The members of the news media are arriving at the Democratic convention here, cameras and notebooks ready, to do their part in these historic proceedings. They know who the candidate is, they know who his running mate will be and, if they’ve been paying attention, they know that his campaign thinks of the media as decorations, no more or less important than the balloons and confetti that will dapple the Pepsi Center.Conventions have been a tug-of-war between the news media and the party establishment for years. Beginning with Michael Deaver’s tightly controlled cinematic unveiling of Ronald Reagan in 1980, modern campaigns have sought to manage the press by controlling the images. When properly deployed and stage-managed, the message can overwhelm the medium.The presidential campaign of Barack Obama has all but christened a new era by seizing the medium itself. The network pageantry has been replaced by the network effect – a huge pipe directly to his supporters, no intermediation involved. The press, it seems, just gets in the way.
http://iht.com/articles/2008/08/25/business/carr.php
Tech-savvy Obama outmaneuvering the media
… The presidential campaign of Barack Obama has all but christened a new era by seizing the medium itself. The network pageantry has been replaced by the network effect – a huge pipe directly to his supporters, no intermediation involved. The press, it seems, just gets in the way.