BlogHer - President-Elect Barack Obama: From "60 Minutes" to YouTube - Comments

One Of The Great Things About A Next Generation POTUS

Megan Smith — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:26:48 -0600

One of the great things about having a next generation President is that he's kept up with the advances in social media and how to use those tools to maintain contact with the public.

As you say, with the media going through such drastic changes, any politician that wants to keep up better get with the internet program.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Good Move

Ask Becca — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:21:09 -0600

I think that this is a great move for Obama. It is important, especially in our current economic state, for our president to talk to us. You know the average American. If you think about it there is no better move he can make.

Less and less people buy the newspaper or even watcxh television. With the internet growing more and more every day I think that it is vital for a president not to ignore this. By addressing people in multi media fashion Obama is assuring that his message is heard not only by the odler genteration who reads newspapers but also to the young voters who were so moved in voting for him. By entering into the new YouTube era this persident is assuring that the young adults in America feel just as important to the betterment of this nation then the older generations.

Becca

Please visit me at http://www.askbecca.com

It's A Good Beginning

Megan Smith — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:15:37 -0600

I'm feeling very reassured by his cabinet appointments and the people he's choosing to consult.

I think it bodes well for the future.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Such a different President

Creatively Belle — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:11:03 -0600

It will be such a different presidency with this man.

Direct and clear communication, clear and intelligent thought and his growing number of advisors seem equal to him. This gives much hope.

Kind regards,

Belinda

Great Earring Holders - great Christmas and birthday presents and no more messy jewelry tangles!

A Good Sign For The Future

Megan Smith — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:06:07 -0600

Hi Chaka,

It's a good sign for the future that so many young people are invested in politics right now because of Obama. And I agree, the people who aren't using technology yet need to be remembered as well.

Who knows? Obama's election may get people involved in technology who might not have felt a need to be before.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Obama the technology President

ChakaSB — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:18:04 -0600

I love the way he has reached out - just don't forget about the folks that don't use technology. But I love seeing the way younger people are so tuned into what's happening..

ChakaSB

Keeping Technology Simple

http://www.iconnie.com

It's True About Twitter and YouTube

Megan Smith — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:08:29 -0600

All of a sudden it seems like Twitter and YouTube have been around forever.

And yes, several BlogHers wrote posts about the whole Motrin ad thing. If you do a BlogHer search (upper right hand corner of this page) for "Motrin" you'll see them.

Megan

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Tech-savvy

RenaissanceTrophyWife — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:22:02 -0600

I'm so excited about Obama's presidency-- and I agree, he is quite savvy in his use of media to promote his agenda and keep the public informed.

Funny how only a few years ago, YouTube was only a geeky new thing, and now it's being leveraged by the White House. BTW, did you see the recent articles about moms using Twitter and YouTube to make Motrin pull an ad?

http://renaissancetrophywife.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/hell-hath-no-fury-...

RTW

http://renaissancetrophywife.wordpress.com

It Feels Like There's A Steady Hand At The Wheel

Megan Smith — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:09:45 -0600

Hi Giyen,

Though it's early days yet, I think you're right. Obama's making all the right moves so far to consolidate his authority while still reaching across the aisle.

I also think it's great that he's going to continue the use of social media to stay in touch with the public.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Obama needs to keep that dialogue going

Giyen — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:55:56 -0600

It's very interesting to see Obama not try and reinvent the wheel.
For all of the liberal leftist rhetoric that the McCain camp was
throwing at him during the campaign, Obama is being very conservative
in his approach to governing thus far - I am glad to see him contemporize what has worked in the past rather than try risky strategies at this crucial time.

Giyen

www.baconismyenemy.com

President-Elect Barack Obama: From "60 Minutes" to YouTube

Megan Smith — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:20:44 -0600

Hang on folks 'cause we're about to have a "YouTube President" in the White House. Yes, it's true he may now have to give up his BlackBerry, but that doesn't mean his administration won't use the media and the internet in ways that have only been imagined in politics before.

