The Rise of Digital Media in Presidential Election Campaigns

Introduction:

Media has been exerting much power on so many levels, especially the political sphere, which can be traced to the very early years of the United States, when the founders gave the newspaper industry its special privileges. Fast forward to the twentieth century, broadcasting was normalized and listeners, for the first time, went out of the direct form of interpersonal communication between them and their counterparts. To this point of time, media pervaded Americans’ procedural conduct, but yet to fully grow in complexity. In 1970’s, Network anchormen and cable talk-shows were better recognized than the most prominent figures of policy making. Although electoral participation is on a decline, subjection to some output of news is almost universal. In the first half of the 2000’s internet activism began to assume a solid foothold and connection has now proceeded towards a two-way dialogues instead of a one-way broadcasts.

Digital media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, launched afterwards in a time that should certainly be regarded as revolutionary leap in the direction of big data politics. During presidential election campaigns, digital media become the stage where the candidates express themselves, prove their potentials, and share their programs. Furthermore, they open the door for a larger support which is embodied in raising funds, assembling the “battlefield” volunteers, and increasing the number of votes.Candidates need a smooth communication with their supporters far from any press intervention or influence, a need that is met by the 20th century new media.

The successful campaign Barak Obama ran in 2008 is the best illustration of what is said above. The Democrat’s candidate broke the norms and old conventions concerning election campaigns and politics. The Obama campaign was unique at different levels. For, it combined the use of digital media and the multiple efforts of civic movements’ activists. In other words, the campaign organizers made sure that the information circulation is secure and accurate, aiming at convincing and gaining new voters, standing for voters’ concerns, and strengthening connections between all individuals involved in the campaign.

The Statement of the Problem:

During their election campaigns at any level, candidates tend to make use of any means possible just to increase the number of their voters. The use of media in American elections is huge and growing . Many researches were conducted to unveil the role of the fourth estate “Media” in presidential elections in the United States of America. Media were swinging between several roles, from being a watchdog, to an independent observer, and to the best stage to influence the public opinion.

Other researches were also conducted about how Obama revolutionized election campaigning with his use of social media. However, fewer research ,if not none, was conducted about how social  media together with civic movements could make an evolution in election campaigns. Therefore, this research will try to investigate Obama’s campaign of 2008 since it was a movement-like campaign that started a new age in presidential election campaigns in the United States of America.

Research Questions:

The main question of this research is how did Obama succeed in revolutionizing the election campaign both through the initiative use of digital media and civic engagement in political sphere ?

To answer this question , the following sub-research questions will be answered :

1- In what ways can a new medium affect the choice of American voters?  

2- How did the new media medium of this era shift the power from old lobbies to common people ?

3- What was exactly attractive to American voters during this campaign?

4-Why the use of new media is related to Democratic nominees in particular?

5- How could Obam’s campaign organizers reach this degree of perfection in their use of digital media?

6- What made Obama’s campaign a movement-like campaign?

The Significance of the Research:

In the recent years, attention has been paid to the political life in the U.S, internally and externally. A commander in chief of the US is worldwide inquiry for many years and the promoter of this inquiry seemingly is media. Historians and politicians have different views about media, among which there are supporters considering it as the guardian of democracy and opposers claiming that media represent solely the owners’ opinions. The main objective of this research is providing explanations about the use of media and social movements as means merely to win a presidential election, regardless to the question whether the candidate is capable of fulfilling the requirements needed to be a president. There are other sub-objectives that are concerned with answering the research questions for a further understanding of  the issue.