relatively normal people can be made into celebrities overnight, so why wouldn’t a political candidate want to utilize that resource? Alright, so McCain does have a Facebook page, and a Twitter account and several other social media connections. However, as most Facebook-addicted college students know, it doesn’t matter if you have an account unless people are looking at your page and becoming supporters. Currently, McCain has 162, 420 supporters on Facebook. That may seem like a large number, but remember, Facebook is a global site. Obama on the other hand has 1,112,689 supporters, and that’s just on Facebook. more »

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New Media • June 25th, 2008

Politicians tweet to future voters

by wispundit

You may have heard about a crazy new thing called Twitter lately. The truth is, it’s not that new, and it’s not that crazy. Twitter was launched almost two years ago in July and has since gained almost 2 million users worldwide. The number of Twitter users is constantly growing, as is the sites popularity; around 2 million tweets are sent each day. As you’ll read below, a few politicians have started using Twitter and one has seen overwhelming success.

What is Twitter? Well, as confusing as it sounds, the idea behind the service is very simple. The service is based on the question “What are you doing now?” and from that, you can communicate your own or your business’s status to the world. Twitter was created as a cross-platform tool to communicate your status to friends. All you have to do is create an account, find some people to follow, find some people to follow you, and start tweeting. The beauty of it all is that your followers can choose how they would like to receive your updates, either by text message, instant message, or on the web. You can also update your status from your mobile phone, instant messenger, on the website, or through the multitude of applications and plug-ins that have been created just to tweet. more »

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New Media, public relations, wispundits • April 29th, 2008

TXT Release

by Greg Batiansila

A creative public affairs pro will constantly be testing and exploring new platforms for their releases. So this and this were inevitable. And, if you ask me, it’s not going to go away. So remember to come up with a brief version of that three-paragraph release for those who have a trigger reflex for cell vibrations.

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New Media, public relations • April 17th, 2008

Divorce, YouTube-Style

by Chris Lato

Divorce by YouTube

Since my business is communication…and business is good!…I am fascinated by disturbing new trends, like this video. Some of the discussion in the middle of this clip may be NSFW if you’re in a prudish environment…so keep the volume low.

This is pretty groundbreaking in all the wrong ways. I can’t believe her estranged hubby won’t sue over this, and I can’t imagine he wouldn’t win, but what does this open the door to? All sorts of wild, unsubstantiated allegations posted on video? I know in many ways, the Internet is already the wild wild west, with all sorts of crazy stuff being posted all the time. But this seems to take things into newer territory, where it becomes easy for ‘regular people’ to accuse and embarrass one another without the benefit of a fair response.

Also, what’s to stop disgruntled former employees of businesses making videos accusing the company of engaging in illegal or unethical conduct (except for the obvious lawsuit)? Are businesses prepared to respond fast to something that can spread like wildfire if it has a good hook? It is what crisis communications is all about, and I suspect too many businesses – and people in high places who could be slapped with this kind of stuff – may not have the first clue as to how to respond. Online crisis communications doesn’t get a whole lot of attention and this trend could get a lot bigger before all is said and done.

Think PR, people…(end of commercial).

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Branding Politix, Fundraising, Messaging, New Media, Report from the Field, Research & Ideas • April 8th, 2008

It’s a millennium thing. Get used to it.

by Greg Batiansila

For years, American culture – from politics to entertainment to our interpretation of law – has been under the influence of the Baby Boom generation. Boomers will continue to enjoy considerable power and sway even while they gray and retire. But Americans will now have to reckon with a new force – the Millennial Generation.

Millennials – the name given to those born between 1978 and 1996 – boast Boomer-like numbers, education and clout. Researchers are finding this new generation is very different from previous generations in their view of the world and how they vote. For example, almost 50% of Millennials identify themselves with the Democrat party while only 35% align themselves with Republicans.

Laying claim to the media platforms where Millennials communicate, shop and visit is an essential part of today’s and all future campaigns. McCain’s may be the last of the dinosaur campaigns that ascend almost solely through traditional fundraising and media. Look for all campaigns in the future to use the web – perhaps exclusively – create and enhance community, and raise money.

In 2008, close to 50 million Millenials will be eligible to vote. How many actually vote, and how they vote, and what moves them remains to be seen. But you’re already seeing the beginning salvos…like here and here and here…in a battle for the heart, soul and vote of the Millennial generation.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Grass Roots Organization, New Media • March 17th, 2008

MoveOn beckons Web 2.0 to race

by Greg Batiansila

MoveOn.org, the outspoken left-leaning political website, is showing just how much the political grassroots landscape has changed in just one election cycle.

The site is calling on filmmakers, writers, directors, actors, editors, composers, graphic artists, and animators to use their creativity and create an ad supporting Barack Obama. MoveOn has even YouTubed their call to creative arms.

What you’re seeing and will continue to see is a move on the Internet toward social media, one where the audience creates content and essentially contributes in a conversation with itself and a website. The result is powerful – you give contributors their minutes of fame and priceless exposure, get free content, and engage the audience to share and contribute.

Politically, this is the first major step toward audience-created media that skirts campaign rules and campaign-driven “talking points.” If MoveOn.org posts its top 100 videos, and one or more are risky or take avant garde stabs at the opponent, both MoveOn and Obama can simply disassociate itself from the ad as something made by a novice and not from their campaign – even while displaying the ad under the context of a contest. But if something is truly moving and great, Obama or MoveOn can snatch the ad up and give it national play.

Locally, politicians could use the same platform to engage the electorate. more »

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Messaging, New Media, wispundits • March 11th, 2008

Hmmm…

by Chris Lato

If this is true, then why do we even bother? Because we love the sound of our own voices crying in the wilderness?

Yep. That’s probably it.

Anyway, 56 percent of the American people never read political blogs. 22 percent read them regularly, and 23 percent read them ‘several times a year.’ I would have thought the ‘never read’ number was actually a bit higher. Of course, those numbers will only increase as time goes on and blogs continue to gain acceptance in the mainstream of political news ‘n’ views.

What is the appeal of blogging? I’ve only been doing it for a short time, but so far I’ve enjoyed it. And, it is a great leveler. Anyone can have one. And if you have interesting things to say, then you too can generate some heat. You can post anytime, anywhere, and others have that same 24-hour-a-day access.

Blogs are good for disseminating news ‘the mainstream media doesn’t want you to see/hear/read about.’ (I use the quotation marks only half-jokingly.) Blogs have broken some big stories locally, statewide and nationally, that left some egg on the ‘mainstream’ media’s collective face. Some blogs, admittedly, are little more than gossip/innuendo/half-truths, but the observant among us are sharp enough to separate the good ones from the pretenders.

For campaigns, it is a great way to communicate without the media filter. Of course, you have to feed the beast and keep posting regularly, giving folks a reason to keep coming back. If you establish an audience, it is a tool that is definitely worth using.

Your thoughts? Do you blog on politics and issues, and if so, why? In the face of this new poll, will you just shrug and give up, or will you (I assume) hang tough and keep on bloggin’?

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