ABC NEWS AND FACEBOOK SAY INTERNET WILL BE THE NEW FORCE IN US ELECTION
January 7th 2008 01:17
America’s ABC News has partnered with Facebook, the social networking site, in the US 2008 election coverage. The two organisations are sponsoring a pair of debates among the presidential candidates in New Hampshire, and ABC News and Facebook claim to have conducted a survey that shows the internet will have a greater impact on the forthcoming election than ever before.
ABC News, to reinforce the point of how important its new Facebook partnership could be, published the ABC News/Facebook Poll: The Election and the internet, last Thursday.
The poll said, “It could be the new maxim of 21st century politics: To find voters, look online. They’re there in increasing numbers, in a politically diverse population that’s growing, expanding its internet activities and highly distinctive, with remarkable levels of political and social engagement. It’s a group with the size and clout to change the way election politics happen in America.
“One reason is the internet’s advance overall: Seventy-three percent of adults now go online, the most in polls since the dawn of the Internet age. Forty percent use the internet specifically for news and information about politics and the election, surpassing the previous high, 35 percent in a 2004 survey.
“Television remains predominant; 70 percent say it’s one of their top two election news sources. But while still far ahead, that’s down by 8 points since 2004 and by 15 points since 1996 in Pew polls. Newspapers follow, named by 26 percent as a top election news source – vastly down from 60 percent in 1996. Catching up with newspapers, 23 percent now cite the internet as a main source of election news – twice the level seven years ago.
In February 2007 Deborah Fallows, senior research fellow, published a report on behalf of the Pew Internet & American Life Project published in February 2007.
The study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that the percentage of Americans who reported they went to the internet for most of their political news in 2006 more than doubled, from 7 percent to 15 percent.
During the same time period, the percentage of those getting their political input from TV and newspapers remained essentially static, increasing from 66 percent to 69 percent for TV, and from 33 percent to 34 percent for newspapers.
In the introduction to the February 2007 Pew-American Life report, research fellow Deborah Fallows wrote, “If you ask political news consumers what they like most about their favourite source of news, a vivid image of a typical TV, newspaper, and internet political news consumer will emerge from their own comments.
“That’s what the Pew Internet & American Life Project asked in its 2006 post electionsurvey, and from the responses you could almost see the newspaper reader – straight from Norman Rockwell -- settling down in a favorite chair near a warm fire, shaking the paper open, and smoothing it flat to read the political news analysis. Next would be the TV watcher, perhaps a harried parent, bustling around the kitchen throwing dinner together, dodging the dog, checking kids’ homework, and keeping an ear and occasional eye on the evening campaign news; or a quieter version of that home where the TV is on in the background, out of habit or to provide company. Then the internet user, a multi-tasker in the home or business office, a fast mover, clicking windows open and shut, skimming a blog while downloading a long attachment, searching for a candidate’s video clip while pondering an email reply.
Just after the midterm elections in the fall of 2006, the Pew Internet & American Life Project polled Americans about their political news sources. We asked people if they were getting most of their election news from the television, newspapers, radio, magazines, or the internet. As ever, television was the walk-away favourite. Over two-thirds of respondents (69%) said they got most of their political news from television; about a third (34%) said newspapers, and 15% said the internet.
“But the underdog internet is gaining quickly. Compared with data gathered after the most recent mid-term election in 2002, the percentage of Americans who reported they went to the internet for most of their political news in 2006 more than doubled, from 7% to 15%. During the same time period, the percentage of those getting their political input from TV and newspapers remained essentially static, increasing from 66% to 69% for TV, and from 33% to 34% for newspapers.”
Australian blog Planet Wall Street reported, “In a wonderfully timely if exhaustive study, and I mean exhaustive, ABC/Facebook, in association with Pew Research have published what must be the definitive poll on Americas view of the media – i.e. the growth of the internet - just at the right moment, as we move to New Hampshire. This extraordinary document seems to have been lost in the befuddlement of the Main Stream Media’s efforts to come to terms with the conclusive victory of Obama, and perhaps John Edwards, over Hilary and the Republican all round defeat.”
“This is a massive and timely study I will try and first to put it in some context…
the study explains the results, gives us a clear vision of what is likely to happen as the season of politics rolls out and affirms the role of the internet as the principal driving force of US opinion.
”The worst news is for newspapers. This study, embargo lifted Thursday, will be studied by publishers across America, and if they have any sense publishers around the world, with a terrible sense of dread. The one overwhelming fact found is that newspapers have lost out to the internet in the one arena they should still hold, that of political recourse. And they have lost in a manner few would have ever dreamed possible.
” There are many startling facts presented but the daddy of them all is that while 40% of Americans are getting their political news from the internet only a miserable 26% continue to do so from newspapers. That’s down from 60% 10 years ago when Oklahoma City was ablaze. A more profound condemnation of the future of the press could scarcely be countenanced….
”Should not the great organs like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal employing skilled and experienced people brush aside the challenge by lightweight bloggers with no training and at least win in the “trust” battle? Apparently the answer is, again, a thunderous NO!”
That this study has had virtually no coverage in US newspapers is not surprising. The news is terrible.”
- From MediaBlab
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
This is just marketting hype, they just want to make money off the internet.
Comment by Peter Olszewski
Stay tuned