Washington, D.C. (September 29, 1999) -- News coverage of the Internet's role in the current presidential campaign may be missing the point about the transforming effect of the global computer network on politics, argues an article in the premier issue of the Political Information Report.
The Report, an electronic-mail-based newsletter covering the Internet and politics, is published by Political Information (.com), a search engine for politics and policy.
The real Internet political revolution could be the ongoing use of the Internet by organizations and corporations to promote issues and sway opinions, rather than the temporary use of the web and email by candidates' campaigns in election years, according to "The Real Revolution? Issue-Advocacy Campaigning on the Internet." The article describes the potential for "a non-stop online campaign, launched from thousands of sources targeting hundreds of issues across the country and around the world."
Political Information Report editor Colin Delany elaborates the Internet's advantages over traditional print and broadcast media for publicizing and managing issue-advocacy campaigns. He points out in particular that the online world tends to divide into communities of interest rather than into communities based on geography.
These niches allow issue campaigns to target potential supporters far more efficiently than was possible before. Their existence multiplies the other benefits of campaigning on the 'net, such as low cost and the lack of filtering by media gatekeepers. The article draws a picture of how a comprehensive online issue-advocacy campaign could function and recommends resources for those planning one.
"The Real Revolution?" is available on the Political Information (.com) website at http://www.politicalinformation.com/features.html. The Political Information (.com) website also features a comprehensive search of over 5000 policy and political sites on the web plus links to over 1200 sites organized by category.
