Awards recognise 'digital doorstepping'

17-04-2007

by Maxim Kelly

As citizens prepare for canvassers' spiels ahead of the upcoming general election, many will research the issues and candidates online.

With this in mind, the individuals behind award-winning website IrishElection.com have teamed up with the Irish Blog Awards organisers, at Awards.ie, to highlight the best online efforts of Ireland's politicians, parties, lobby groups and campaigners.

Cian O'Flaherty of Irishelection.com is a driving force behind the inaugural Online Irish Politics Awards.

"This will be the first Irish general election with a lot of participants experimenting with online media like YouTube, Bebo pages and blogs," he told ENN. "There's probably going to be an awful amount of crap put out there -- frankly -- and we want to reward those who make a real effort before a jaundiced view of the internet and Irish politics sets in."

The competition will be held in the days before the election, so the actual timing is still up to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. So far, categories include: Best Political Party Website, Best Website of a TD/Senator/Councillor, Best Youth Politics Site, Best Specialist Politics Website, and Best Election Campaign Video.

Already several individual politicians across the country have begun blogging, while the party machines are slowly but surely gearing up their online strategies with e-mail Q&A sessions and polemical YouTube videos appearing online.

O'Flaherty believes sections of the Irish media have so far had a derisory attitude to the possible uses of the internet in furthering democratic engagement, yet at the same time have bemoaned the numbers of younger citizens who don't vote.

"A lot of journalists have been jeering at the internet in terms of its effect on politics here and jeering at politicians for not engaging the youth vote."

"These awards might help deflect that cynicism. Yes, a lot of 20- to 30-year-olds don't vote, but if they can discuss politics in a medium they can relate to it gives them an improved sense of ownership of the process."

In answer to a question on how important technology and the internet will be in future Irish elections, O'Flaherty points out: "Eventually these [younger] voters will be the only ones left."

Technology issues in general may play an important role in the upcoming polls -- expected in or around the third week in May -- with broadband infrastructure, computers for schools, online child protection, tech sector job losses, e-voting and the knowledge society all topics expected to feature on both the canvas and the new, 'digital doorstep'.

The Online Politics Awards organisers said they will offer free, non-partisan advice to politicians and lobbyists on how best to pursue their online strategies. It's expected this approach may not go down well with some political advisors and spin doctors.

"Some of the political advertising companies and spin doctors may not like this because they advise and control 'image' and 'message' but tools like e-mail allow general access to politicians, and although it doesn't beat meeting people in person on the campaign trail, it can work well if done in the right way," concluded O'Flaherty.