Morgan Research predicted 49–51 per cent vote for the first time, reportedly spurred DIGITIZING of the two-party preferred vote for the ALP.1 on by the Florida punch card debacle of The Herald’s veteran political commentator 2000, which demonstrated to Americans DEMOCRACY Alan Ramsey proclaimed that ‘At the very that their vote could actually count. Ohio least Labor will eat into the Government’s alone had 600,000 new registrations.5 In NEW COMMUNICATIONS majority’.2 California 1.8 million were been added to TECHNOLOGY AND THE 2004 the state rolls. Many of these recruits to 6 FEDERAL ELECTION But on polling day the speculation came the rolls were under 29, and were ex- to an abrupt end. By 7.15pm, only an hour pected to boost the Democrat vote. On the and a half after polling closed, Senator other side, the Republican campaign had MANDY SALOMON Robert Ray as a commentator on the Nine targeted the Evangelical Right. The Evan- Network called a victory for the Coalition. gelical turnout (a figure of four million was By 7.25pm, Anthony Green on the ABC suggested by Allen Gregg of the polling had come to the same conclusion.3 An and research firm The Strategic Counsel)7 historic fourth term had been handed to offset the newly enrolled Democrats. Given the unstoppable jugger- the Government. In the following weeks, naut of information technology counting would confirm a two-party Could this surge in numbers of voters have preferred swing to the Government of 1.79 had anything to do with the array of new in all realms of our culture, a per cent,4 and a Liberal–National Party media and communication devices we now look at its impact in the socio- majority in the Senate. take for granted in the day-to-day running of political sphere during election our lives? The pervasive use of the Inter- time was bound to be a rich What went wrong for Labor and what went net, with its many-to-many capacity; the exercise. right for the Liberals is currently being swarming capabilities of new media in which scrutinized with the necessary bloodlet- SMS messaging and email campaigning ERE IN , computer ting in the ranks of the Opposition, with make direct contact with targeted commu- mediated information produced an an assured ‘steady as she goes’ message nities; bloggers pumping out unmediated Hactive public sphere, drove politi- coming from the Coalition. Here I take a responses to national events; websites that cal party websites, generated new ways narrow view of the election, looking not at bypass mainstream media and offer alterna- of learning about constituents, enabled the policies themselves but at the impact tive views; data mining which pinpoints online polling, changed the way television of new media on their dissemination and special interest groups – all have contributed and radio produced their programs and acknowledgment. to the way election campaigns play out in changed campaign tactics. This article advanced democratic societies. looks at some of these processes in detail. Given the election outcome, it is clear With all this information and engagement, that the Coalition had a superior handle However, increased voter turnout does not was democracy the winner? on the use of technology. An aggressive necessarily mean a deeper understanding telemarketing campaign, combined with of politics. The belief of ‘fresh start’ theo- The six-week campaign leading to the 2004 a strategy of bypassing the normal me- rists (Kapor, Negroponte, Katz) that the Federal election was widely considered dia filtering of the press gallery, Internet can thrust us all into a new realm long and tedious, especially as for months gave the Howard camp an advantage. The of enlightenment in which discourse flows before the official kick-off, Labor’s new technology itself enabled this approach, freely among politically astute citizens, leader was in full flight, busy with digital feeds of policy releases and was sorely tested. The liberal-pessimist making friends with elector- immediate responses being pinged across view that ‘more information doesn’t actu- ate. Voters seemed to warm to his widely the country. As well, they were assisted ally mean more understanding or greater publicized visit to Tasmania’s old growth by the powerful established media, whose wisdom’8 appears to me to be a better fit. forests. His outspoken views on parliamen- interests were better served by the return tary superannuation and judicial pensions of the Coalition, with its promise to take a Buying the message had the Government re-jigging its policy. second look at Australia’s cross-ownership He wrong-footed Prime Minister Howard media laws. This promise was reflected in It seems contradictory – on the one hand by pushing such ‘soft’ issues as pre-school the editorials urging readers to vote for the acknowledging that more people in the literacy and obesity into a parliamentary Coalition. USA were motivated to vote, and on the domain dominated by finance and defence. other, questioning that the motivation Presenting himself as an unusual mix of In considering the impact of the new came from an ‘informed citizenry’.9 The working class hero and unconventional media, it is instructive to look at recent US contradiction stems from the quality of the thinker, Latham’s popularity surged. As the elections, for there are notable parallels. citizens’ information and the persuasive- election drew near, the professional pundits On 9 October, with our election outcome ness of its impact. A community of like- – pollsters and political commentators alike decided, the US presidential campaigns minded voters can be roused to action, – predicted a photo finish. Newspoll said were in full flight with still a month to go. not by their analysis of the issues but by the outcome was too close to call. And Roy Millions of Americans were choosing to the strength of community ties that bind

