Unconventional Video

The New Wave of Political Video
If McLuhan was right and the medium really is the message, then spinmeisters from both political parties must be scrambling. It was much easier to control the message when it was only delivered to a passive, "lean back" television audience than it is now, when it’s presented to an engaged, "lean forward" online audience as well. As the Obama campaign seems to have discovered, it’s one thing to be spoken to and another to be engaged—the online audience is more responsive to calls for political participation than its broadcast equivalent. Dwindling network TV news budgets have helped to push politically obsessed viewers to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. With video blogs now offering the most current and comprehensive selection of political video from every source, it’s hard to tell where the audience for political video will turn next. "You had this big glass bubble of the media, and the citizens reached up, finally got bats big enough, and they broke it," observes The UpTake’s Barnett. "Now the entire thing is shattered, and it’s a mess."

In 18th century America, the most current sources for news and opinion were the broadsides—large printed sheets that were posted in town halls and coffee houses, read in churches and public meetings, and often reprinted or excerpted in local newspapers. Video-based citizen journalism could become the 21st-century equivalent. Video that wasn’t available now is, and video that was available is now available 24/7. But VBCJs have challenges: low production values, little money, widespread information, and video overload. And no one is certain that the audience for VBCJ won’t vanish within weeks of this year’s election.

Citizen journalists perform a function distinct from that performed by their brethren in the traditional media. If politicians are consciously aware that they have a smartphone camera on them at all times, they are more likely to be honest, or at least more consistent in their lying. The whopper you told as small-town mayor may come back to haunt you as a vice-presidential candidate. On the other hand, few if any citizen journalists have the resources to support serious investigative reporting. And while America’s appetite for streaming video is growing, 40 million viewers still turned to broadcast and cable television to watch Barack Obama’s history-making acceptance speech.