Newscaster Anderson Cooper began the Democratic CNN/ YouTube debate by stating: "We are not exactly sure how this is going to work. The candidates on this stage don't know how it is going to work. Neither do their campaigns. And frankly we think that's a good thing" (Jenkins, 271). Why the uncertainty? Because, for the first time ever, the candidates seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency would be asked questions that were selected from more than 3,000 YouTube videos.
One of these videos contained a question, from a snow man, asking the candidates what they planned on doing about global warming. After the video was shown to the candidates, Cooper was quick to point out "It's a funny video. It's a serious question" (Jenkins, 272). Denis Kucinich promptly answered the question by drawing "links between 'global warming' and 'global warring'" (Jenkins, 272). The broadcast ended with CNN announcing that they would also hold a YouTube debate with the GOP. This debate, however, never took place. Jenkins writes: "By the end of the week, most of the front-runners for the Republican nomination were refusing to participate. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney put a face of their discomfort: ' I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman.'" (Jenkins, 272).
The CNN/ YouTube debate exemplifies how we are growing and becoming a convergence culture. We are clearly able to see the contact and collaboration between established (CNN) and emerging (YouTube) media institutions. Kucinich was put on the spot and had no real choice in whether or not he could answer the snowman's question, but what about Romney and the rest of the GOP nominees? In this instance, we are able to see how politicians react when they are able to catch a glimpse of the uncertainty convergence culture politics holds for them. Eventually, however, convergence culture politics may be unavoidable. How will politics handle this seemingly inevitable shift?
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ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it will play out like that. I also talked about this in my blog, however I wanted to make a point that questions like these might be weeded out in the future. They take away from how serious of a job the President of The United States is. Right now pop culture is merging with a lot of things like children's television for example. The not run episode of Katy Perry's appearance on Sesame Street points to further blurring the line between, school, politics, and pop culture. What if it was Elmo asking the same question as the snowman? Would it have the same impact? I think we are in the discovery stage right now between what mixes of culture work and don't and it's going to take a while before the dusts settles.
ReplyDeleteI like how you say we are clearly able to see the contact and collaboration between established and emerging media institutions. Just as traditional television and web television have merged, so have social media sites have merged to cover televised events. Twitter allows for a virtual community to comment on public events in real time. Interesting developments!
ReplyDelete@Nathaniel: I've been wondering about Katy Perry & Sesame Street since it hit YouTube; someone must have approved that costume, someone from CTW must have been present when it was filmed... and then after all that work, they decided not to run it. Why not choose a different outfit to begin with? But since they didn't, they put themselves in a position of deciding whether that was appropriate to be shown to toddlers, with the implied approval of the CTW (and PBS, and everyone who is connected to the show). At the end, they decided it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP candidates, realizing that there was no way to be prepared for what questions might come up from YouTube debate, made the same decision; it wasn't worth it to them to be put on the spot and potentially have to answer a snowman. Or a person in a mask. Or-- most fearful of all-- an average citizen, with a nation lful of other average citizens watching. There's no amount of debate prep that will get a candidate ready for that, and one gaffe would be replayed ad nauseum for the rest of the campaign, however short it may be.
Romney used the snowman video to make it about protocol, not his true feelings of uneasiness.
Barney Frank Confronts Woman At Townhall Comparing Obama To Hitler:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYlZiWK2Iy8
I think social media tools like YouTube only increase the chance of politicians having to deal with unwanted questions. As Barney Frank shows in this town hall meeting, YouTube or no YouTube, there are always going to be unwanted questions from disagreeing (and in some cases, disagreeable) people occupying our politicians' time. I think convergence culture only increases the uncertainty of questions that politicians have to deal with, no matter how explosive the rhetoric. Consequently, I think politicians will be under more scrutiny as a result but perhaps this is a good thing. The ability to deal with intangibles and uncertainties is definitely the mark of a good leader, so maybe the added pressure that convergence culture brings will lead to us getting better leaders?
It is definitely increasingly difficult for politicians to run from alternative forms of media. I had a friend who was hired by a politician in 2008 to travel to his opponents' speaking events and get them on video. This is happening in races all over the country.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to agree with Nathaniel: Mitt Romney has a point. Does a Presidential candidate really need to answer to a snowman? To me, it was like the candidates were having to try to give straight answers while a comedian attempted to steal the crowd. Who could tell a snowman's baby boy that he didn't believe humans caused climate change while he's staring at you with those big orange eyes? At the GOP (Maybe occasionally a Democratic, too) debate, that would probably be how some of the candidates felt. But who's going to tell that to the citizens who were just won over by the cute little snow-baby?
Very interesting point, Jenna. In my post, I came to the conclusion that the "seriousness" of Mitt Romney and other Beltway bluebloods is detrimental to the political process in that it discourages and even invalidates certain forms of political expression -- e.g., the snowman video. By elevating the business of politics above our everyday lives, attitudes like Romney's have the unfortunate effect of alienating large groups of potential voters. But perhaps we ought to be more sympathetic to Romney's reaction -- after all, "who could tell a snowman's baby boy that he didn't believe humans [are the] cause[ ]" of "[global] climate change"? Kucinich had an easy enough time with this video because he agreed with its basic premise, that the best way to curb climate change is via federal regulation of certain business practices. But Romney's not gonna go for that. I imagine his response would have been far less crotchety had the snowman's kid raised concerns about the mounting national debt. It's not just the delivery that's the issue here... it's the content too. Still, Romney's response was to preach about the "seriousness" of politics... a response lots and lots of people would agree with. So interestingly, that's the message we have to address.
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