102 • Metro Magazine 144 them. Their existing belief systems are reinforced, not challenged. The high-tech political campaign In what is literally a case of preaching to the converted, the Southern Baptist With technology proving to be an unstop- Convention set up a website, iVoteValues. pable juggernaut in business and govern- com, and helped the Colorado-based ment, it is hardly surprising that in 2004 Focus on the Family create a similar site, Australia’s electoral contenders should put iVoteValues.org.10 Both are Internet-based funds into online campaigning. Websites versions of an older mobilization tool, for the major parties were already well the ‘voter guides’ distributed for more established, though with varying degrees than a decade by the Washington-based of sophistication. Interactivity is incorpo- Christian Coalition of America. Tens of rated into the Greens’ website in the form thousands of registration forms previously of an online poll. The standout feature of posted out to members were in this elec- the Democrats’ site is flash movies that ad- tion downloaded from the Internet.11 dress key issues such as gay marriage and the Iraq war.19 The ALP site has a feedback In Australia, the website Defeat Howard page with a comments box. An assurance (www.defeathoward.com) sent out emails is given that comments will be passed on to its subscriber base. It published me- to ‘appropriate people and areas of the ALP dia releases and excerpts from essays Shadow Ministry’ but with the caveat that it and speeches. It sought opinion on the does ‘not have the resources to guarantee wording of a newspaper advertisement it further communication’.20 At the time of wanted to place and the funds to do so. writing, the Liberal Party has no discernable multi-media content or feedback option on Both sites tap into an existing base. De- its site. It feat Howard’s base is asylum seeker activ- FROM TOP: GABRIELLE REILLY, POLITICAL BLOGGER does have a ists brought together by its convenor Rob- number of websites AND LINGERIE ENTHUSIAST; TIM HOWARD downloads in Rothfield, a member of Labor4Refugees and kinds of mul- tab but and Jews for a Just Peace.12 timedia. Nonethe- this leads less, with the penetration of the Internet in to three meagre still images: a graphic Here in Australia, where voting is compul- Australia only marginally behind that of the Protecting, Securing, Building Australia’s sory, voters’ engagement with an elec- US, there has been a profusion of online Future, a photo of Prime Minister Howard tion is not so easily measured. However, political activity in Australia too. When with the Australian flag draped behind him, standardized software systems such as Kerry Packer asserts that ‘The Internet is and the Liberal Party logo.21 But if the site email, website navigation and hot links now a genuine mass media’,16 pointing, is perfunctory (at the time of writing), there lead to homogenous responses by Inter- as evidence, to the trend of mainstream was nothing half-hearted about the Gov- net users, regardless of where they live. brands to schedule advertising online, ernment’s commitment to new communica- we can be sure that, whether selling soap tions technology in the campaign itself. Internet usage in Australia and the US is powder or campaigning from a virtual soap comparable. The research bureau Neilsen- box, there is a massive online audience Disseminating information in a decentral- NetRatings gauged that in July 2004, 69 and they are buying. ized way via a number of unmediated per cent of the US population used the In- sources; intertwining technologies over ternet,13 and that Australia’s use in August The Internet provides us with a never-ending converging networks … No, these are 2004 was 65.5 per cent. (‘Usage’ is not stream of data and opinion. The medium not the machinations of the next anti- defined in the report.) is not merely the message. Our ability to globalisation protest, they are the election form a view is shaped by factors outside the game plan of the Liberal Party. Maybe Where Australia varies markedly is in Inter- transmission process itself, including our , a strong critic of the anti- net delivery. Telstra beat its drum when in belief systems and personal interests, fixed globalization movement, has more in October 2004 it reported that one million perceptions and prejudices.17 common tactically with these radicals than (about 7.5 per cent) of our 13,359,821 us- he ever thought, for, more than any other ers were now connected to broadband.14 US political scientist John Zaller says that, party, the Liberals embraced a high-tech But the latest US figures show over fifty ironically, having an informed citizenry campaign strategy. per cent of users are now connected to does not necessarily make for a stronger broadband.15 This suggests that our Allies democracy. ‘Highly informed citizens At odds with the Government’s own are more actively engaged with the Inter- have many good democratic virtues, but anti-spamming laws, the Prime Minister re- net in so much as high-speed delivery of they also tend to be rigid, moralistic and cruited the services of his son’s fledgling IT online content exposes them to a greater partisan.’18 company Net Harbour to devise a spam-

Metro Magazine 144 • 103 ming campaign for his seat of Bennelong.22 breakdown of information elites as being a We have become a society inured to the Deputy Prime Minister positive step for democracy. But disinter- invasion of privacy by credit card checks, adopted the American campaign tactic of mediation works for politicians too. New cookies on websites and databases that cold calling constituents. Then, in the lead communication technology allows them to do the rounds. The War on Terror has up to election day, voters in electorally avoid the scrutiny of the established me- increased our acceptance of surveillance, sensitive areas received an automated call dia. They can also become their own mar- with extended powers of intelligence from them declaring his support for their keting company. John Howard’s phone agencies and loss of civil liberties seen to local candidates. Though the company campaign may be abhorrent to some, but be an acceptable price to pay. But how responsible for the calls has not been e-marketers and call centres acknowledge did Net Harbour not only get the names of revealed, they were confirmed as emanat- it to be an effective marketing strategy. voters residing in Bennelong and the other ing from the US, where so-called advocacy In assessing the Coalition’s high-tech electorates, but also match them to email calls are commonplace.23 (In the lead up to tactics, we should keep in mind that addresses? How did the US telemarket- the Indian election in May 2004, the then Andrew Robb, the former national director ers get Australian silent numbers? Where Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, used of the Liberal Party, now the member for does their database reside now and what, a similar technique, contacting India’s bur- Goldstein, was last year chairman of the if any, privacy protection does it have? geoning millions of mobile phone users.)24 Australian Direct Marketing Association. Can and will it be sold on later?

