The Thinking Press

The power of video is an amazing thing. It can make our failures known or our virtues evident. Today it can take a popular belief, and with the help of relatively skilled people, transform that belief into a viral message that reaches millions of viewers.

It is, therefore, no surprise that our politics be changed by such technology. The ability to share a message, a gaffe or an advertisement revolutionizes the use of video and the art of message control. For some it is not a welcome venue. Bill Clinton, one of the most talented political beings to walk this earth, was seemingly completely caught off gaurd throughout his attempts to aid his wife in attaining the nomination of the Democratic party. Off the cuff statements, he soon learned, can become world famous stumbles or a symbol of wider problems and many could fault this alone for Sen. Clintons loss in the primaries.

Senator McCain in just the first few weeks of the general election has come out with a string of videos attacking Sen. Barack Obama as being a celebrity or out of touch. Though claiming these videos are simply meant to poke fun at the Democratic candidate it is clear that a major part of the McCain media strategy is to produce media swooning events that are embarrassingly easy to create. For instance the now ubiquitously known Celeb ad that argued that Sen. Barack Obama may actually be Britney Spears in disguise.

But the power of these videos is not limited to the negative ad arena. Indeed the true phenomenon this year has been the power of celebrity music videos that have made their rounds for Barack Obama. First came the Yes We Can video, inspired by Obama’s concession speech in New Hampshire the night of their second in the nation primary. Will I Am, the lead in a popular group called the Black Eyed Peas, came out with the video released at dipdive.com during the primaries as a celeb packed endorsement of the candidate and a symbol of the hope he seems to inspire. That video, and a sequel video called We Are the Ones, racked up over 7 million views in a few months. It has since spawned the site http://www.hopeactchange.com and has thousands of following minds subscribing.

Today, those videos seem to have spawned a third video packed again with popularly known figures called American Prayer. With this third video it almost seems that in the wake of a tumultuous week for the campaign they have answered, whether directly or indirectly, with a positive response again affirming their argument “Yes We Can.” I am a supporter of the campaign and have been enormously encouraged by these videos which seem to allow for the possibility of the positive attack ad. Their website, www.myamericanprayer.com, has already begun collecting email addresses to keep you notified.

If these videos have any impact it will signify a hopeful moment for a media environment that has grown increasingly tabloid-esque and negative. Finding an audience of nearly eight or ten million means that these messages have reached an audience greater than the size of a small city and would also suggest that there is an overwhelming optimistic message that is not being aired by traditional media outlets afraid of being accused of partisanship.

I would argue in this case it is a disservice. There is an important moment taking place in American history that is simply not being covered. In South Carolina, following their democratic primary, Barack Obama’s campaign filled the Columbus South Carolina convention center to capacity following his 27 point victory over Hillary Clinton. However the real story was outside of that convention center where the fire marshal locked out probably close to 5 thousand supporters waiting in line to see Sen. Obama’s speech. I, along with my sister Courtney Cowart and her good friend Shakoor Aljuwani, had driven for two hours to see the speech and did not get in but the energy among the crowd was enormous. We ended up taking over a nearby bar that night with political chant, speech watching, and complete disbelief as the crowd around us swelled. I was so inspired by the evening I ended up writing an account of the night for those I cared about that were unable to experience the most moving experience I have had as an American citizen.

There is news not being told through the traditional means and the viral video has begun to answer the need for imbalance when it comes to reporting on a historical and moving event. Here is the video: