new Pew report on

March 19, 2013 at 6:30 am

By Chris Cillizza and Sean Sulliva

Here's a look

Estimates for newspaper newsroom cutbacks in 2012 put the industry down 30 percent since its peak in 2000 and below 40,000 full-time professional employees for the first time since 1978," according to the Pew report. With fewer reporters and more to cover -- thanks to the endless churn of social media, cable television and so on and so forth -- the tendency to do a sort of paint-by-numbers reporting takes over.

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the way campaigns are run and how elected officials govern. It allows candidates

Amina is a freelance journalist in Chicago. Her work has previously appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Grid and Popular Science, among others.

and officeholders to not only communicate more effectively to a larger audience, but it creates a two-way street for constituents to respond and interact with leaders,”

If there is anything recent elections have proven, it’s that reaching out to voters online is not only important, it’s essential. The first notable use of social media to rally the voting community was during the 2008 Presidential election, when the Obama campaign took to the web to draw out the young vote. According to research by the Pew Foundation, 83 percent of 18-24 year-olds had social networking accounts in 2008, and two-thirds of those used those sites for political activity at that time.

Though social media has certainly changed the face of political campaigns, it has not replaced other traditional forms of communication. “It’s additive,” says Greenberg. What she means is that having a social media campaign does not mean politicians can forego television and radio commercials. Greenberg also emphasizes that in-person rallies and town halls are an essential component of campaigns and that these venues won’t go away just because people spend more time online.

The Influence and Relationship of the Media in Politics, Campaigns and Elections - In an age of timeliness and demand for information

But while the public demands information from the media, there is also an underlying cynicism in the American culture against the media and politicians for negative campaign coverage and a perceived media bias.

Nixon on the other hand, did not have such a good relationship with the media and did not understand the importance of mass coverage. Just before Election Day, Kennedy visited northeastern states with large electoral votes and more importantly, major media outlets where he would be seen by a large audience. Nixon on the other hand, wanted to fulfill his promise of going to every state and went to Alaska. Wha

Nov 14, 2007