Internet means more media at political events

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It's election season and there's no way anyone can have missed the signs telling us so.  From the recent news of Sarah Palin's e-mail account being hacked, to the Facebook and Myspace accounts of both Barack Obama and John Mccain, technology has taken on a new role in the politics of our country. It's no longer about one or two official web sites.  Never again will campaigning be the same. 

The fact is the times have changed and, though politics can often work slowly, sooner or later the internet was going to catch the attention of politicians across the country.  Not only are candidates reaching out in new ways to the public but the public too has new ways of reaching back to the politicians. As exemplified by 2007's YouTube debates you no longer have to live along the campaign trail to have your questions answered.  Add in C-SPAN’s debate hub (with debate videos, live blogging, and content drawn from other sites like YouTube, and Twitter) and the picture of our new digital age becomes clear.

News hits the information superhighway at a mile a minute.  With 24-hour news very much a part of everyday life, whether on television or online, the candidates are always a presence, whether we like it or not.  With the broadcast of the first Presidential debate of this election on Sept. 26, the role of constant media coverage was brought to our immediate attention.  As the economic crisis took the spotlight away from the campaign trail for a few days, the campaigns struck back with an indirect dispute on whether or not the first debate should even take place as scheduled.  The debate did take place, broadcast across numerous networks (and streamed live by CBS online, as an addition to their regular political coverage) clearing the way for the Vice Presidential candidates to take center stage on Oct. 2.

Behind the debate and campaign coverage we now have access to, there is the incredible media presence that follows the action where ever it leads.  In the case of the Vice Presidential debate, the trail pointed to the Washington University campus in St. Louis.  The University received nearly 2,800 credential requests from media personnel preparing to cover the VP debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. The amount of time and manpower it takes to feed the information superhighway and the news we all expect at our finger tips is not something one takes time to think about. But in St. Louis that idea was all too clear as I personally watched media outlets and staffers arrive the day before the debate.

With live broadcasts from stations like MSNBC and CBS that include not only news anchors but camera men, producers, and a hundred other helpers, the idea of media as a two-way street, a dialogue of sorts, materialized.  We as students were asked to participate in the process, whether volunteering to run coffee for staff, or getting up at 5:30 a.m. to stand with signs for the CBS Early Show.  It's not simply about wireless internet access for students to research papers, but about where that information comes from and how it transpires on the net. 

Instant access still takes time, information needs to be gathered.  From parking hundreds of trucks of equipment, to security check points, and gear trekked across campus, the work behind the convenience we all appreciate shows its form. 

The process becomes the point.  Perhaps more people read the paper online instead of in hand, but the idea that news has to be gathered before it can be distributed has not changed.  What has changed is the culture to which we are catering, a culture which demands more from its media and news sources than ever before.  That fact is and was clear during the preparation and presentation of the Vice Presidential debate.  Now that's a real education.

Jessie Atkin is a student at Washington University in St. Louis.