Reaction to these tactics at the time was It is worth noting a recent study by Lee The answers are being unearthed by largely negative, coloured by reports that Cox, who conducted an exit poll in three Australian researchers Peter van Onselen mobile phone users had to pay to retrieve marginal seats during the 2001 Federal and Wayne Errington. Their paper ‘Elec- the unsolicitered messages from their election.29 Cox was able to demonstrate toral Databases: Big Brother or Democracy messagebanks.25 (Telstra charges fourteen that campaign literature such as letters Unbound?’34 lifts the lid on undisclosed cents for each thirty-second block on its and pamphlets was the primary source of electoral databases that both Labor and message retrieval service). Many receivers policy information for forty-one per cent of Liberal use to seek electoral advantage. were upset that calls came from a US ex- the sample. Almost ten per cent of those The Coalition’s Feedback and the ALP’s change. People with silent numbers were said the material influenced their voting Electrak compile comprehensive profiles of included, creating fears of David Lyons’ intention, either for or against.30 In contrast, constituents, which help the parties predict ‘surveillance society’.26 Anger about the television campaigns, though highly vis- where our preferences will fall come elec- invasion of privacy was widely reported, ible, have been shown to reinforce opinion tion day. Van Onselen and Errington show with complaints about ‘verbal spamming’. rather than change it.31 Bypassing the how a mention in a community newsletter, Opposition spokesman Wayne Swan capi- mainstream media, Cox suggests, is an ef- a letter to the editor, or phone calls, letters talised on the outcry, labelling the voice a fective way of converting voting intention. and petitions to parliamentary members ‘spooky vote-hunting robot.’27 This some- are logged locally and stored in a data- what filmic, sci-fi image may have been New communication technology provides base which can be centrally accessed as electorally helpful, but in truth, both sides trajectories for direct hits on intended required. Voters’ personal details, including were engaged in high-tech monitoring of targets. The parallels with letters and family make up, ethnic background, even the electorate through the use of database pamphlets are clear: email is analogous to presumed sexuality, go into some elector- software, with the Labor Party having the sending a letter; telemarketing is as one- ate databases.35 Data is tagged and man- means, though resisting the opportunity to-one as old-fashioned door knocking. aged, profiles are created and mail with a for similar exploitation. The efficacy of the Liberals’ phone tactics specific agenda is sent out. was measured by trials in the Queensland Disintermediation electorate of Bowman two weeks before This little-known aspect of political cam- the election. Eighty-five per cent of callers paigning is now considered an essential The term disintermediation is commonly kept listening to the Prime Minister until tool of modern political advocacy. It is used to describe the way new commu- the end of the message.32 crucial to influencing swinging voters in nication tools bypass old routes, deliver- marginal seats. Described by one Labor ing information and services directly to Though there was disquiet at the time, backbencher as a ‘secret weapon’,36 the the consumer. In the case of the media, the privacy issue has died down. An databases sourced some 150,000 to direct communication gives everyone the inquiry was undertaken at the request of 200,000 voters nationwide who would be opportunity to become a newsmaker; in the Labor Party by the Australian Com- decisive in the electoral outcome, and, the words of the Silicon Valley journalist munications Authority (ACA). It found no though they did not seek it, these voters Dan Gillmor, ‘not just the few who can evidence to suggest the Liberal Party had became the chosen ones for voter induce- afford to buy into the multimillion-dollar, improperly used data from the Integrated ments. Media commentator and former tightly controlled big media game, print- Public Number Database (IPND) in its tele- editor of the Morning Herald Max ing presses, launch satellites, or win the marketing activities. The inquiry reported Suich concludes that this produced government’s permission to squat on the that the phone numbers were obtained public’s airwaves’.28 from publicly available databases. These narrow, sectional policies that advantage can include numbers that in the past were the swinger to the possible exclusion of Cyber-enthusiasts like Gillmor see this listed but have since become unlisted.33 the larger electorate – the Government’s

104 • Metro Magazine 144 vote buying in marginal seats in this ones in a virtual community? Were we to cal. Emails to cabinet ministers often go election and the narrow packaging of the stray into no-go zones and carry deep, unanswered, indicating that ministers (or offers is unprecedented.37 dark secrets? Might we become nerds in their staffers) do not place a high priority need of patent attorneys? Or was it okay on information exchange. The 9/11 terrorist In a parliamentary democracy, elected just to be ourselves? One of the problems attack has played a part, for the politics of representatives should be in touch with was not knowing what the Internet could fear is a highly effective means of con- their electors. Electoral databases have do. On the one hand, it was the framework trol. We saw these politics at work in the the potential to improve the level of inter- for content, but on the other it appeared to recent campaign slogans of the US and action between them. There are, however, be content itself. As historian and theorist Australian governments (The Republicans’ a number of ethical problems associated Mark Poster describes it, ‘the Internet is ‘safer, stronger’ campaign43 and the Liberal with using databases. At what point does more like a social space than a thing’.41 Party’s ‘Protecting, Securing, Building’). bureaucratic efficiency, or concern for the Both Prime Minister Howard and Presi- needs of the electorate, turn into unwel- Grappling with these issues, federal dent Bush, using such subterfuges as the come and intrusive surveillance? Worry- and state governments commissioned ‘evidence’ of weapons of mass destruction ingly, though commercial databases are research papers to guide us. Opting for in Iraq, increased surveillance by the Office subject to privacy legislation, van Onselen the WELL paradigm of the Internet as a of Homeland Security or increased powers and Errington point out that Labor and new platform for electronic democracy, for ASIO, and handed out tough love to the Coalition combined to introduce a late Paula Williams from the Politics and Public asylum seekers. Fridge magnets prove the amendment to exclude themselves from Administration Group wrote in 1998: enemy is real, indeed among us. its regulation.38 Also, the information does not flow back and forth between voter and The Internet may have the potential to Howard’s campaign-winning strategy of organization: it is tightly held. An indi- make an extremely strong contribution to raising the spectre of interest-rate rises vidual voter cannot check the accuracy of the political process because of the way highlighted the importance we as a nation the data and