April 13, 2009
The YouTube Presidency
A wonderful article from The New York Times on why the Obama administration uploads so much video.
... Playing well online is not simply a function of offline charisma. Unlike playing well on cable or on late-night talk shows, it takes not only performance skills but also an extensive personal production team.
Having recognized the power of YouTube during the presidential campaign, when the BarackObamadotcom account uploaded more than 1,800 videos to the site, Obama now maintains an entire staff devoted to new media.
Making your own videos pays off. Where a YouTube search for “George Bush” turns up mostly parody, TV news clips and gotchas (“George Bush idiot,” “George Bush shoe attack”), a comparable search for “Barack Obama” is stacked with videos approved and uploaded by the campaign or the administration.
... Every one of the president’s weekly public-address videos is conspicuously labeled “public domain,” and commentary is welcome.
... When past politicians have been praised for their “use” of media, they’re often seen as having deftly orchestrated an advantageous relationship with the press — having somehow won them over, as democratic politicians might generally aim to do. Obama’s team, in producing and distributing more video (by far) than any past administration, has not so much won over political journalists as led the pack to become the new media on the White House beat. Does that strike anyone as unsettling?
Read full article.
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