Re: <nettime> Dean and Kerry: Hot and Cool

[ronda@ais.org (Ronda Hauben)]

On Wed Jan 28 09:03:27 2004 Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.org> wrote:

>Reading Ronda's article, it seems to me that she, and a lot of other people 
>who write about Dean, the Internet and politics, miss some essential points. 
>Usually, the story is one about grassroots involvement, the power of 
>connectivity, etc. These are certainly important points, and they support a 
>story we all like to hear -- the Internet as a means of democratic 
>participation. Yet, the events suggest that underneath this, there might be a 
>different story.

>One of the the events McLuhan referred to again and again, was the Nixon/
>Kennedy debate in 1960, which was right at the transition from radio to TV as 
>the predominant means of mass communication. TV had reached a penetration of 
>about 50% of the households. The majority of people who listened to this 
>debate on radio thought that Nixon had come across better, while those who 
> watched it on TV thought Kennedy was more appealing.


The difference I was referring to is that the Internet is a participatory
media and hence welcomes or at least makes possible people participating
in online discussions over their differences.

This helps to make it possible for people to collaborate and work together
toward a common goal.

The form of media of tv or radio are very different.

It wasn't that I was suggesting that there is some dream to be realized,
but rather I was pointing to some of the situations, Like the S Korean
2002 election, where the Internet made a significant difference in the
ability of netizens to affect otherwise difficult and conservative news
media and political norms.

Best wishes

Ronda



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