Cutline Speaks

Did you know there’s an election this year?

posted by The Cutline Team on September 23, 2008

As a student of the media, I have found the coverage of this year's historic presidential election to be absolutely fascinating. No one can deny the media's influential role in shaping election narratives, and neither can anyone deny that technology continues to transform the dynamics of the race. Not only have the candidates been able to raise very large amounts of money via the Internet, in this "age of YouTube" both of them have also been subject to unprecedented scrutiny from all directions. Technology has opened up a new world of campaign-watching for citizens: never before have we been able to get so much information about every aspect of the campaign. Confronting each issue takes careful messaging, masterful planning and considerate responses, and I personally have found the coverage of the election to be almost as compelling as the campaigns themselves. After Senator Obama's decisive victory in the North Carolina primary, one of my first thoughts was "I can't wait to go online and read political analysis! What is Senator McCain saying? How is the press taking this on? Will Senator Obama be the nominee?" I don't mean to trivialize the importance of this election, but it's as if I require the latest on the election to satisfy my daily information craving, almost like a watch soap opera. Case in point: I've got Politico, HuffingtonPost, and Drudge Report bookmarked in my Awesome Bar. Indeed, coverage of this election has produced some of the most memorable moments of the year, so it will be interesting to see what kind of lessons future campaigns will have learned from 2008.

Tags for this post: pr