Advocacy In The Media Environment

NEW YORK - At the same time that superpacs are paying for millions of dollars in traditional advertising, a new study has found that using new media, such as social networking, is believed to be more effective at enhancing an organizations persuasiveness during political issue campaigns.

According to a study out of Pace University, large political advocacy groups are using new technology to reach out to members and the public. Surveys and interviews with representatives of advocacy groups indicated that digital media were seen to be superior outreach methods compared to using traditional media forms. This study, set to be published in the March 2012 issue of Mass Communication and Society, discovered that groups using e-mail and websites were considered more effective than those using direct mail, television, and radio to get their messages out to the public.

"In (an) array of various types of media, advocacy groups strategically choose new technologies as the right communication tools for public mobilizations. Grassroots groups in particular more actively utilize new technologies in public mobilization than conventional lobbying groups," Dr. Young Mie Kim, co-author, said.

In recent political campaigns, grassroots advocacy groups have reached out to multiple generations through their creative use of websites. It isn't clear if those surveyed gave higher praised to new media simply because they were using it heavily, or because they saw how it had enhanced their mobilization efforts. But certainly those trying to mobilize the public to support social issues on topics from abortion to the environment rated radio and TV as the most inferior for those efforts.

The study used interviews with 242 U.S. issue advocacy group members from 209 different advocacy groups. Group interests ranged from a single specific social issue to general interests like "empowering citizens." Groups included grassroots organizations as well as those representing powerful interests such as labor or professional organizations.

"To have a full understanding of today's civic engagement, we must examine those who organize and mobilize citizens' political action, moving beyond the individual-level civic participation," Dr. Kim said. "By examining advocacy groups' relative gratifications for new communication technologies in the media ecology system, we can better understand groups' strategic resource allocation and better predict successful mobilization and citizen engagement."