From the Guardian: New media is just another way to pull the same old tricks

Much has been written gushing over the fact that questions for the candidates were selected from video submissions made by ordinary people. But there is nothing new about contests where the winner gets a cameo appearance on a TV show.

As is typical of user-generated content, despite all the hype about empowering citizens, the individual was utterly powerless, except to try to please and serve the interests of the gatekeeper and thereby obtain some attention (but not remuneration).

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But what was truly new, or at least very notable, was how cloaking the debate questions in an aura of relaying citizen “publishing” could be used to present far more controversial content, material which would not otherwise be permissible under American journalistic rules.

That is, a moderator might be able to ask about gun control. But it would be a breach of decorum for a journalist to intone that some gun owners would say: “To all the candidates, tell me your position on gun control, as myself and other Americans really want to know if our babies are safe. This is my baby, purchased under the 1994 gun ban. Please tell me your views.”

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In a way, it’s a very advanced version of the technique where if a journalist wants to put something in an article, he or she contacts a source who’s certain to make that particular point. Or nowadays goes through blogs and forums in search of a post which could be quoted for the viewpoint.

And right there you have why the Republican candidates should avoid the CNN/YouTube format. It allows “gotcha” politics to play out in a debate veiled as a virtual townhall. Candidates would be better served spending that time campaigning or fund raising instead of sitting themselves in a dunking booth where CNN holds the lever.

But what’s also interesting and misleading is that CNN and others are trying to say that this is an opening up of the forum, which it really isn’t. The same questions are going to be asked as CNN still acts as the filter, only now they’ll be able to have a bit of personal and political spin that can act as the gotcha. It’s an open forum for Dukakis “rape-and-murder of a loved one” qustions.

As the Guardian article says in its close:

The talking head format is not sacred. But no matter how heavily marketers try to sell us on the idea of entertainment stardom (even 15 seconds of clip fame) as civic merit, we should never mistake a change in media style for any advance of citizens’ power in politics.

This format does not open the debate to the world. It simply attempts to put faces on the same old questions and make the public feel like they’re not participating. And presenting a false impression and hope of participation is more damaging than just being honest about they format.

August 3rd, 2007 at 9:02 am | Tags: Uncategorized