Good and Bad PR

The Politics of YouTube

by Kristi

If you have ever used YouTube, you can understand why it has become the new media phenomena. Offering viewers the opportunity for no commercials and a plethora of video topics, YouTube has become the hottest new resource for getting the word out. But it’s no longer just being used for home videos. YouTube has become a platform for political candidates to spread their message to an extremely diverse public. But it is important to note: Not all press is good press.

In a harmless assignment completed by Carla Babb, a masters-degree student at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Babb accused presidential candidate, John Edwards€™ Southern Village campaign headquarters as being a demonstration of his lack of commitment to his key platform, The War on Poverty. The report criticized Edwards for choosing a headquarters located in one of the more affluent areas in Chapel Hill, instead of using a location that would lobby support around his cause to create a united force against poverty.

At one point, the location of his headquarters outside of Washington, D.C. created little buzz, since 10 out of the 15 candidates have chosen the same campaign path by moving headquarters to cities such as Chicago, Cleveland and Boston. But when Edwards asked the UNC professor to take down Babb’s award-winning broadcast and he refused, the buzz began to attract national attention.

Soon, Edwards’ hasty response turned the campaigns situation into a PR catastrophe. The YouTube video has captured over 152,000 viewers and gained national coverage in The News York Times, Fox News and The News & Observer, that would have otherwise been buried in its archives in a matter of days.

Although it’s never a good policy to brush issues under the rug, sometimes it pays to just to let the small things go. Had Edwards merely let this insignificant indiscretion go, chances are no one would have ever seen the video beyond the student body at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Don’t underestimate the growing popularity of the newest form of media, YouTube.

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Public Relations for the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) U.S. 1/64

MMI Associates was contracted to handle media relations and to organize various efforts to open the communication lines between the construction entities on the project and motorists. The firm developed a strategic public relations campaign to ensure that local motorists and those passing through would be aware of the most up-to-date traffic patterns.