In the Oct. 19 installment of Road to the White House 2012: Politics, Media & Technology, USC professor Richard Reeves discussed the impact of television in a seemingly social media dominated campaign.
Reeves makes the point that we should not rule out the significance of television because “the more that things change, the more they stay the same.” While social network have made the movement of information a lot quicker and more public, television is still where people go to evaluate their presidential candidates. Reeves said that televised programs of the campaign provide the public the illusion of a story.
“There’s something extraordinary about the presidential election on primetime. Primary night has a beginning, middle and an end, where it has drama and the features of a television show,” Reeves said.
However, Reeves does not dismiss the Internet altogether. He does indicate that it has its strengths and relevance in this election.
“The Internet has proved to be good for many things, like fundraising. The web can collect names and addresses for preferences. Fundraising, it can do,” Reeves said.
He also praises the utilization of Youtube by the media and how it has had great political impact. Reeves, however, said that Youtube is not a new concept. The use of repetition in spreading an embarrassing or strong moment during a debate has been around for years.
For now, regardless of how quickly other aspects of campaigning is growing, television is still king, Reeves said.
This article was written by Sammi Wong, Print and Digital Journalism ’14.