Both John Howard and Kevin Rudd are utilising the internet in their election campaigns.
The Liberal Party website displays prominently on the home page "The Howard Government's 5 Goals for Australia's Future". Clicking on this link brings up the transcript of a speech made by Howard on 20 August 2007. On the right hand side of the home page you can click on links to the Howard government's achievements, donate or subscibe to the Liberal Party's email newsletter.
There is also a Prime Minister of Australia website. Clicking on the "contact your PM" link brings up his postal address. The Ministry are also profiled.
Howard has made announcements on YouTube. He is targeting youth culture and trying to counter political attacks that he is old and out of touch.
Dr Peter Chan of Monash University is an expert in the use of the internet by political parties. He says,"What it shows is that political leaders of Australia are beginning to really understand how they can use technologies like the web to segment their audience".
In a poll conducted by The Age on 1 August 2007, 90% of the 1334 voters said Howard was not a hit on YouTube. 10% said he was.
Kevin'07 is the official website of the ALP and Rudd's federal election campaign. It was launched 6 August 2007. On the home page "Have Your Say" appears prominently. Site visitors are asked to email the ALP with their thoughts and a selection are published on the blog. The home page identifies the hot topics with picture buttons. These topics are regularly updated. Some examples include Climate Change and the US Alliance.
On the right hand side of the homepage are a number of links. The first is to sign up for Kmail, the ALP's email newsletter. Donations can be made and there is provision to enrol to vote. Kevin'07 t-shirts and stickers can be bought for $7 and $2 respectively.
There is a link to YouTube with about 33 videos promoting ALP policies and attacking the Howard government. Opposition frontbenchers present their policies in brief video statements. There is also a link to MySpace where Rudd has 15,000 friends.3.6 million Australians are members of MySpace, many of them young people. The shadow ministry have their photos in Kevin's Friend Space.
There is also a link to FaceBook where Rudd has 5,000 friends.
Rudd is deploying all the paraphernalia of the internet.
Online is the big campaigning innovation of 2007. In 2004 it had only a minor role.Rudd has been said to be grabbing hold of the internet in a more ambitious fashion than Howard. Labor has a team of a dozen working full time on the sites-designers, technicians, writers and film crew.
Dr Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University, said of Rudd,"In the great Australian tradition, he's copying from the US. It looks like (the internet) is a platform that is going to be increasingly important. We're seeing now that the major parties in Australia are using the internet to launch their political ads. It's much cheaper than doing it on television."
Prime Minister of Australia website, http://www.pm.gov.au/
Liberal Party of Australia website, http://www.liberal.org.au/
Kevin'07 website, http://www.kevin07.com.au/
iTnews http://www.itnews.com.au/News/56499,pm-takes-election-campaign-to-youtube.aspx
ABC PM transcript, 17 July 2007, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1981103.htm
The Age http://www.theage.com.au/polls/form.html
News.com.au, 7 August 2007, www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22201740-29277,00.html
The Liberal Party website displays prominently on the home page "The Howard Government's 5 Goals for Australia's Future". Clicking on this link brings up the transcript of a speech made by Howard on 20 August 2007. On the right hand side of the home page you can click on links to the Howard government's achievements, donate or subscibe to the Liberal Party's email newsletter.
There is also a Prime Minister of Australia website. Clicking on the "contact your PM" link brings up his postal address. The Ministry are also profiled.
Howard has made announcements on YouTube. He is targeting youth culture and trying to counter political attacks that he is old and out of touch.
Dr Peter Chan of Monash University is an expert in the use of the internet by political parties. He says,"What it shows is that political leaders of Australia are beginning to really understand how they can use technologies like the web to segment their audience".
In a poll conducted by The Age on 1 August 2007, 90% of the 1334 voters said Howard was not a hit on YouTube. 10% said he was.
Kevin'07 is the official website of the ALP and Rudd's federal election campaign. It was launched 6 August 2007. On the home page "Have Your Say" appears prominently. Site visitors are asked to email the ALP with their thoughts and a selection are published on the blog. The home page identifies the hot topics with picture buttons. These topics are regularly updated. Some examples include Climate Change and the US Alliance.
On the right hand side of the homepage are a number of links. The first is to sign up for Kmail, the ALP's email newsletter. Donations can be made and there is provision to enrol to vote. Kevin'07 t-shirts and stickers can be bought for $7 and $2 respectively.
There is a link to YouTube with about 33 videos promoting ALP policies and attacking the Howard government. Opposition frontbenchers present their policies in brief video statements. There is also a link to MySpace where Rudd has 15,000 friends.3.6 million Australians are members of MySpace, many of them young people. The shadow ministry have their photos in Kevin's Friend Space.
There is also a link to FaceBook where Rudd has 5,000 friends.
Rudd is deploying all the paraphernalia of the internet.
Online is the big campaigning innovation of 2007. In 2004 it had only a minor role.Rudd has been said to be grabbing hold of the internet in a more ambitious fashion than Howard. Labor has a team of a dozen working full time on the sites-designers, technicians, writers and film crew.
Dr Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University, said of Rudd,"In the great Australian tradition, he's copying from the US. It looks like (the internet) is a platform that is going to be increasingly important. We're seeing now that the major parties in Australia are using the internet to launch their political ads. It's much cheaper than doing it on television."
Prime Minister of Australia website, http://www.pm.gov.au/
Liberal Party of Australia website, http://www.liberal.org.au/
Kevin'07 website, http://www.kevin07.com.au/
iTnews http://www.itnews.com.au/News/56499,pm-takes-election-campaign-to-youtube.aspx
ABC PM transcript, 17 July 2007, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1981103.htm
The Age http://www.theage.com.au/polls/form.html
News.com.au, 7 August 2007, www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22201740-29277,00.html
Photos are from the Kevin'07 website and Liberal party website.
2 comments:
Hi Karen. I really like the content of this post. I find it engaging how both Rudd and Howard have social networking sites in their quest to become or continue being
Australia's Prime Minister.
In the last election, the internet did not play as significant a role in determining the outcome, but in 2007 the impact could be immense.
It is necessary for Howard and Rudd to really exploit this mechanism for their own advantage in this e election, as some are calling it. They will be marketing themselves amongst the internet savvy youth - many of which are voting for the first time in a Federal Election.
These days, young people on average spend a great deal of their day on the internet for social, academic or work related purposes.
I know I will be checking out the myspace and facebook accounts before casting my vote :)
Sorry should have clearly stated my name in the above post. Thanks, Melissa Sequeira
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