the political parties are not in which it facilitates reciprocal rather than place on personal and financial security. subject to any Freedom of Information just one-way communication. Ideally, it Symbolically, it summed us up: nothing searches. Moreover, acquiring information could enable billions of people worldwide, must threaten our right to our cocoons. does not necessarily lead to good policies, enhanced opportunities to speak, publish, What is the place in such an atmos- particularly when the needs of the general assemble, and educate themselves about phere of the ‘enhanced opportunities to electorate are supplanted by expedient issues. Through the Internet, citizens can speak, publish, assemble, and educate niche concerns of marginal voters. access huge amounts of relatively unfil- [our]selves about issues’ that Paula Wil- tered information. This information can be liams described six years ago? As John Pilger points out, our society is used to formulate opinions, and analyse dominated by Orwellian slogans: War is government actions and decisions. The A despondent former Greens candidate, Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is claims of others can be checked, and Iain Lygo, posted the following comments Strength.39 Perhaps the oxymoron ‘Data- sources verified. Through e-mail citizens on the Crikey website three days after the base Democracy’ can be added to the list. can receive and send information quickly election: and cheaply to and from thousands of Democracy reborn? people. Interactive chat facilities enable Rather than a celebration of democracy, citizens to air their views and expose them the 2004 election highlights the continued In the mid-nineties in Australia, the Inter- to the views of others. The population can decline in the democratic process in this net, though increasingly popular, was still potentially provide elected officials directly country. new and emerging. Like a couple with a with information about their views, and in newborn baby, we had read the books, turn, elected officials can communicate Many social commentators point to five key articles and clippings but were unsure directly with groups or individuals conven- factors required for a healthy democracy. exactly what to do with the baby once we iently and cost-effectively.42 We need a strong opposition, an inde- got it home. This was partly because the pendent and fearless media, an engaged books told widely different stories. There Six years is a long time in the politics of the public, a series of checks and balances was the one about the WELL, the counter- Internet. Williams’ somewhat rosy mis- on power, and an honest and accountable cultural putsch in San Francisco that be- sion statement reflects a time when there government. In this election, we have gone gan playing with email and chat rooms as seemed to be greater respect, at least backwards in all five categories, and a turn a social experiment.40 There was the story in theory, for the public sphere by those around is unlikely in the near future.44 about the Cold War Defence Department, who held power. Today one can justifiably which sought to ensure survival of nuclear question whether current governments The prospect of an enlivened democracy attack by instituting decentralization. And really encourage the Internet’s ‘potential is limited by the habitual reliance of multi- a third story told of computer program- to make an extremely strong contribution tudes of Internet users on the news sites ming engineers whose heads were buried to the political process’. Van Onselen and of such dominant media groups as News in algorithms and patent applications. For Errington’s investigations into electoral Limited, ABC and NineMSN, rather than the domestic user, it was a bit scary: were databases indicate that the information on active engagement with alternative we to leave our old lives and start new flow is largely exploitative and non-recipro- views in online debate. The agenda set by

Metro Magazine 144 • 105 the old media, with their powerful con- All but two editorials of Australia’s major to create greater diversity of ownership and nections to government and business,45 is daily newspapers called for the return of choice in media. Our business sector has simply relocated in the online realm. the Howard Government. The News Lim- become an amalgam of gouging cartels, a ited camp, accounting for 60.7 per cent of service sector oligopoly which has delivered The role played by global media conglom- total print circulation,47 was unanimous in for shareholders but not for the nation. Look erates in the international dissemination its pro-Howard stand, although its flagship no further than the way bank profits have of ideas was tackled head-on in America newspaper, the Australian, did not give more than doubled since 1996 … A Howard with the DVD release of Outfoxed: Rupert Howard fulsome praise. Calling it a ‘grubby, victory tomorrow would set the seal on his Murdoch’s War on Journalism (2004). greedy election campaign’, the Austral- picture of what the Liberal Party should Robert Greenwald’s documentary gave a ian criticised both the Prime Minister, who be: a party hostile to any genuine liberal scathing account of the editorial directives had ‘run on a platform of profligacy’, and thought, undemocratic in its principles and of News Corporation’s Fox News. With Mark Latham, who had ‘not been much its processes, loyally supporting whatever Rupert Murdoch’s Republican sentiments better’. The paper nonetheless told readers policy twists the Leader (always with a capi- well established,46 Greenwald made the link that Mr Howard ‘deserves to be returned tal L now – remind you of anything?) deems between Fox television presenters’ jingoism tomorrow’, citing low interest rates, a necessary to secure his re-election. about the Iraq war and news as entertain- boom economy and low unemployment in ment. Fox’s claim to be ‘fair and balanced’ the face of the ‘contradictory and largely The strident tone of the Crikey editorial is is demonstrably hollow, thanks to the unknown force’ of Mark Latham.48 more in keeping with a web log in which statements of its shock-jock Bill O’Reilly, views are (self-) published without fear or and to memos from the top clearly stating The Australian’s high-circulation tabloid favour. The editorials in the established the appropriate line on George Bush Jnr counterpart, the Herald Sun, saw ‘no dailies use more measured language, and his opponent John Kerry. New media reason to vote for change tomorrow. The striving for objectivity in the traditional played a hand in the distribution of the film, country is in healthy shape and in safe journalistic sense – although neo-Marxists which could be purchased for less than US hands’.49 would argue that such objectivity is inher- $10 from such progressive sites as Disinfor- ently flawed. It is flawed because content mation (www.disinfo.com) and MoveOn.org. The only dissenters among the print media is defined by bureaucratic and hierarchical But the film found a much larger audience were the Canberra Times (owned by the constraints imposed on newspaper edi- on Amazon.com, which sold more copies of Rural Press), which advocated change – tors to protect the interests of advertisers Outfoxed online than any other DVD. and powerful organizations.53 Put bluntly, John Howard has lost an Outfoxed, along with Michael Moore’s agenda and a purpose, and spent the The $1 million sale of Crikey to Eric film Fahrenheit 9/11, added to the dissent credit he had put away in the bank. There Beecher’s Private Media Partners may be that permeated Australia’s left-of-centre is no occasion to give him a victory lap. It a firm step towards Crikey itself becoming activists during the election campaign. is time that the other side had a go.50 part of the establishment media. Crikey al- However, the ALP mostly ignored the ready carries Google advertising banners activists, including their opposition to the – and the Fairfax-owned Sydney Morning (but then so do many personal web log Iraq war. The complexity of the American Herald, which made an historic decision sites). Nevertheless, Crikey is an important alliance proved too challenging for the op- not to back either party, arguing that after contributor to media diversity, delivering position: the on-again-off-again follow-up 170 years of expressing voting preference it on its self-appointed aim ‘to take a long to Latham’s ‘troops home by Christmas’ had opted to ‘renew and reassess its claim thin spike to the bloated egos of political, statement showed Labor’s lack of cohe- on independence so that its pursuit of truth media and corporate Australia’.54 Crikey’s sive and well-planned policy on the issue. is not only free of partisanship and without drawback lies in the current limitations Social justice issues such as the treatment fear or favour, but is seen to be so’.51 of addressing an online community. The of boat people and the housing of children Crikey site quenches the thirst of public- in detention centres largely disappeared, Claiming to be ‘Australia’s leading in- affairs professionals and enthusiasts who leaving concerned voters in the wilder- dependent online news service’, Crikey. seek not only the news, but the news ness. In spite of the online solidarity that com took delight in harshly criticizing the behind the news. Crikey’s audience feels like-minded souls had formed, neither of dominant media line with an editorial titled comfortable with the online experience the two major parties was able to rep- ‘Something is rotten in Australia’. 52 and enjoys Crikey’s tongue-in-cheek resent them. The voice they expressed references to key players in business, online was a scream from the wilderness, Unlike most of Australia’s media outlets, we the media, politics and sporting life. Its unheard. Two-party-preferred democracy at Crikey are not commercially conflicted, audience is medially and technologically had failed them. spineless or the subject of special deals savvy. Cultural literacy at this level implies, with the Howard Government which influ- to a large extent, higher education and New media, old media ence our voting recommendations to sub- higher socio-economic status. scribers ahead of tomorrow’s vital national When they published their customary election … The Howard years have coin- Crikey’s editorial, therefore, was likely to election-eve editorials, the major newspa- cided with of the Internet, yet we reinforce its readership’s view, confirm- pers’ views finally came into in the open. have not produced an IT company of any ing the observation of American political note or taken advantage of new technology theorist John Zaller that ‘better informed

106 • Metro Magazine 144 citizens see the world in more complex nities, believes that ‘cyberspace has be- necessarily negate the informed citizen terms than strength of the economy and come a global electronic agora where the ideal, but it’s asking rather a lot of osmosis the hip pocket nerve’.55 diversity of human disaffection explodes in or intellectual trickle down effects.61 a cacophony of accents’.59 Zaller’s observation also helps explain For bloggers, the standout political event the experience of Channel 9 and the However, it appears that opinion in the in the US election was their decisive Bulletin, who entered the realm of online election-charged Australian blogosphere role in Howard Dean’s campaign for the polling using the resources of the Austral- is not as diverse as the theorists might im- presidency. Dean, a Democrat candidate, ian National University’s Political Science agine. My own search came up with: John showed the way future campaigns may Department. Public response to their Howard Lies; 105 Reasons; Not Happy, be run by mobilising a campaign through online survey suggested a strong lead by John!; Vote Howard Out; Truth Overboard; Internet subscription. Using Meetup, a the ALP (fifty-five per cent after prefer- Just Not John; John Howard Blogspot web tool for forming social groups, his ences).56 This proved less accurate than and Howards’ End 04, all anti-Howard campaign gathered grassroots momentum the traditional doorknocking and phoning sites. Right-wing bloggers were harder with supporters passing on to others their of other pollsters. Explaining the validity of to find, but one Tim Blair of timblair.net contacts and social networks. He appoint- their results, they wrote that is prominent in conservative circles. Blair ed a Director of Internet Outreach and carries the conservative flame by cutting constantly responded to his campaign’s about one in four Australian voters do not and pasting reports and opinions, and by membership. ‘Deaniacs’ started blogs and have Internet access, so a sizeable minor- writing comments on photographs and websites, campaigning in their own way ity of the electorate may be excluded from articles he has found. without control by head office. In fact, the participating. Similarly, Internet users are convention of local candidates following heavily biased in age (younger), gender Gabrielle Reilly, an Australian now residing tightly-controlled policies distributed by (more male), and socio-economic status in the US, is an intriguing blogger in that party headquarters to the party faith- (higher incomes and more education).57 she punctuates her campaign text with ful was replaced by having a candidate photographs of herself in bikinis. In a video directly responsive to his constituents day Logging the blogosphere streamed online for the American election by day.62 Dean said, ‘Along comes this she makes a pouting plea: ‘Thank God for campaign to take back the country for In the blogosphere, the picture is murk- strong leadership … anti-American senti- ordinary human beings, and the best way ier. Cheap, easily set up sites need not ment is giving rise and vigour to terrorism you can do that is through the Net. We conform to any regulations or reader around the world. Please choose wisely listen. We pay attention. If I give a speech demands. ‘First tier’ sites, comprising which side you’re on. Lives are depending and the blog people don’t like it, next time thoughtful and carefully sourced opin- on it’. In a missive to her Australian visitors, I change the speech.’63 ion, are created by public intellectuals. Reilly pleads for ‘unity after the hatred that A ‘second tier’ monitors news groups, was aroused leading up to Australia re- In our own election campaigns, the Not subscribes to established media sites and electing Prime Minister John Howard over Happy John blog is the best example of does lots of googling. Bloggers benefit the weekend’, adding that the war on terror online activism diffusing into the main- form the extra ‘eyes’ of their respondents, can be likened to the Allies fighting the stream of politics. Beginning as a critique