Internet TV's successful story in active politics

Unpacking the valuable contribution of web TV in the complex and tricky world of politics, Markus Brauckmann said this technological resource can become a powerful audiovisual voice for the opposition, especially in countries where the public broadcaster is controlled by the government.

Johannesburg-based Brauckmann is the sub-Saharan director of media programme for Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a political foundation headquartered in Berlin, Germany. He was in charge of managing current German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Internet video re-election campaign in 2009.

Factors to consider

He cited the following factors an organisation has to consider before embarking on the Internet TV journey:

• What are your goals?
  
• What story do you want to tell?
  
• Who are you targeting?
  
• What means do you have?
  
• Your offline message must match the online message - do not send mixed messages that might confuse the voters
  
• Keep it simple: start with a press conference
  
• Move slowly but surely to a more complex reportage
  
• Break the top-down barrier; do not only focus on the leadership but give ordinary citizens a voice - and pay them a lot of respect, and
  
• Most especially, do not be a copycat - come up with your own ways of doing things.

Digital connection with voters

Brauckmann also demonstrated how he and his team successfully connected CDU.TV with the social media space, thus creating a full digital connection with the voters.

"We were a TV station linked with social networks, where we forged emotional attachments with our audiences though Facebook-Twitter-Video, which I call a triangle Web 2.0," he explained, adding that web TV for political parties is basically PR.

"TV is a superficial media, but newspapers have the depth and the capacity to fulfil your knowledge," he said.

Generate more emotion

However, he said TV can generate emotion more than copy and text. "That was precisely our point of departure. We knew TV could rise above other media, so we wanted to make news, and we also used this platform as a rapid response tool whenever we were criticised," Brauckmann pointed out.

"You will have to offer a unique experience, so don't try to copy SABC News or eNews. And don't compete with a BMW ad campaign which costs millions - be realistic and seek exclusivity."

But what would happen to the project in places where the Internet penetration is low? Brauckmann replied: "TV is all about moving pictures. In situations like these, you will have to burn the content into a CD and show it in market places and town halls, among others."

The last session of these seminar mini-series, organised by the Wits School of Journalism, will take place next week Wednesday, 15 June 2011 (University Corner, 10th floor), during which senior lecturer Lesley Cowling will talk about 'media commentators in the firing line'.