Slate’s John Dickerson is reporting that “In an effort to educate the public on the state of the economy and his plans for improving it, President Obama is considering a series of short televised addresses similar to Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats.” According to Dickerson, “Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has told the television networks that the administration may request more time than usual for a president. Gibbs did not provide a schedule but described the addresses as lasting about 10 minutes each.”
How 20th century of the President.
Now, I understand why Obama still needs television to get his message out, especially to low-information voters. But after demonstrating the 2008 campaign that he understood the power of abundance online, posting thousands of YouTube videos–many longer than 10 minutes–and garnering more than 120 million views, why isn’t he also developing a robust internet-based media channel, too? This isn’t rocket science; Conservative party leader David Cameron in England has been doing it for years.