2010's has already been much touted as the 'new media election', and it was the subject of a panel discussion at City University on Tuesday - ironically the day old media announced the ground rules for its own ground-breaking election moment: the leaders' debates.
Evan Davies chaired a lively panel including the BBC's Nick Robinson, Labour and Conservative bloggers and a Google representative. They identified a couple of changes new media has brought.
First, email has massively encouraged activism, both by lowering the barrier to entry for activists, and driving support among existing activists. Obama campaign activist Matthew MacGregor, of Blue State Digital, said one in five Obama voters were on the campaign's email list (although, ironically, most of the Obama email donations were used to pay for traditional television ads).
Second, visual new media - camera phones - can have a sudden impact. Nick Robinson said that, although it's rare for new media to affect news, camera phones are the exception because they capture gaffs and flashes of anger which can instantly change a politician's fortunes.
Google's DJ Collins pointed out that the same could be said for Twitter and YouTube's ability to demolish all the hard work of PR professionals in an instant - as happened with Cameron's "vote for change" slogan.
Robinson was otherwise sceptical. He quoted a recent example of the power of new media for good and bad: for good - the anti-bullying group was instantly taken apart on Twitter; but for bad - at the same time a poll on the Conservative Home website erroneously stated the Tory lead had increased.
But, more importantly, he felt that new media downgrades issues in favour of personal accusation. One could say, of course, that Sunday tabloids already do plenty of this, but he pleaded for media space for voters to ask "what does that mean for me?" and getting an answer. That, he said, was his job.
Also mentioned was the "bubble up" effect of the internet - such as Sarah Brown's website, now a phenomenon in its own right and a way of reaching women voters disaffected by Labour's record on Iraq. Perhaps public anger over MPs' expenses will "bubble up" during the campaign. And the internet will be a vehicle for the continuation of chatter after the television debates, as it was after the Piers Morgan/Brown interview. But it was left to none other than a Lib Dem local councillor to make a vital missing point!
He described how the internet had enabled ordinary people in his area to organise to keep the local library open - thus proving the real political power of new media: its ability to create communities of interest, which in the end is what politics is all about.
Westminster media village eat your heart out!
For another take on the 'new media election', see here. Or here, for a College of Journalism Election briefing event.
