In the past, a candidate’s gaffe or a flip flop on a major issue would not last more than a day on the TV. Today, it survives much longer on the internet. Anything a candidate says can be turned against him quickly and in more imaginative ways.

Web of money

The web has become an important channel for fund raising for the candidates and a venue for a host of other political and commercial entrepreneurs.

You could now use the web to make money and/or score a political point. Companies specialising on making video clips and advertisements for the web are already thriving. The emphasis is on making incisive clips that put out a sharp message. These firms are also on the lookout for interesting uploads from individuals who might just be working out of home.

Some of these videos ask the viewers to sign on to attached political petitions. ‘MoveOn.Org’, a liberal group and ‘Brave New Films’, an internet video company tied up to produce a montage of the Fox TV’s hostile coverage of Obama. This was presented with a petition to other news outlets to reject Fox’s smear campaign against Obama.

Thanks to the web, mainstream media outlets can no longer take their audiences for granted. Their many hidden biases are easily questioned and challenged. Many blogs now regularly break political stories and compel the traditional print and TV media to follow suit. As a result all the presidential campaigns this year closely follow the political chatter on the blogs and political websites.

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