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Still in catch-up mode. Where do most citizens receive most of their political and election information online??? The government? Campaign and political party web sites? NGOs and civic organizations? My experience (and I swear a study somewhere says ... can't find it) is that online newspapers are the number one source of political information for largest number of people. What newspapers (and therefore online news sites) do with political and election news/information is therefore extremely important. The Virtual Candidate study starts at the very beginning of the process and digs into the core journalism part looking into the perspective and behavior of political reporters. Steven Clift Democracies Online P.S. For those interested in this topic, here are some related papers under "Research on Internet News": http://tigger.uic.edu/~kgbcomm/longnews/ Download report from: http://www.ipdi.org/virtual_trail.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 2002 MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Lustig (202) 454-6611 Matthew Nehmer (202) 994-6467 GW STUDY FINDS MEDIA COVERAGE OF POLITICAL MONEY TRANSFORMED BY THE INTERNET Research by the Institute on Politics, Democracy & the Internet Finds New Ethical Challenges, Greater Deadline Pressure Linked to Internet WASHINGTON – The Internet has transformed the way reporters cover campaign finance and increased the number and diversity of sources available to journalists, according to a report released today by the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM). But the study of how journalists use the Internet also found that the World Wide Web has increased deadline pressure for some, caused e-mail overload and posed new ethical challenges for reporters. “The Virtual Trail: Political Journalism on the Internet” is based on interviews with 271 political journalists between April 5 and May 14, 2002. Three-fourths of the respondents reported finding more sources, while two-thirds say those sources are more diverse. Forty- five percent say they use the phone less now. Yet a third report more deadline pressure, while the same number say they must cover more spot stories. “The more experienced users conduct interviews, interact with readers, visit more diverse Web sites and put the tools of the Internet to work for their reporting,” said Albert L. May, the study’s principal author. “Yet for many reporters, the rise of the Internet has also brought more challenges in the form of increased deadline pressure and an overload of e-mails.” The study found that more than three quarters of the reporters interviewed spent at least one hour on the Web each workday; more than a third spent two hours or more. In addition, more than half the journalists said they process more than 30 e-mails a day, while a quarter process more than 50 each day. And while the Internet has posed new issues regarding ethical norms and challenges, the rules are still evolving. The study found a strong consensus for reporters to announce their presence in Internet chat rooms and to notify Web users that they might be quoted. Yet there was no agreement on whether e-mail interviews must be attributed as such, or which quotes need to be corroborated. The study also found that while reporters have yet to be convinced that candidate and political party Web sites will have any effect on the outcome of the races, they are putting the Web to good use in researching stories, particularly campaign contributions made to candidates. “The Internet has become a tremendous tool for readily accessing Federal Election Commission records and other materials detailing the impact of money on politics,” said GSPM Dean Chris Arterton. “In the past, only Washington-based reporters with long-lead times and deep resources could seek to understand the influence of money on politics. With the Internet, that information is at everyone’s fingertips.” The study found that the favorite Web site for journalists is the Center for Responsive Politics’ opensecrets.com, a campaign finance database that provides quick access to FEC records and other campaign contribution reports. The other top-ten Web sites, in order of ranking by respondents, are National Journal and its “Hotline,” the Federal Election Commission, Political Money Line, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, ABC’s “The Note,” Rough & Tumble and Project Vote Smart. The sampling of journalists for the study was based on a non-random, comprehensive list of political reporters compiled from known sources and media sites. A total of 271 reporters and editors were interviewed online, and an additional 40 personal follow- up interviews were conducted. The Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, formerly known as the Democracy Online Project, is administered by the Graduate School of Political Management of The George Washington University. Funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the mission of the Institute is to promote the development of U.S. online politics in a manner that upholds democratic values. Albert L. May, associate professor and journalism director at The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, covered government and politics at the local, state and national levels for more than 20 years as a newspaper reporter and editor. A short bio can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~smpa/may.html. “The Virtual Trail: Political Journalism on the Internet” can be downloaded at http://www.IPDI.org, or call IPDI at (202) 994-3219 to obtain a printed copy of the study. ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Past Messages, Discussion http://e-democracy.org/do *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
