Presidential candidates and new media, a voice for convergence!

New media is dominating the corporate world. Even monolithic companies like IBM and Microsoft have created blogs intended to reach consumers on a new level. Sports blogs caught on pretty quickly, but discussion of new media in politics has only been around a few months.

Politics??

The political campaign is an established institution that was around long before any of today's corporations were even in diapers. To see the convergence of online media and politics is a true sign of the times. Put simply, we live in an age of web-savvy people, it's the medium-of-choice.

John Edwards' announcement: "Tomorrow Begins Today"
Barack Obama's announcement: "My Plans for 2008"
Hillary Clinton's announcement: "I'm In"

Let's face it, asking a politician to change tactics by making an online presidential announcement is like asking a baseball player to change his swing right before the World Series. Hitting the pavement, making fancy speeches with tons of cameras, and staged press conferences will never go away, obviously. But now we're seeing things like Obama's "BarackTV", Edwards' podcasts, and Clinton's "Hillary TV" becoming a standard in campaigning.

In Conclusion

We are living in an age where new media serve politicians at a grassroots level. This means harnassing the power of the web to share your agenda with the nation, and it's proving to be effective --as always, if it's done right.

For some great info on this trend, check out Matt Tyrnauer's article from last week's Vanity Fair: "Hillary Clinton's "I'm In" and the Rise of the Webcast in American Politics"

Panel of newspaper editors discusses successful op-eds and mentions new media

Earlier today, I listened in on an audioconference about developing successful op-ed placements and was interested by one newspaper editor's comments about the integration of new media with traditional newspaper op-eds.

The editor said that because his/her newspaper's readership has shifted overwhelmingly to online, the op-ed section now mainly consists of four or so columnists writing a brief for the paper and then posting a lengthy piece on the Web site.

Another example of this integration is creating online op-eds in the form of podcasts. This is something I hadn't really given much thought to, but like most new media ventures, it's smart if it's done right. Obviously editing is still involved, but it does add the extra element of voice, which is especially convenient when you can listen and do whatever.

Media integration as a trend will obviously not go away, quite the opposite in fact. Integration like we've seen in these two examples only further the point that we are seeing traditional media learning to adapt and enhance what we read in the paper and what we read online.

Could a liberation from DRM be on the horizon?

Well, everyone else has been posting their two cents on this so I figured I'd speak my mind on Apple CEO Steve Jobs' letter yesterday called "Thoughts on Music" in which he lays out the current path we're on musically and where we could be if the 'big four' would ease the reigns on digital rights management. The big four of course being Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI.

Would Apple really opt for DRM-free music in a heartbeat like Steve Jobs claimed in his letter? Hard to say since all we really know as consumers is what the giant hands of Apple, Microsoft and Sony have been feeding us since the iPod revolution began.

Personally, I'm all for music wherever you can find it. Don't make a record and then tell me specifically how I am to listen to its contents, what software can play the songs and what can't, and other such tom-fooleries. I'll admit that I am a huge iPod fan (I own a 30 Gig) and I also purchase music from the iTunes store because I have been able to find just about everything I've wanted to buy, and at better quality than what you usually get when you file-share.

I agree with Jobs that more options to buy and play DRM-free music could produce a mild increase in file-sharing, but I believe those same options will also spur further consumer enthusiasm in purchasing mp3 players and not feeling limited by them. A change is in the air, and I applaud Steve Jobs for having the fortitude to come out and say it.