Palin, Politics and the Power of the Web
It seems everywhere you turn there’s another video that someone wants you to view. As the election season continues to heat up, people seem to spending less time watching the “tube” and more time on YouTube. BusinessWeek recently released its list of the 25 most influential people on the web. Of course you had your usual suspects, like Google’s Eric Schmidt, Apple’s Steve Jobs, MySpace’s Rupert Murdoch, Craigslist’s Craig Newmark, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Wordpress’ Matt Mullenweg.
However, some of the more unlikely choices justify the importance that the Internet is playing in the election, including Electronic Retailer’s July 2006 cover subject Arianna Huffington and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart. According to the BusinessWeek article:
In the days after Sarah Palin was nominated as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, the web was rife with content focused on the Alaska governor. One of the most piquant—and widely viewed—video clips came from “The Daily Show.” In it, host Jon Stewart highlighted Palin doublespeak by conservative pundits. He showed, for instance, a clip of Bill O’Reilly calling the pregnancy of Palin’s teen daughter a private issue just months after the Fox News commentator had lambasted actress Jamie Lynn Spears’ parents for allowing their 16-year-old to get pregnant. “See, see what happens with the opinions on teen pregnancy is that they gestate over a period of a few months,” Stewart quipped. The video took off online, racking up 4.2 million views, a record for “The Daily Show’s” site.
I too, played a small part in this when I posted this same clip to my Facebook profile a few weeks back. NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is seeing similar results as TVWeek recently reported that about 51 percent of viewers of the Tina Fey/Palin skits viewed them on the web and not on television.
Have you been viewing these videos on the web? Do you think television is losing its influence? Given last night’s Vice Presidential debate, one thing is for sure—it will be interesting to see what impact the polls will have on the election.
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.
Tags: arianna huffington, businessweek, comedy central, daily show, election, Electronic Retailer, facebook, online video, pat cauley, politics, sarah palin, saturday night live, snl, tina fey, youtube
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I watched the debate on television and then immediately hit the ‘net to find out what the polls and the people were saying while the CNN pundits wonked on. It’s interesting because the TV used to be the hearth that people gathered around but now TV watching (especially politics) is more often a solo activity and it’s the Web where we go for human interaction.
October 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I watched the debate while at the same time using Twitter to comment, argue, study, laugh with, and share thoughts with thousands of others as it was happening. This real-time ‘net/TV experience was pretty amazing to be involved in.
Unlike Rick, I didn’t have to wait until after the debate to go online and see what people were saying. I was getting the pulse of the (online) world as it was happening.
Try this technique out for the next debate and see what you think.
Just sign up for a free Twitter account, and click on the “Politics” bar across the top. (http://www.twitter.com)
October 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am
FINANCIAL CRISIS: WHY IT’S NOT OVER
It is said that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are bound to repeat them. Wikipedia tells us that after the “Black Tuesday” stock-market crash of 1929 the market rebounded just as it is doing now. Very significantly, drought in 1930 coupled with a downturn in auto sales and falling commodity prices led to DEPRESSION.
What do we have happening now? Are not General Motors and Chrysler in merger talks? Why? Are not commodity prices falling and expected to fall further as China feels the effects of the economic slowdown? What is happening with the weather? Will the US drought break? Is there any guarantee that it will? http://www.drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.HTML
In these matters the current California wildfires serve as a warning for those with “eyes to see” and “ears to hear” – especially for those with Republican leanings.
If you would like to know how the forgotten ancient lessons of history are being played out once again and how the REAL SOLUTIONS are being ignored email xnfservices@hotmail.com for your FREE chance to learn more and “prosper” beyond this financial crisis.
Kind regards
Thomas
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:36 am
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October 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
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