week7-Notes in the class

Part A

Lecture of Phil Howard, Nov.14 2006

Almost all the donations in campaigns came to TV commercials. (About 90 USD)

The high peak: 1968, 1972, 1988, 2000, 2004(extremely high)

# Find the definition of “Registered Voter.”

The percentage of population who go online for election is gathering. And election news online indeed affected the vote choice. But people found too much useless information online. è The “only” channel became the “more convenient” channel, which showed that the function of the Internet was changed.

Types of political websites: local, official, non-partisan, candidate, partisan, special interest (the most traffic).

Political Games

Voice Robot

Knowing the profile of voters could save money and time.

Branch Picture of sponsor-- theyrule.net

Vote.com

Calculating a campaign-- exist time and explosion (vertical/ horizontal)

80% banner ads/ 1% click-through rate/ 9% buy message/ 10% passionate enough to write

Political Narrowcasting

MyBestSegment

Jurgen Habermas on the Public Sphere (link)

1. The public sphere is space where we exchange ideas and challenge opinions. Requires: shared text, conversation, and room for action.
2. Ideally: all relevant voices are heard/ best arguments float to the top/ agreement based on reason, not force or privilege.

The trend of “don’t vote.”

Because of…. the issue? the way that TV companies operated?

The power of “American Ideal.” / The “big head” in China.

# Group 4 Discussion

1. Democracy’s Public Sphere— Democracy is ruled by people.
2. Democracy should provide a place where people can share information.
3. Democracy is alternative to corporate owned mass communication.
4. Two-way Medium
5. Bottom-up v.s. Top-down communication
6. “Access” is everything.
7. Libraries help people access the Internet.
8. Economic Development v.s. University Service
9. Free Market v.s. Government Regulation
10. Suggestion: a) Establish permanent public computer access. b) Pay people tp participate in their government.
11. The role of ISP.
12. Net Neutrality