[LINK] The Internet and the Election - no blackout

[sylvano]

On another front, a clear statement is provided in tody's PM Email News Alert 
Service - to which one may subscribe to via the website of the Prime Minister 
- on the need to discontinue it's distribution.  

Today's alert states:

  "
  In the period preceding an election the Australian 
  Government assumes a caretaker role. It is important 
  during that time that Australian Government resources 
  are not used to communicate political material.

  The Prime Minister's Media Alert Services will cease 
  media transcript alerts from the beginning of the 
  caretaker period (12pm Wednesday 17 October 2007) 
  until after the election to ensure that political 
  material is not included in the alerts.

  Prime Ministerial transcripts will be available from 
  the Liberal Party Website (at http://www.liberal.org.au/) 
  which is not maintained or funded by the Commonwealth of 
  Australia.
  "

Apart from the echoes of classic newsreader line, "the sustained fatal wounds, 
and later died," it is interesting to read what seems to be a low key 
admission that at least one of the previous alerts may qualify as political 
communications, courtesy of public funding. ;-)

Sylvano

On Thursday 18 October 2007 20:14, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Online-campaigning-beats-br
>oadcast-blackout/0,130061791,339283063,00.htm or
> http://tinyurl.com/3x8bj8
>
> Online campaigning beats broadcast blackout
> Marcus Browne, ZDNet Australia
> 18 October 2007 06:12 PM
>
> Political parties are expected to use the
> Internet to blast home their final election
> messages, as the Web is immune to ACMA's pre-election propaganda ban.
>
> Political parties are usually banned from hitting
> the electorate with a final barrage of
> campaigning a few days before an election because
> the Australian Communications and Media Authority
> (ACMA) requires broadcasters to cease television
> and radio advertisements featuring any political content.
>
> But a loophole exists when it comes to
> Internet-based advertising, which means political
> parties will be able to continue broadcast-style
> advertising over the Web until the polls close on 24 November.
>
> In a statement released today, ACMA outlined its
> various responsibilities related to the
> "broadcasting and communication of political and
> election matter", and pointed out that the
> organisation "is not responsible for election or
> political matter appearing on the Internet."
>
> "The blackout period has been in the broadcasting
> legislation a very long time, the principle
> behind it is essentially a policy matter 
 it's
> ACMA's responsibility to implement it," an ACMA
> spokesperson told ZDNet Australia.
>
> This is the first federal election in which the
> issue of online campaigning during the blackout
> period has been a significant concern. At the
> time of the last federal election in 2004,
> YouTube did not exist and the social networking boom was yet to take place.
>
> However, various state elections held over the
> last year have offered a glimpse into what might
> unfold in the run-up to the federal election.
>
> In the Victorian state election late last year,
> the Labor government posted six new ads and
> speeches on its Web site during the first 24
> hours of the "broadcast media" blackout.
>
> "Regulation-wise, the situation is the same now
> as it was three years ago 
 I think what's really
> changed since then is the scale. But if the
> government or parliament are really concerned
> about this then it's up to them to change the
> legislation," the ACMA spokesperson said.
>
> An ALP spokesperson admitted that the party will
> have a "substantial presence online".
>
> "For us it's been about using as much of the
> technology as we could that's accessible to
> people 
 This time round it's certainly about
> more than just having a Web site," the spokesperson said.
>
> The addition of the Google election function on
> Google Australia has also been a significant
> development in online campaigning, particularly
> in relation to broadcast-style material, as each
> of the six parties holding a seat in parliament have their own YouTube
> channel.
>
>
>
> Jan Whitaker
> JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
> personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
> commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
>
> Living, like writing, requires no wisdom. Only
> revising does. - Jim Sollisch, Sept, 2007
> 'Seed planting is often the most important step.
> Without the seed, there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
> _ __________________ _
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
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