who extend the informational terrain with Nazis in the Second World War.60 of the Howard Government by journalist titbits, rumours and links. Without the Margo Kingston and contributors to her resources of a media conglomerate, blogs What Reilly’s soft-sell conservatism lacks online web diary in the Sydney Morning react to the news of the day rather than in intellectual rigour it makes up for in Herald, Kingston’s growing dismay at what provide news themselves. Bloggers don’t populist appeal. Reilly has appropriated she saw as the lack of democratic values go anywhere. Detractors say this under- the format of the Page Three Girl, a tried and accountability of John Howard led mines the value of blogs as news. But the and true way of selling newspapers, to to a book titled Not Happy, John! Among same criticism can be made of mainstream sustain her virtual presence as measured those who bought it was John Valder. A media. Economic stringency and the rush in hits on the Net. former president of the Liberal Party, he to meet deadlines mean that front-page was sufficiently outraged by what he saw news is often reshaped wires from inter- Reilly is not alone in her interest in net as Howard’s arrogance that he started national press agencies. In the worst case, hits. Blogger and academic Ken Parish a political campaign of the same name, press releases, carefully worded by PR acknowledged the same interest: and stood against the Prime Minister in consultants, are simply reprinted. his seat of Bennelong. Sympathisers who My own blogging experience, when I’ve bought the book were able to show their A ‘third tier’ is characterised by self-pro- bothered to measure and take notice of support by affixing the sticker that came motion, anecdotal stories and reactive hit counts, has confirmed the suspicion with it to their cars. A website of the same or extreme comments given without a that downmarket populism and courting name continues post-election. It spells out source. controversy almost for its own sake are the Kingston’s manifesto: surest recipes for increasing audience size. Manuel Castells, adapting Jurgen Haber- It’s hardly an earth-shattering discovery, as I think it’s time we all started to think about mas’ theory of the public sphere58 to the any tabloid newspaper editor would attest. ideas to help revitalise the way our civic social space occupied by online commu- Of course, minimal penetration doesn’t system works. We citizens need to get to-

Metro Magazine 144 • 107 gether and use our brains, our hearts and Marvin Kalb of Harvard University69 sees views with favoured hosts that establish our collective political oomph, and that’s the partisan effect of web opinion flowing the daily ‘line’. where I hope this online extension of Not into the mainstream media. In a post-elec- Happy, John! might come in.64 tion analysis on ABC Radio National’s If these beliefs are well-founded, it doesn’t Media Report, Kalb raised the alarm: matter whether we are getting news But just as Michael Moore’s film Fahren- updates on the hour on our smart watches heit 9/11 was lambasted for preaching There is no doubt that the Blogosphere or posting a blog each day. When our to the converted, so too can websites be has intruded into the news process, and elected representatives withhold informa- criticized for merely reflecting the interests with the Blogosphere has come a far more tion, our views become merely specula- of their creators. A blog search is subjec- partisan tone to the American press, and tive. Opinion will pass for fact. Rumour tive, informed by a network of like-minded you have Fox now and a number of other and innuendo will be rife. Democracy will contacts and is prone to reinforcing already operations that do their very best to sound suffer – but do we care? formed views.65 slightly, or even more than slightly, pro-Ad- ministration. And very conservative in their The greatest threat to our government is that Andrew Ó Baoill, in Weblogs and the political outlook.70 the American people are dropping out. Public Sphere,66 argues that there are Mitchell Kapor, October 200472 several structural impediments to the way Keeping up the web logs are produced and received that engagement We have never had more ways of receiv- dent the widely-held and optimistic view ing information, and providers are keen that there will be an Internet-led rebirth of Former Sydney Morning Herald editor Max to supply us. Advances in technology led democracy in the blogosphere. Foremost Suich noted the demise of the Canberra during the election to innovative informa- among the impediments he lists lacks of press gallery’s influence in the lead-up to tion pathways such as the ABC’s ‘Election technological literacy, time commitment the 2004 Federal election: night package’, an SMS service offering and financial resources. ‘While web logs seven updates from the ABC newsroom may indicate a new pathway to democ- Their most authoritative access to the throughout election night.73 Sky News pro- racy, the daunting task of keeping up with individual leaders on the road and their vided election coverage on demand, de- the job leads to a high drop out rate.’67 front bench colleagues will often be the voting one of its twelve interactive screens transcripts of brief doorstop press confer- entirely to the event. Subscribers to Fox While blogging is becoming easier with ences or undemanding interviews with Digital could access the twenty-four hour templates and shareware, a successful radio talk hosts, supplemented unsatisfac- coverage by pressing a red button on their blog is one whose content is noticed. A- torily by background briefings from press remote control.74 But as the old saying list blogs go a step beyond being merely offices and forests of handouts.71 goes, you can lead a horse to water, but noticed, and are influential, their con- you can’t make it drink. We were a nation sidered insights sustained and updated According to Suich, the press gallery heav- on a see-saw, with an active public sphere over a significant time. Updating requires yweights, including (Financial on one end, and an inactive group on the commitment, which Ó Baoill points out Review), Peter Harchers (Sydney Morning other, who had plainly switched off. ‘favours an individual in a vocational or Herald), Tim Colebatch and Michelle Grat- institutional domain’.68 tan (both from the Age) – who are Austral- A measure of Australia’s disengagement ia’s most knowledgeable and experienced from politics was demonstrated by the Bloggers may have diverse opinions but political journalists – were sidelined. They ‘Great Debate’ between the main party they share worthy motives. Blogging is of- found it difficult to get unfiltered informa- leaders. Traditionally a ‘must watch’ on ten a labour of love, though it can also be tion. Curtailing their access, according prime time television, it was out-rated by an unacknowledged way to work through to Suich, meant that their ‘propensity to Australian Idol.75 How are we to read the a book to be published. Indeed many upset the leaders with unfawning ques- response of Treasurer Peter Costello, who A-list bloggers in Australia come from the tions’ was minimized. Press conferences agreed with his kids that Australian Idol academic world, such as Chris Shiel (Back were cut short with security threats given was a better option on the night? Pages), Tim Dunlop (The Road to Surf- as the reason. Major policies such as Mark dom) and Ken Parish (Troppo Armadillo). Latham’s Medicare Gold and the Tasmani- It got to about ten to eight, and I said to All have blogs about blogs, and have pub- an forest policies of both Liberal and Labor the people I was watching it with, ‘Do you lished elsewhere about their experience. were released at the eleventh hour, making think anyone in Australia is still switched On the intellectual Left, blogging is an ex- thorough analysis impossible. in?’ That was what I thought. I checked ercise, an experiment in seeing where the with my kids at home as to whether they’d boundaries of the concept lie. Practicality Suich, like former press gallery journal- watched the debate or Australian Idol, and eventually wins out, leaving the ongoing ist Margo Kingston, believes the Howard Idol was winning hands down (laughs).76 blogs to compulsive enthusiasts, possibly Government has had a deliberate policy of sustained by the heroic image of David gagging the public service, imposing strict Was Costello dumbing down the Australian taking a shot at Goliath, the media giant. discipline on the cabinet and excluding or public, patronizing those trying to be better outflanking the press gallery by holding informed about the election? Was it a clever But bloggers may leave a legacy inadvert- out-of-Canberra press conferences or, way of deflecting his leader being beaten ently reversing the freeing up of opinion. better still, having morning radio inter- on the night by Latham? Or was there a

108 • Metro Magazine 144 little bit of Homer Simpson in Costello ac- challenge policy makers, political strate- 15 Sharma D C Study: US getting hooked on high knowledging that politics treated in this way gists, and anyone who values democracy. speed net. CNET News.com Posted January 8, is little more than a ratings exercise? Computer-mediated communication can 2004, http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22- be used by big government to further en- 5137780.html Worry that there is a trend to public aliena- trench its power, or it can provide the bed 16 ‘Packer Sings ’s Praises but Nine Calls tion from party politics was reinforced by for grass-roots movements of ethical and Tune’, The Age, Business 3, 27 October 2004 election night coverage: it was outrated by imaginative growth. 17 Walter Lippmann, Public opinion, 1922 Har- a repeat screening of Toy Story.77 court Brace, New York, cited in W.P. Dizard, Old Mandy Salomon has a background in Media New Media 1994, 1997 Longman NY, Trend-spotting agencies commonly refer broadcasting and documentary filmmaking. p.27. to the ‘Simpson generation’,78 young She is completing a Master’s in Media and 18 Zaller, op. cit. adults who have grown up with the TV Communication at Swinburne University. • 19 http://www.greens.org.au/; http://campaign. series and share its satirical response to democrats.org.au/index.asp accessed 4 Octo- power: authority is illegitimate until proven Endnotes ber 2004. otherwise. It is not so much an activist’s 1 A Leigh, ‘Betting Experts Know a Slow Horse’, 20 http://www.alp.org.au/action/feedback.php response as a sceptic’s. According to Sydney Morning Herald, 11 October 2004. last Accessed 12 November 2004 Neer Korn, director of the research firm, 2 A Leigh, ‘Pollsters versus Punters: How the 21 http://www.liberal.org.au/# Last accessed 12 Heartbeat Trends, the Simpson generation Pundits Called the Election’, posted 19 October November 2004. is disengaged from party politics, sick of 2004, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view. 22 ‘Libs Defend PM’s Phone Spam’, 5 October spin, sick of stage-managed doorstops, asp?article=2645 2004 http://www.smh.com.au/news/Election- ready for political forces that use the Net 3 Lauren Martin, ‘Who Did You Trust with the TV 2004/Libs-defend-PMs-phone-spam/2004/10/ in a more geeky way.79 Coverage?’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Oct 05/1096871854802.html 2004. 23 Malcolm Maiden and Michael Sainsbury, Although Howard Dean ultimately was 4 Virtual Tally Room, Australian Electoral Com- ‘Hanging Up on the PM Will Cost You’, The spectacularly unsuccessful in translating mission, Posted 29 November 2004, http://vtr. Australian, 7 October 2004, http://australianit. online activism into the votes of the larger aec.gov.au/ news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10993632 per public, his campaign galvanized young 5 ‘Record Numbers Register for Presidential cent5E15306 per cent5E per cent5Enbv per activists who had turned away from con- Election’, ABC News, 28 October 2004, http:// cent5E,00.html ventional politics. For them, interactivity and www.abc.net.au/news/indepth/featureitems/ 24 ‘India Shining’: Indian PM takes personal online networks are the preferred tool of ad- s1229589.htm message to voters’ (transcript), The World vocacy and participation in the democratic 6 Doug Smith, ‘Registrations to Vote surge at a Today, http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/con- process.80 The Dean campaign, led from the Record Rate’, Los Angeles Times, 1 November tent/2004/s1086368.htm bottom up, opened the door for localized 2004, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ 25 ‘PM’s Phone Message Targets Marginal Voters’, campaigns and online participation by party politics/cal/la-me-calvote1nov01,1,1969830. ABC News online, 5 October 2004, http:// faithful in Australia. For the politician’s part, story?coll=la-news-politics-california www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/ the Howard Dean paradigm may serve as a 7 In Depth US Election Results, CBC News online, s1213147.htm Accessed 17th October 2004 prototype for campaigns in which dwin- http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/uselec- 26 David Lyons, The Electronic Eye: The rise of the dling party membership is replaced by an tion2004/ surveillance society, University of Minnesota empowered new generation. 8 John Schwartz lecture notes HAM 525, Swin- Press, 1994. burne University 2004. 27 Misha Schubert, ‘Liberal Telephone By the time the next Federal election takes 9 John Zaller, ‘Perversities in the Ideal of the Call Angers Voters’, The Age, 7 October place, our voting booth may be equipped Informed Citzenry’, 1999 conference paper 2004, http://www.theage.com.au/arti- with a touch screen. In the federal elec- at The Transformaton of Civic Life, Middle cles/2004/10/06/1096949588984.html and tion to follow, we may be voting from our Tennessee State University, http://www.mtsu. Liddy M Honey, Phone for you… its John kitchen lap top or our phones. In future edu/~seig/paper_j_zaller.html Accessed 3 Nov Howard, Australia Votes Federal Election, 9 Oct decades, we will not need to vote early 2004. 2004 http://www.abc.net.au/elections/fed- but we may well need to vote often, as 10 Washington Post, ‘Christian lobbying groups eral/2004/weblog/200410/s1213034.htm disintermediation may make our elected and the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign 28 Gillmor, D. We the Media: Grass Roots Journal- representatives obsolete. We may find that to mobilize religious conservatives in the ism for the People by the People, O’Reilly the approval of new policy is no longer a final weeks of the 2004 presidential race’, 15 California, 2004, p.xiii. Cited http://dangillmor. vote in the Chamber but the passing of October 2004. typepad.com/ our fingertips across a touchpad. 11 Ibid. 29 Lee Cox, Griffith University PhD candidate. See 12 http://www.defeathoward.com/WhoamI.htm also http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspec- As the formal constructs of journalism 13 Internet World Stats – Usage and Populations tive/stories/s1175314.htm collapse, so the unmediated world of Statistics http://www.internetworldstats. 30 Max Suich, posted 29 September 2004, ‘Votes bloggers and individual voices grows. com/top20.htm accessed 5 Nov 2004. on File’. http//fifth estate.rmit.edu.au/show- But as online activism grasps the public 14 ‘Telstra Broadband Growth Ahead of Sched- print.php?articleID=8 Accessed 12/10/04 imagination, wider social apathy shrinks it. ule’, Last Update, Monday 18 October 2004. 31 Montague Kern, Pippa Norris and Marion Just (eds), It’s an intriguing mix. Acknowledging and 6.09pm (AEST) http://www.abc.net.au/news/ Framing Terrorism: The News Media, the Govern- interpreting these contradictory forces will newsitems/200410/s1222382.htm ment and the Public, Routledge, New York, 2003,

