Political communication in the internet

The Korean presidential campaign 2002 was seen by FNF Project Director Ulrich Niemann as a “turning point in election campaigning and political participation.” In his report on “Politics and Online Citizen Participation” Niemann summarised the successful internet election campaign of presidential candidate Roh Moo-Hyun against the traditional “brick-and-mortar campaign strategy” of Lee Hoi-Chang, the candidate of the Grand National Party.

Two years later, in 2004, senior US campaign manager Joe Trippi wrote his famous book “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” about the same phenomenon which he encountered in the US presidential elections 2003:
“… campaigns have become more vicious, more media savvy, more technologically advanced, more expensive and intensive, longer, bigger, and stronger in every way except one. Somewhere along the line, they lost the voters. (…) Across the board, Americans (…) have been leaving politics in droves.”

Trippi wrote his book while being amazed by the powers of the internet. To him, the dot.com miracle “was the opening salvo in a revolution, the sound of hundreds of thousands of Americans turning off their televisions and embracing the only form of technology that has allowed them to be involved again, to gain control of a process that alienated them decades ago.”

“Participation” is the key word for all channels of communication in the internet. A website cannot be merely providing information anymore. Modern internet users require the chance to participate, to contribute, to challenge, to debate. Beyond the participatory features of their website, any political actor must also be well-versed in using audio- and videofiles, weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs.

FNF Project Director Rainer Heufers introduced the technical capacities of means of political communication in the internet to the leadership of Parti Gerakan. His speech was followed by the Executive Director of the SEDAR Institute Khoo Kay Peng, who explained the relevance of these means in the actual political context of Malaysia.

[ Back ]