How the Right Wing is Turning America Into a One-party Stateby Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
U.S. publisher: Tarcher/Penguin
Bookstore price: $11.95 U.S.
ISBN 1-58542-342-4
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Hardly a day goes by without someone sending me a link to a video, Flash animation, or MP3 file related to the U.S. political campaign," obsserves Steve Yelvington. "It's the first time that multimedia files have been so thoroughly woven through the national political conversation. JibJab's hilarious animations, "This Land" and "Good to Be in D.C.," have been widely covered, but there's much more.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
After the Los Angeles Times reported on the youth voter registration organization Rock the Vote's asking whether the draft could be reinstituted "if the situation doesn't improve," Republican National Committee chair
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Australia's October 9 national election might sound familiar to Americans -- the two major party candidates are running neck and neck, Iraq is a major issue, and U.S. political consultants are shaping the campaigns. "Campaign operatives from across the spectrum of Australian politics head to Washington every year to learn how to manage budgets, articulate messages, and develop poll-driven communication strategies.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos weblog has written an insightful article about how bloggers helped turn the perception of first election debate in favor of John Kerry. "Bloggers, thinktanks, the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) all worked to fact-check Bush and point out his bizarre behaviour," he writes. "The flow of information flowed two ways, as the party establishment and allied organisations worked hand-in-hand with the blogs to gather ammunition, then blast it out to the world.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"For all the policy differences it revealed, the presidential debate last week also highlighted what has become a predominant theme in this presidential campaign: fear," the New York Times reports. "President Bush implied that Senator John Kerry's 'mixed message' on Iraq would only encourage the enemy. Mr. Kerry warned that Mr. Bush's 'certainty' could needlessly extend a bloody occupation.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Wisconsin Advertising Project estimates that "many voters - nearly 60 percent - have not been exposed to any of the 530,000 campaign ads aired so far in the most expensive presidential campaign ever." A companion project researching local TV news "found only 44 percent of local stations offer[ed] any campaign coverage at all in the 2002 elections.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Notwithstanding efforts to put a Bush spin on Thursday's presidential debate, several opinion polls agree that John Kerry beat George Bush in Thursday's presidential debate.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
In some respects, the real presidential debate will take place in cyberspace, reports Wired magazine. "The Bush campaign has launched a massive rapid-response effort called Debate Facts to rebut challenger John Kerry's assertions during the debates," writes Louise Witt. "The campaign will provide a live feed to about 5,000 conservative blogs that subscribe to its news alerts.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
After MoveOn.org accused the Gallup polling firm of using a survey methodology that stacks the deck in favor of Republicans, CNN (which uses Gallup) responded with a news segment that "implicitly confirmed a criticism of itself that was leveled in the MoveOn ad: the charge that CNN winds up 'acting as unquestioning promotional partners [with Gallup], rather than as critical journalists.'" Gallup's polls have shown a substantial lead for Bush, but other recent
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