Balkanization:History Swings Back Around

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
History tends to repeat its self far to often and usually in a way that people do not realize is a repeat. Blogs and other Online Social Interactive Media (OSIM) is creating a bigger divide in politics and partisanship. There is a catch though, this is not anything new, in fact it is history reverting to how politics used to be. One could argue that we have recently lived in a relatively partisan media free environment and that in its self is a historical anomaly. In the book Blog Wars by Dr. David Perlmutter a chapter is dedicated to the argument and counter argument that blogs and OSIM’s are deepening the divide in partisan politics. Not to assert my opinion into this post, but I do agree. These new online media sources, be blogs or partisan media sites, such ashuffingtonpost.com, moveon.org or townhall.org, provide readers with partisan information but called news. Now these sites do relay the information, but in a skewed and partisan way....
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Perlmutter Dept. of State Talks: Manila & Kabul

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Some other blogging and elections talks: --David D. Perlmutter. International webtalk on "The American Elections and Online Social-Interactive Media" sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 3, 2008. Read: The transcript of the webchat. --David D. Perlmutter. Keynote Speaker. "The American elections." Tele-Video Conference sponsored by by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, October 21, 2008. Originally posted November 18, 2008 at PolicyByBlog...
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Obama: Advised by cabinet members…and millions online

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
A few days before the Nov. 4 election, PRWeek asked communications professionals who would win the race for the White House: Those polled predicted an Obama victory, saying the campaign's social media tactics and remarkable fundraising efforts would contribute to an electoral edge. Barack Obama won the presidency in a 53-46 victory over John McCain, with many – both the mainstream media and political bloggers – attributing the win to the factors predicted by those solicited in the PRWeek poll. Pollster Jeff Booms says the Obama win indicates a broad move to interactive communications as opposed to conventional, Independent/center-appeal strategy – a tactic unsuccessfully employed by the McCain campaign. The online strategy continues post-election win: Obama has a Web site,change.gov, for his transition to the White House. On change.gov, you can follow Obama headlines, blog in the virtual newsroom, learn about his cabinet and the inauguration, and get in-depth details about the Obama-Biden agenda on a variety of topics – e.g., the economy, Iraq and taxes. On each of these Web pages, a blue box displays in the center...
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Expectations, Campaign Practices and New Media: Obama’s Future Presidency

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Young voters showed up in droves on Election Day 2008. According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, there was a five percent increase in the number of young voters (people between the ages of 18 and 29) who voted in 2008 compared to 2004. Furthermore, the youth vote accounted for 18 percent of the overall vote on Election Day. Finally, the young vote favored Barack Obama by a margin of two to one. This relatively large upswing in the young vote was cultivated by Obama and his successful campaign. According to a recent article in Youth Media Reporter: The Professional Journal of the Youth Media Field, Obama recognized that proper use of the media is just as important as the message itself. Obama hit the ground running during the early part of his campaign, focusing on many new media tactics and Web 2.0 tools to advertise his message. According to a Washington Post article, Obama created his Web site...
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Obama’s Use of New Media will set a Precedent

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
With Barack Obama using the tools of the internet to win the Presidential election, I feel his Presidency will be connected to the youth than any other President in the past. In regards to new media, Obama started his post election win with a Youtube video address. This use of video brings the message he is wanting to get out directly to the individual person, almost like a personal video for each person, we can watch or not, or wait for a more convenient time to watch. The video was posted on his personal website along with the text of the address and the podcast version. All three versions are great for those who rather not watch the first two minutes of a video, and just want to read, or those who want to just listen and not watch a video. If someone was really into the address, I guess they could even download it to i-tunes and listen to it, while they...
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Obama 2.0

