Streaming Media - 2008 Industry Sourcebook - (Page 69) •• FUTUREWATCH: POLITICS industry update 69 stream the vote more personal level. Streaming video might be high-tech, but it’s bringing the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign back to a by Dave T. Stoner olitical campaigns have come full circle in the last 60 years. Before widespread television coverage, candidates had to depend on direct contact with voters to get their message to them. Campaigning was all about one-onone connections—shaking hands, eye-to-eye contact, engaging candidates and constituents on a personal level. As broadcasting technology matured and voters became increasingly dependent on television news for their information, the era of the sound-bite campaign was born, and whether candidates and voters liked it or not, the personal connection became much less important. Streaming technology has brought about a rebirth of the more personal grassroots campaigning that went on in pretelevision days. For the candidates, no better medium than streaming exists for presenting an unfiltered message to voters. For voters, streaming media provides a more nuanced and comprehensive view of the candidates and where they stand on the issues—arming people to make informed, intelligent choices when they go to the polls to place their votes. p In the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, streaming media benefits both the voters and the candidates. The majority of voters do not have the time to follow all the media coverage of the candidates. The technology of streaming media gives voters the ability to process a vast amount of information within a shorter period of time through viewing webcast speeches, debates, and other events in their entirety, without interruptions and—most importantly—at their own leisure. Streaming media content provides the ideal information source for voters. In one of the earliest examples, a May 3, 2007 Republican presidential debate aired live on MSNBC. This debate was also streamed live on MSNBC.com and politico.com, and included audience questions gathered on politico.com. Later in the year, CNN and YouTube joined together to sponsor debates in which video questions from YouTube viewers were delivered to candidates, rather than questions posed by a moderator. Making It Personal Some of the most personal interaction between voters and WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM http://MSNBC.com http://politico.com http://WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM
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