Last week our entire journalism class was set loose with simple instructions; cover the Regina civic election and find a new angle. Needless to say, Wednesday Oct. 28 was a very busy evening for all of us as we scrambled to find interviews and waited for results from the polls.
I chose to write about the use of social media in this election campaign and I found that over-all it didn't have a major effect on votes or voter turn-out.
For the first time the City of Regina promoted a civic election through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I talked to the man behind this idea, Phillipe LeClerc, an interactive communications officer for the city. He was very happy with the 6,000 views generated by the YouTube videos of each candidate, and 300 fans on Facebook. He was hoping to attract young voters through these sites. Unfortunately only 27 per cent of eligible voters actually turned out for this election, so the success of this idea is pretty difficult to measure.
I also spoke to several candidates who used blogs, facebook groups and other online media forums to explain their platforms to voters and generate support. Heather McIntyre, who ran for council in Ward 2, said she thought the public was more engaged by this form of media than the mainstream media suggested. She lost the race to incumbent Jocelyn Hutchinson, but only by a margin of 4 per cent.
Fred Clipsham, an incumbent for Ward 3, never set up a website, instead he relied on tried and tested methods to win the election. When I asked him why he didn't branch out into social media he had a pretty fair answer.
"You have to come out of your house and get involved (because) the community is outside your door,” he explained.
Clipsham did say he thought about building a website for the election, but never really got around to it. He believes talking to people face to face is the best way to engage them.
Social media may have attracted more interest from the younger demographic of voters, but one question remains. Did that screen time actually motivate anyone to leave their houses and vote that day?
To read the full story and other election coverage, visit Ink online. http://www.jschool.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=40&Itemid=55
About Me
- Musing Journalism Student
- I grew up in a small town, dreaming of becoming a professional writer. Today in my final year as a journalism student at the University of Regina I am living on the edge of realizing this dream. After working in a weekly and daily newsroom I have faced the tough realities of life as a reporter. In this blog I will try to offer insight into the state of media today and how it impacts the world as we know it. My philosophy as a writer is to tell stories for the purpose of bridging the gap of understanding between people.
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