One of the changes President-Elect Barack Obama has immediately made to nudge the Presidency into the 21st century is to move the President’s weekly radio address into the realm of cyberspace as well by putting it on YouTube as well as on the broadcast airwaves. And it is a master stroke: how many people (particularly young people) are glued to their radios on Saturday morning at a specific hour, and how many people surf YouTube and embed interesting videos on weblogs (such as this) at their convenience?
And what better example of the new weekly You Tube address to offer than today’s. In it, Obama:
1. Says action must be taken on the economy ASAP.
2. Makes a pitch for bipartisanship, for Americans to put aside partisanship and work on solutions together.
3. Makes it clear he will seek support from both sides of the aisle.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION READ:
—The YouTube Presidency
—Barack Obama Putting Traditional Radio Address to YouTube
—Video Of Obama Radio Address To Go Online
—Obama White House to Broadcast Weekly Radio Address on YouTube
—From radio to YouTube, Obama modernizes weekly address
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.