I have a dream: a dream that one day the internet will be considered as important and reliable a source of news as print or television media venues. We are close to seeing that dream come to fruition as some debates for the upcoming 2008 U.S. presidential election are slated to be held exclusively on websites including Slate, Yahoo, and The Huffington Post.

Those involved in planning these debates are envisioning separate debates to include all those who have announced their candidacy for their respective parties. Promised to be included in the online debates are opportunities for onlookers to submit questions to each candidate for immediate, live responses.

This could represent a significant shift in power from media as we know it today, such as print and television, to online sources. As many people are now relying on the internet for the most up-to-the-minute news and coverage, providing a venue for presidential candidate debates could constructively boost public involvement as well as bring solid credibility to internet media.

Online debates could also add a demention to presidential campaigning in the very near future; currently presidential (or otherwise) candidates have focused on public appearances, speeches, television and press to present their campaign points. If the public support swings to online media, presidents would need to seriously consider their campaign structures in regards to winning the internet user vote.

Many other sites besides the three previously mentioned are attempting to boost the credibility of their sites by including presidential campaign coverage; Wolfgang Gruener of TG Daily writes:

“Google’s video site YouTube is also trying to grow up from being a casual political information website in previous elections to become a more serious platform for the 2008 campaign. Ad banners with the ‘You Choose ‘08′ phrase are posted across the site and link to candidates channels, which are specifically addressing the YouTube audience.”

Eventually, political candidates will be forced to regard the online community as a viable asset to their campaigns; the vast communities of sites like MySpace, YouTube and Facebook are waiting for politicians to reach out to them.

Are not the “Generation X-ers” and “Nexters” the groups politicians know they are not reaching? What better way to spur involvement by these relatively silent groups than by targeting them where they spend nearly every waking moment?

I have a dream: a dream that politics will span all news sources, including the internet, and gain the involvement of all citizens, both young and old. Far-fetched? I think not.

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Entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 11:19 am under Online video, Opinion, Technology, YouTube.

Read more entries by Triston McIntyre.
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