I never thought I'd live to see the day that we'd be using the terms 'traditional media' vs. 'non traditional media'. That we'd be blogging our opinions about a candidate or sending tweets (wasn't that a sound birds made?)in real time (did we have 'false time'?)about political campaigns, from the White House, 24 Sussex, G20 summits, the Olympics --- well you get the idea.
So much has been said about how Barack Obama took advantage of 21st century technology to win the White House. Then-Senator Obama realised the power of social networking and had no qualms about harnessing its massive reach to make history.
Do we even remember how simple it was to watch the news on television? We turned on either of the three major networks --- ABC, NBC, CBS --- and watched the news. That was all there is to it. Now you hear Larry King say 'follow me on Twitter'or if you missed your favourite newscast, one can always log on to a network's web page and read/listened/watch it all there. Their online editions have sound and video for your newswatching pleasure. So do print organisations --- my favourite online news sites of what used to be the print media have video and audio links.
The world has become a global village. Thank you, Mr. Mcluhan. I still remember the morning I watched the attacks on the World Trade Center --- we refer to that tragedy as '9/11' a brief time capsule of a catastrophic event. I was watching the 'Today' show when the screen suddenly changed to the first Tower with smoke coming out of it and then the second plane plowed into the second Tower. All in real time! 'live' as they say in broadcast parlance. All major networks had wall-to-wall coverage. It affected me so much that I couldn't sleep for a month!
Remember how dailies used to print 'extra' editions when there was breaking news of great importance? And newsboys would hawk these editions like town criers "EXTRA! EXTRA! read all about it!" It's heartening to note that in this day and age of the internet Washington dailies printed extra copies of the news of President Obama's inauguration. People wanted hard copy keepsakes instead of just reading about this historic event online or buying the video later.
So whether a politician is running for local or national office his or her campaign will inevitably have a social media component. They cannot afford not to. Voters can access information literally at their fingertips and even exchange tweets with a candidate or be a Facebook follower.
The upside? It's everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-a-candidate-but-were-no-longer-afraid-to ask.
The downside? The hackers who hack into a politician's account and throw everything haywire or assume an identity to get information.
As for me, I'm glad we're no longer writing on cave walls or sending messages via carrier pigeons.
Three cheers for Social Media!
Friday, December 3, 2010
And so starts the Year of our Ford
With apologies to the Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee from whose article on Mayor Rob Ford's first day as helmsman of the City of Toronto I'm borrowing the title of this blog post.
And so it has begun ... with gag gifts of gravy packets left behind by outgoing mayor, David Miller, and his team the Ford era unfolds before us.
Let's review the five most important factors that led Rob Ford to City Hall:
1. Stop the gravy train, indeed! That was the mantra of Team Ford. No more wasteful spending! Words that resonated with the citizens of Toronto and which they took to battle leaving Ford's rivals in the dust. Belt-tightening is going to be the order of the day.
2. More subways and buses instead of Transit City. Ford considers marathons and charity runs as events that snarl traffic in Toronto.
3. The barbs aimed at Ford questioning his character, his weight helped boost his campaign instead of being detrimental to it. Ford's handlers like to point out that a Stephen Marche column in the Globe and Mail using the word 'fat' 17 times added to the campaign's coffers. And who likes to be called names? Perhaps voters looked at it as bullying and voted for him.
4. The Oxycontin episode was handled well. Read the inside story here.
5. Ford's campaign bypassed traditional media outlets. Text messages were used instead of IPhone apps. Rob Ford was exposed to town hall-style telephone calls talking to respondents a la talk radio. And most telling of all his rivals' campaigns started to stumble. All that noise about a supposed photofinish between Smitherman and Ford never materialized. Ford was swept into City Hall with an overwhelming 47 per cent of the vote.
For a sampling of how voters felt about Rob Ford, read it here.
Rob Ford's handlers never put him in an Armani suit. The electorate wanted someone down-to-earth and not a politician with airs who wouldn't give them the time of day. Ford was probably the only councillor who answered his phone. Who does that?
Note to government leaders: you might want to learn from Toronto's new mayor. He's all for substance over style.
And so it has begun ... with gag gifts of gravy packets left behind by outgoing mayor, David Miller, and his team the Ford era unfolds before us.
Let's review the five most important factors that led Rob Ford to City Hall:
1. Stop the gravy train, indeed! That was the mantra of Team Ford. No more wasteful spending! Words that resonated with the citizens of Toronto and which they took to battle leaving Ford's rivals in the dust. Belt-tightening is going to be the order of the day.
2. More subways and buses instead of Transit City. Ford considers marathons and charity runs as events that snarl traffic in Toronto.
3. The barbs aimed at Ford questioning his character, his weight helped boost his campaign instead of being detrimental to it. Ford's handlers like to point out that a Stephen Marche column in the Globe and Mail using the word 'fat' 17 times added to the campaign's coffers. And who likes to be called names? Perhaps voters looked at it as bullying and voted for him.
4. The Oxycontin episode was handled well. Read the inside story here.
5. Ford's campaign bypassed traditional media outlets. Text messages were used instead of IPhone apps. Rob Ford was exposed to town hall-style telephone calls talking to respondents a la talk radio. And most telling of all his rivals' campaigns started to stumble. All that noise about a supposed photofinish between Smitherman and Ford never materialized. Ford was swept into City Hall with an overwhelming 47 per cent of the vote.
For a sampling of how voters felt about Rob Ford, read it here.
Rob Ford's handlers never put him in an Armani suit. The electorate wanted someone down-to-earth and not a politician with airs who wouldn't give them the time of day. Ford was probably the only councillor who answered his phone. Who does that?
Note to government leaders: you might want to learn from Toronto's new mayor. He's all for substance over style.
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