Metro Magazine 144 • 109 p.121. Editorial, 8 October 2004 http://www. Sphere’ in Into the Blogosphere, http://blog.lib. 32 Annabel Crabb, ‘It’s the Prime Minister, Dear’, heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_ umn.edu/blogosphere/weblogs_and_the_pub- The Age, 6 October 2004. page/0,5478,11010157 per cent5E24218,00. lic_sphere.html Accessed 13 November 2004 33 Media release No. 9, 21 March 2005, html 67 Ibid. ‘Investigation Finds No Evidence of Misuse of 50 ‘Time to Swap the Nation’s Drivers’, Editorial, 68 Ibid. Telephone Number Database’. http://internet. The Canberra Times, 8 October 2004 69 Professor Marvin Kalb, Shorenstein Center on aca.gov.au/ACAINTER.524644:STAND- http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de- Press and Policy, Harvard University ARD:2130496163:pc=PC_2885 tail.asp?class=your per cent20say&s 70 The Media Report, 14 October 2004 ABC Radio 34 Peter van Onselen and Wayne Errington, ‘Elec- ubclass=general&category=editorial National. toral Databases: Big Brother or Democracy Un- per cent20- per cent20leader&story_ 71 Max Suich, ‘The Gallery Loses Its Bite’. Posted bound?’, Australian Journal of Political Science id=341742&y=2004&m=10 16/9/04 http://fifth.estate.rmit.edu.au/when- Vol. 39, No. 2, July 2004, pp.349–366 http:// 51 ‘It’s Time for a Vote for Greater Independ- the-gallery-loses-its-bite.php www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10361146.asp ence’, Sydney Morning Herald , Editorial, 72 Mitch Kapor, ‘Power to the (Wired ) People’, 35 Max Suich, ‘Votes on file’, The Fifth Estate, Friday 8 October 2004, http://www.smh.com. 17 October 2004 San Fransico Chronicle, posted 29 September 2004, http://fifth.estate. au/articles/2004/10/07/1097089491671. p.E-5. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article. rmit.edu.au/votes-on-file.php html?from=storylhs cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/17/ 36 Max Suitch, op. cit. 52 ‘Time for a Change’ by The Crikey Team, 8 EDG8O98IQ01.DTL Accessed 25 November 37 Max Suitch, op. cit.t October 2004 http://www.crikey.com.au/poli- 2004 38 Van Onselen and Errington op. cit. tics/2004/10/08-0003.html Accessed Oct 30 73 ABC On Your Phone, http://www.abc.net. 39 John Pilger, The New Rulers of the World, 2004 au/phone/ Verso, London, 2002 , p.1. 53 Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manu- 74 Press Release http://www.foxtel.com. 40 http://www.well.com/. Also see Howard Rhein- facturing Consent, Pantheon Books, 1988, pp. au/209_2522.htm gold, The WELL, http://www.well.com/user/hlr/ 3–5. 75 Source AAP reported in Inside Australian Idol, vcbook/ 54 ‘About Crikey’, http://www.crikey.com.au// October 2004 http://users.tpg.com.au/libertyx/idol/ 41 Poster M, CyberDemocracy: Internet and the misc/2004/01/0-0008.html latestnews_september.htm Accessed 19 Nov 2004 Public Sphere. A-R-C Issue 2 July 2000http:// 55 John Zaller, cited in Ken Parish, Monitorial 76 ‘Latham, Costello spar over TV debate’, by a-r-c.gold.ac.uk/a-r-c_Two/print_mark.html Cyber Citizens? Evatt Foundation, 12 August Alexandra Kirk, PM program, ABC Radio, 13 Accessed 3 October 2004 2003, http://evatt.labor.net.au/publications/pa- September 2004 http://www.abc.net.au/pm/ 42 Paula Williams, How the Internet is Being Used pers/100.html content/2004/s1198200.htm by Political Organisations: Promises, Problems 56 Mark Coultan, ‘Now for the Final Results on the 77 Bridie Smith,‘Buzz Wins Election Night Tussle’, and Pointers, Australian Parliamentary Library, Pollsters’ Estimates’, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 12 October 2004, http://www.theage. Research Paper, 1997–98, Canberra, 3 March 11 October 2004. com.au/news/TV--Radio/Buzz-wins-election- 1998 http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/ 57 Ian McAllister, ‘A Margin For Error’, tussle/2004/10/11/1097406500772.html rp/1997-98/98rp11.htm Sydney Morning Herald, 11 October 78 Chris Turner, Planet Simpson, Random House 43 ‘Bush’s Re-Election Campaign Begins on a 2004, republished in http://bulletin. Australia, 2004. Positive Note’, fact check.org http://www.fact- ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/site/articleIDs/ 79 ‘A Young Person’s Media Guide to Politics’, The check.org/article.aspx?docID=150 Accessed 72CA8262E6180D2BCA256F29007FAD72 Media Report 23 September 2004 http://www. 17 November 2004 58 Jürgen Habermas, Institutions of the Public abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/stories/ 44 Iain Lygo, ‘Murdoch attacks the Greens’, Sphere, 1997, in C. Newbold (ed.), Approaches s1203687.htm 12 October 2004 http://www.crikey.com. to Media: A Reader, Arnold, London, pp.235– 80 Lance Knobel and Greg Barns, ‘Howard Dean’s au/whistleblower/2004/10/12-0001.html Ac- 44. Legacy May Be a Better Way for Democratic cessed 24 October 2004 59 Manuel Castells, The Internet Galaxy, 2001, Activity’, On-Line Opinion posted 2 March 45 Noam Chomsky and Edward S Herman, Manu- Oxford University Press, p.138. 2004, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view. facturing Consent: The Political Economy of the 60 http://www.gabriellereillyweekly.com/ Ac- asp?article=2040 Accessed 12 October 2004. Mass Media, 1988 Random House, reprinted cessed 13 October 2004 1994 by Vintage, NY; Phillip Knightley, The First 61 Parish, op. cit. Casualty, Prion Books, London, 2000, p.526. 62 Lance Knobel and Greg Barnes, ‘Howard 46 John Pilger, The New Rulers of the World, Dean’s legacy may be a better way for Verso, London, 2002. democratic activity’, On Line Opinion posted 47 Paul Sheehan, Media Ownership in Australia, 2 March 2004. http://www.onlineopinion. 20 May 2002 http://www.tmc.org.au/Sydney/ com.au/view.asp?article=2040 Accessed 12 documents/Media per cent20Ownership per October 2004. cent20in per cent20Australia.doc Accessed 24 63 Gary Wolf, ‘How the Internet Invented Howard October 2004 Dean’, Wired Issue 12, 1 January 2004 http:// 48 ‘No Convincing Reason to Kick out the www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/dean. Coalition’, Editorial, The Australian, 8 October html 2004, http://theaustralian.news.com.au/com- 64 http://www.nothappyjohn.com/default.cfm mon/story_page/0,5744,11003702 per 65 Joseph T Klapper, The Effects of Mass Com- cent5E7583,00.html munication, 1960, New York, Free Press, 1960. 49 Herald Sun, ‘Not the Right Time to Change’, 66 Andrew Ó Baoill, ‘Weblogs and the Public

110 • Metro Magazine 144