Barack Obama would not have won the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago. Without the Internet, he never would have gained the money or support to make it past the Iowa caucus.
That is according to David Parry, assistant professor in the Arts and Technology program, who said the electoral landscape has changed dramatically since 2004. Blogs, podcasts and social networking sites have opened new ways for people to participate in politics. He explores this issue in his fall semester class "Digital Rhetoric of Contemporary Politics," which focuses on the upcoming presidential election.
"It's timely to have the class now," Parry said. "There won't be a presidential election cycle for another four years, and this is the first election in which digital media has really had a lot of influence."
Digital rhetoric, which Parry identifies as "any media meant to be produced and consumed digitally," has been creeping into national politics for some time. Former presidential contender Howard Dean was able to use the Internet to connect with mostly young supporters in the Democratic primaries in 2004, though he eventually lost the nomination.
During the 2006 Senate race in Virginia, Jim Webb defeated heavily favored incumbent George Allen after Allen referred to an Indian-American campaign worker as "macaca." A video clip of the incident was posted on YouTube before being picked up by the mainstream media, severely damaging Allen's bid for re-election.
In the current campaign, Obama has been more effective at utilizing digital media than presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Obama has raised record amounts of money, much of which has come through his website from individual donors.
"Obama discovered he could not only use the Internet to connect with his supporters, but also that he could connect his supporters with each other," Parry said. "Of course, he can't control what they talk about, but so far he has managed it pretty well."
Digital media will continue to have profound effects on presidential politics and traditional news and political coverage as a whole. The YouTube debates that aired on CNN during the primaries show the uncertainty facing traditional media in the Internet age. In the debates, CNN selected questions submitted by individual voters via YouTube, which they presented to the candidates in a traditional debate format.
"Digital media has become the gatekeeper of the gatekeepers, helping to pick and choose what ends up being covered," Parry said. "The mainstream media realizes that it is no longer the sole arbiter of the news, and it's trying to find a way to adapt."
Parry said his goal is to help students make sense of the emerging political landscape by participating directly in it. It will only become more important in future elections to understand the ways in which politics and technology interact.
"Everyone is good at consuming information," Parry said. "They do it all the time. What I want them to learn is how to produce their own content so they're able to impact the conversation."
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