Page 128 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

P1: GYG/IJD/IBA/IJD
CY101-Bimber
August 14, 2002
0 521 80067 6
CY101-04
Introduction 18:0
2
mobilization products for the American political market.” This move
to the world of Internet-related politics by a figure so deeply rooted
in the traditional press was symbolic of changes in the world of politi-
cal organization and media. In the firm’s press release, McCurry offered
a characteristic spin on the venture: “There is an ‘Old Politics’ based
on the conventional way of doing business in Washington, DC, and
there is an emerging ‘New Politics’ that is based on savvy use of the
3
Internet.” McCurry had in mind something akin to postbureaucratic
politics.
The sources of McCurry’s enthusiasm for change were twofold. Like
many others, he saw a viable means for political professionals to profit
from the Internet revolution, and he was not reluctant to speak about the
financial rewards of involvement in the new politics. This and the desire
for a new kind of challenge explain much of McCurry’s motivation. But
healsoofferedafamiliarcritiqueofthetraditionalmassmediaforattend-
ing too closely to the agendas and interests of political institutions and
being more interested in scandal than the policy concerns of citizens. 4
McCurry’s firm would work against that trend, he argued, attempting
to organize citizens through the Internet and to bypass some of the tra-
ditional institutionalized interests in politics. In addition, it would offer
related Internet-based services, such as electronic filing of campaign fi-
nanceinformationforcampaigns,politicalactioncommittees,andballot
measure organizations.
McCurry’s move from the world of old media to new reflected the
efforts of many professionals to promote and profit from new political
processes and opportunities associated with changes in the information
environment of American politics. An official of Burson-Marsteller, one
of the world’s largest public relations firms, observed in an interview for
this project that a central task facing his company is “to help customers
understand that communication is different now in the web age; what
we are trying to do is help our clients develop and send information.” He
says that “we are trying to change how the Internet is used. ... We don’t
5
want the Internet to be another tool, we want it to be the first tool.” In
2
“Mike McCurry Appointed CEO of Grassroots.com,” press release (San Francisco,
Calif.: Grassroots.com, Nov. 15, 2000).
3
Ibid., p. 2.
4 Mike McCurry, “Keynote Address,” at Measuring Success: 2000 Politics Online Confer-
ence of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management,
George Washington University, Washington D.C., Dec. 4, 2000.
5
Anonymous staff member, Burson-Marsteller, telephone interview by Eric Patterson
for the author, Aug. 1, 2000.
111