Politics and Technology Featured Article

Constitutes to Report the 2008 Elections

By Jessica Kostek, TMCnet Channel Editor

Media outlets are relying on their audiences to help them post, publish and pick the news coverage for today’s elections. The New York Times is asking Web site visitors to take pictures of their polling places and upload them, providing Election Day snapshots brought to the people by the people.

 

America’s need to know up-to-the-minute polling news has been heightened by the intensity of this race. Television has played a major part airing programs giving serious analytical predictions to parodies such as SNL’s Tina Fay’s Sarah Palin impersonation.

 

For tonight’s outcome, people are going to turn to their television sets while having a laptop in front of them to gain as much information as they possibly can. Major media outlets are expecting an overflow of traffic to their sites.

 

"Television will follow the Internet as much as the Internet will follow television, which I think is a relatively new phenomenon," said Frank Gilliam, dean of the school of public affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

"When you watch CNN the commentators have laptops in front of them. That tells you all you need to know," he said.

 

CNN predicts more than one billion page views on its Web site, and has planned a "Your Races" feature where users can get updates on even the most remote races, from Congressional contests to state ballot measures.

 

The New York Times also expects to have record traffic on Election Day, said Jim Roberts, associate managing editor at the paper, "Our imagination is bigger and our tool box is much bigger.”

 

A key factor to point out is that although the internet is useful to gain information, it can be swaying as well. UCLA's Gilliam noted that while the Internet allows for greater civic participation, it also can offer up its own divisive discourse.

 

"People make comments on the Internet that one would not hear on television," he said.

 

Regardless, there is no doubt that tonight almost all American’s will be glued to either their TVs, laptops or both.

Jessica Kostek is a channel editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. To read more of Jessica’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jessica Kostek