Terri L. Towner

All Political Participation Is Socially Networked?: New Media and the 2012 Election

This research examined the influence of attention to specific forms of traditional and online media on young adults’ online and offline political participation as well as voter turnout during the fall 2012 presidential campaign. A three-wave panel survey demonstrated that attention to traditional media did not increase offline and online political participation in September; instead, participation was heightened by attention to online sources, particularly presidential candidate websites, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. In the following months, individual-level change in participation was attributable to attention to several online media sources as well as change in media attention. In the case of voter turnout, results suggest that television attention was positively linked to voter likelihood in September but was negatively linked to individual-level change in voter turnout in November.

New Media and Political Marketing in the United States: 2012 and Beyond

Technology is an ever-evolving aspect of political campaigns in the United States. Even before the days when sophisticated survey research or television advertising burst on the scene, campaigners were seeking ways to campaign more efficiently and effectively. The Internet has provided a wealth of opportunities for candidates and their campaigns to use technology in creative and innovative ways. The 2008 U.S. presidential campaign clearly illustrated this. But the question becomes: What is next? Where does new media go from here, and, more importantly for scholars, what kind of research questions will be central when studying these new uses of technology? This article begins with a discussion of where new media, and the study of it, go in 2012 and beyond. We briefly take a look back at the 2008 election in which campaigns made great strides in the use of new media, breaking new ground by using tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other online video sharing sites and many others in ways that had not been seen before. We also look ahead and discuss what we expect in the 2012 U.S. elections and beyond. We do this from the perspective of campaigns—how candidates and their advisors as well as voters will use new media—and from the perspective of scholars: What are the directions for future research in these areas?

An experiment of campaign effects during the YouTube election

The 2008 US presidential election was called the ‘YouTube Election’. However, scholars know little about how the internet influences attitudes toward politics. To address this, we conduct an experiment to test the effects of exposure to the YouTube channel, ‘YouChoose’08’, on young adults during the 2008 US presidential election. We find that those exposed to YouChoose’08 exhibit more cynicism toward the US government, yet also had a heightened sense that they influence the political system. Exposure to YouChoose’08 had no influence on attitudes toward candidates or internet sources.

The Web 2.0 Election: Does the Online Medium Matter?

The 2008 U.S. presidential election saw the first significant integration of Web 2.0 technologies; however, scholars know little about how Web 2.0 sources influence political attitudes. To address this, the authors test the effects of exposure to various Web 2.0 sources during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. They find that young adults exposed to television network sites and candidate Web sites consider them more trustworthy and high-quality than YouChoose ‘08 and Facebook. Moreover, YouChoose ‘08 viewers exhibit more government cynicism, whereas those exposed to candidate Facebook pages have a heightened sense that they influence the political system. Last, the authors find that YouChoose ‘08 and Facebook viewers were more likely to vote on Election Day.

Baby Boom or Bust? the New Media Effect on Political Participation

ABSTRACT A considerable number of studies have investigated the influence of new media on political attitudes and behaviors. However, much of this research focuses on young people, ignoring other age cohorts, particularly Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964). To fill this gap, this research examines the influence of attention to specific forms of traditional and online media on Baby Boomers’ online and offline political participation during the fall 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. Drawing on a Baby Boomer survey panel, responses were collected during the 2012 general election to analyze the empirical relationship between attention to traditional and online media sources and political participation. Data analyses reveal that Boomers’ attention to traditional media sources, particularly television, did not increase their offline and online political participation. Instead, various forms of offline and online participation were consistently heightened by Boomers’ attention to presidential candidate websites. In addition, attention to Facebook for campaign information was positively linked to online engagement. Boomers’ attention to blogs, Twitter, and YouTube were associated with only certain types of online and offline activities.

A Wise Latina or a Baffled Rookie? Media Coverage of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s Ascent to the Bench

ABSTRACT We examine newspaper coverage of the US Supreme Court confirmation process to investigate whether Sonia Sotomayor received different coverage than other nominees due to her status as a minority woman. Sotomayor was the only justice seated over the last three decades who received extensive attention to her race and gender, and her coverage was more negatively toned than that received by other nominees. Compared to her counterparts, the press downplayed her intellectual abilities, devoted more negative attention to her judicial temperament, and suggested she would struggle to adjust to her new role. We examine explanations for why Sotomayor received different coverage and conclude that the intersectionality of ethnicity and gender best explains the media’s characterization of her.

Picture Perfect? The Role of Instagram in Issue Agenda Setting During the 2016 Presidential Primary Campaign:

Instagram emerged as a pivotal campaign tool in the 2016 presidential campaign. This study examines the agenda-setting effects between the presidential primary candidates’ Instagram posts and articles published in the mainstream newspapers during the primary period. A reciprocal relationship between Democratic and Republican candidates’ Instagram posts and newspaper articles is expected. A content analysis of issues recorded daily issue frequencies in each medium which were then examined using a time-series analysis. Results offer evidence of a relationship between Democratic and Republican candidates’ Instagram posts and newspapers on some of the top issues in the primary campaign. However, the findings also reveal that candidate Instagram posts independently predicted newspapers’ issue agendas on certain issues with no reverse effects.

Book Review: The hybrid media system

In this work, Andrew Chadwick asserts that we must leave the traditional understanding of media— with its boundaries, norms, and hierarchies—behind and move to a new understanding of media systems that captures the interactions between officeholders, journalists, bloggers, broadcasters, and the public. He dubs the latter as a ‘‘hybrid media system.’’ A hybrid media system is the integration of traditional and new media platforms and actors to communicate a message in a more effective and meaningful way. This new theoretical and conceptual approach to mass media is needed due to the Internet expanding media beyond principally television, newspapers, and radio. Today, hard copy newspapers have websites, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds that use audio and video. Television anchors and news shows have affiliated websites and blogs. As Chadwick demonstrates, content originating on the web can easily crossover to be reported on television and vice versa. For example, professional journalists and broadcasters gather information and content from social media and bloggers. Meanwhile, bloggers can take traditional new reports and create online news. This crossover or integration is the essence of a hybrid media system.