Media use in the 2012 presidential campaign

The use of media in presidential campaigns has changed dramatically over the past few elections. While traditional media still maintains an important place in political campaigns, more candidates are reaching potential voters by using the internet and social media. The opportunities that online media provides candidates are immense, and those opportunities, along with online media’s significance in politics, continue to grow. This evolution has heightened the necessity of having a strong, all-around media strategy. We are presently in a new era of political campaigning, and it is critical that presidential campaigns have a strong online presence. In this paper, I will take a look at how four of the candidates in the 2012 presidential election are using both traditional and new media forums and the effect that this has had on the success of their campaigns.Department of Political ScienceThesis (M.A.