Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Is the message MSM old news?



Becky was among the 2.9 million Americans that got their text message from Barack Obama. Has the "Youdia" repaced the Mainsteam Media (MSM).

Well, maybe not yet as CNN scooped the 3 am text message with "Breaking News" just after midnight. OMG, I don't think that Wolf Blitzer excited Becky the way the late night text message did.

Whether Obama wins or not, this may already be a change election in the use of personal media. "Old media" may have won over the texters, YouTubers and Bloggers, but only by a couple hours.

This was, after all, the first time a presidential campaign choose to deliver the announcement via the “new media” (texting and emails to supporters) rather than going to the mainstream media first - regardless of how it played out. Obama’s vice presidential selection “cone of silence,” was impressive.

If you are focused on the text message itself, say online strategists, you are missing the boat. Andrew Rasiej, the co-founder of techpresident.com, a web site which tracks how the presidential candidates are using the web, says getting contact information of supporters was of paramount importance.

The text campaign “was very effective in achieving its primary goal which was to build up Obama’s already massive database of supporters and develop yet another way they can be reached and mobilized during the final run up to the election,” Rasiej said.

What will the Obama campaign do with these cell numbers?

“[They] can start to mash all the data they have collected from multiple places, such as their e-mail list, their … contributors, their donors, and now these cell phone numbers, with voter files and … give themselves the potential to identify key activists who might volunteer to make calls, canvas, or help with GOTV (Get out the vote),” Rajeiv said. “This info will also help them identify people who are still making up their minds or haven’t fully committed, and the campaign can redouble its efforts to make the final sale.”
The Christian Science Monitor "Vote Blog" reports on "New vs. Old Media."
Is the MSM going to be a thing of the past? Did you get the message?












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