Last night President-elect Barack Obama did his first televised interview since the election with Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes." And though interviews by new presidents on "60 Minutes" are not new, the way Mr. Obama has used the media to his advantage rivals that of The Great Communicator himself, the late President Ronald Reagan.

The show devoted the full hour to the President-elect and his wife and covered such weighty issues as Obama's vow to close Guantanamo Bay and sign an executive order to prevent the torturing of prisoners, to lighter matters like when the new presidential puppy will arrive. The first part of the hour was with Obama alone and he was joined by wife Michelle for the second part.

Obama showed his usual measured, self-assurance when talking about the economy and the war in Iraq, but he also displayed a flash of humor as he kidded Steve Kroft, in response to a question about Michelle Obama's mother moving into the White House, about Kroft's own relationship with his mother-in-law.

Watch CBS Videos Online

A full transcript of the interview is available on the CBS website.

Leendaluu at Wit's End watched the interview with her family and described in a lovely post how she found herself unexpectedly moved:

My girls don't understand what a moment this is to see a black family in the White House. Happily, they have grown up in a multicultural (and yes, privileged) environment where ethnicity and color aren't factors. They are part of a rainbow. Their mother, however, remembers the strife of the sixties and, although I was quite young, it left an imprint. But these past few weeks have restored my faith and my hope. And as this epiphany came to me, I started crying. I cried for those who struggled to make this moment possible, I cried at the marvel of it all, I cried because for the first time in eight years, I think this I is MY country and I will give my life up to it and I am proud to say: I am American.

Shequeta at The Black Hollywood Files was pleased with the interview as well:

I really love these two and can't wait until inauguration day. This is indeed a new dawn of American leadership and Barack proves it every time he opens his mouth and spits a complete sentence---unlike the current lame duck President who could use a lesson in hooked on phonics.

Joyce Ladner of The Ladner Report can't wait for Washington D.C. to welcome Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue along with the new first family. She also gave kudos to Steve Kroft:

Like the late Ed Bradley, Kroft has a way of getting the story out without making himself too large a part of the story. Speaking of Ed Bradley, I really miss him now more than ever. He would be front and center in the Obama meteoric rise to the presidency.

It seems much of America was interested in getting a glimpse of the new president-elect. According to TV Week the Obama interview drew the program's largest audience since January 1999."

Television won't be the only way the new president maintains contact with the American public. Al Gore may have "invented the internet" but President-elect Obama shows every sign that his White House will use it in more ways than any other US president.

Just last week Obama's transition team announced he'll do a weekly radio address that for the first time will also be videotaped and posted on his transition website, Change.gov and on YouTube. His first address last Saturday focused on the economy.

Read Write Web calls them FireWire Chats and speculated whether Obama's use of the internet constitutes political "transparency redefined:"

While the Obama campaign is the first to utilize the Internet in such an expert way, it also needs to be pointed out that he is the first president going into office at a time when the Internet and Web are considered mainstream, and the tools for social media are freely available.

Obama's Web omnipresence clearly relies on many tools, and certainly he should continue using them, but equating Web tools with transparency may not be such a great idea this early in the game, particularly with so many scrutinizing his every word.

In an article called "The YouTube Presidency" by Jose Antonio Vargas, The Washington Post (Via Read Write Web) quotes the head of News and Politics at YouTube, Steve Grove:

"The Obama team has written the playbook on how to use YouTube for political campaigns. Not only have they achieved impressive mass -- uploading over 1800 videos that have been viewed over 110 million times total -- but they've also used video to cultivate a sense of community amongst supporters," said Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube.

It's obvious President-elect Obama understands that television and the internet are crucial to his maintaining contact with the American people. Those tools may also operate as mechanisms to mobilize voters and ultimately get his agenda through congress.

Megan Smith is the BlogHer Contributing Editor covering Television and Online Video and she's eagerly anticipating the new Obama presidency. Her other blogs are Megan's Minute, quirky commentary around the clock, and Video Runway.