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Some say President-elect Obama has harnessed the power of the sun and used it to win an electoral landside victory to becoming the first African-American President and the first tech. savvy President as well. There is only one problem, it wasn’t the power of the sun, it was the power of online social interactive media (OSIM) and technology in general….which could mean solar power…which could mean the power of the sun….ignore that point. Obama created an army of mobile voters and works and used his magic microphone (a cellphone) to send them into battle with ease as they stood the night victorious, but what is next? The question today is how does candidate 2.0 transition into president 2.0? Obama has already made great leaps and bounds in the field, firstly by opening up Change.gov. Change.gov is the official website of the president-elect and he uses just about ever facet of this technology to communicate effectively with the people. He posts regular web video addresses to...
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Mumbai Terror, Citizen Journalism and New Media

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Online Social-Interactive Media affect all aspects of life now--and death. Famously, journalism was called "the first draft of history" by Washington Post publisher Philip L. Graham. But now, with cell phones and pocket still and video digital cameras, OSIM and internet access, the initial reports from news scenes (especially breaking news) tend to be from citizens on-the-spot, not reporters.* We first witnessed this phenomenon's power in video from the South Asia Tsunami and stills from the London Bombings. In politics, recall the stumble of the George Allen Senate Campaign over the "Macaca moment," and then in the 2008 primary Barack Obama's "bitter" comments. Politicians know (or should know): everyone in room is a potential journalist (or at least recorder and uploader of information) and nothing can truly be off-the-record. As a consequence, pols are more guarded than ever--this was true in the New Hampshire primary, typically a time for folksy engagement. In such a light, some media tech notes from the Mumbai Terrorist attacks: TERRORISTS USED GOOGLE...
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Saving Face on Facebook

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
A recent article for which I was interviewed, "Saving Face on Facebook,"written by Sarah Skelnik, appeared in Career College Central. One of the most interesting facts detailed in the article is that "one in 10 admissions officers visits social networking sites to check students' backgrounds." I am surprised that the number is so low, and I wonder whether a number of those surveyed may have been reluctant to admit that they are checking student applicants' backgrounds that way. In any case, background-checking websites--blogs, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube--or any other Web content associated with you will only become more important and influential over time. Actually, the issue itself is fairly old. Mark Twain and President Harry Truman both asserted that you should never say or do anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable reading about on the front page of the newspaper. But in their time newspapers were strictly defined in a professional sense and reporters were hired professionals. Nowadays, citizen journalism has become a widespread phenomenon and everyone, it seems,...
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Twitter Rules

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
I was interviewed for separate articles on the Twitter phenomenon that appeared on the McClatchy News Service and in the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper. I talked about the origins of Twitter, how much it has caught on, and its effects. I further noted how Barack Obama's Twittering will have a downballot effect on other politicians running for office who want to emulate him. Some quotes: "There's definitely tech envy," said Perlmutter, author ofBLOGWARS, a book about how political blogging changed elections. When politicians hear about their peers successfully using other media, he said, "you're going to want to try it yourself." "When I first heard about Twitter, I couldn't possibly come up with a use for it," said David Perlmutter, professor of journalism at Kansas University and author of the book "Blog Wars." "I thought, 'Why would I want to alert everybody that I'm having a tuna sandwich?' It seemed like something you didn't need technology to do." But Perlmutter is amazed at how Twitter has become...
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Texting Ourselves to Death?

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
 [Image: Scott Frederick Starrett]   I hosted a conference and co-wrote the report for a summit of experts on the TOP TRANSPORTATION & ENERGY ISSUES FACING THE NATION* sponsored by The University of Kansas Transportation Research Institute (KU TRI), presented by The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and theUniversity of Kansas School of Engineering, and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innovation Technology Administration & Federal Highway Administration. Our main point was that America has tried many times to create a national transportation policy over the last century, with the latest and most comprehensive attempt in 2000-2001. None of these ventures was conceived or executed at the presidential level save possibly President Eisenhower's "National Defense Highway System." Now humankind confronts interrelated crises of energy and transportation in a rapidly changing world where we must deal with spiking petroleum prices, decaying bridges, growing congestion in all modes, an aging and inattentive driver population, a shortage of adequately trained transportation engineers, and the diverse ramifications of global climate change....
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