Introducing the 2009 BEA Research Symposium…

TechnoPolitics: New Technologies,
New Voices, New Voters

Thursday, April 23, 2009 Las Vegas Convention Center

Politics and technology are increasingly interdependent in the modern elections.  The 2008 campaign is characterized by a convergence of new technologies, new voices, and new voters.  The 2009 Research Symposium programs are designed to capitalize on what the convergence of these factors produced in this election.  Research reports will focus on the way new technologies are being used by candidates, the media, and by voters, including media and candidate Web sites, blogs, citizen-generated media, YouTube, social networking media like FaceBook and MySpace, and podcasting.  Communication in 2008 has also been affected by the historic emergence of new voices, represented not only by historic candidacies of female and minority presidential contenders but also by the new voters, particularly young voters, who have been energized by these new voices and by the new technologies that allow their active participation in the democratic process. 

Introduction:  Lynda Lee Kaid (University  of  Florida), Research Symposium  Chair

New Technologies

Monica Postelnicu  (Louisiana State University),   From Soundbite to Textbite:  Election ’08 Comments on Twitter

Paul Haridakis and Gary Conley (Kent State University), Campaign 2008: Comparing YouTube,   Social Networking  and other Media Use among First-Time Voters and Multiple-Time Voters

John C. Tedesco (Virginia Tech University), Effects of Candidate Internet Message Strategies

David Perlmutter (University of Kansas), The Blogging of the President: How Online Media Helped Obama Win

NEW VOICES AND NEW VOTERS

Hyun Jung Yun (Texas State University), Amy Jasperson (University of Texas, San Antonio), and Sindy Chapa (Texas State University),  New Voices and New Voters:  Differences in Reactions to Candidate Messages in the 2008 Campaign.

Kendall Sharp, Mandy Miles, and Lynda Lee Kaid. (University  of  Florida),  Representations of Sarah Palin: Competing Views  on  CNN  and  FOX

Jesper  Strömbäck (MidSweden University),  David Painter, Juliana Fernandes, Zheng Xiang, Eisa Al Nashmir, and Ji Young Kim (University of Florida),   Coverage of the U.S. Presidential Campaign: Obamamania Around the World

 TECHNO-DEBATES

Mitchell McKinney (University of Missouri), Not Your Father's Presidential Debates: Analyzing the Effects of the CNN/YouTube Debates on Young Citizens

Mary Banwart (University of Kansas),  Tina Fey Frames the Debate: Viewers' Reactions to Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential Debate Performance

Rita Kirk (Southern Methodist University),   Creating the Digital Agora:  CNN Dial Testing as an Implement of Political Discussion