HYDERABAD: The way of campaigning for elections has changed remarkably over the last two election cycles and the role of social media has evolved too, pointed Shashank Bengali, South Asia Bureau Correspondent of Los Angeles Times.
He was in the city as a panellist for the discussion, “Evolving Role of Traditional Media and Social Media in Election” that was conducted by the US Consulate along with the Indian Journalists’ Union. The discussion was moderated by Amar Devulapalli, Secretary General, Indian Journalists Union.
Talking about how instrumental social media has been in the US election campaign, Shashank pointed, “In the year 2008, when Barack Obama was contesting for the first time, social media campaigning had just begun. But today, Facebook and Twitter have turned out to be the channels for communication for politicians.
Instead of conducting interviews, candidates are tweeting and reaching the voters directly. That too, immediately.” Is the traditional media, mainly the print media, supposed to merely report or are they meant to analyse and critique is a question that needs to be asked, he added.
“While watching the presidential debate on television, people were also constantly tweet videos or links in connection to the claims the candidates were making. So this also shows that eventually, all these mediums are going to blend,” said Shashank. “They are going after those opinions and posts that reinforce their own. Also, social media has given newspapers a beating for being free,” journalist Lalitha Iyer said.