New Media, Old Money: Digital Technology, Social Media and Challenges to Campaigning and Democracy
A by-invitation experts’ workshop held at
The Embassy of Switzerland in the United States of America
2900 Cathedral Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008
Washington, DC, September 27-29, 2015
Program
Sunday, Sept. 27
Welcoming Gathering
Monday, Sept. 28
8:30 Welcome, Orientation and Overview
Part I: Policy Aspects
8:45-9:45 Session 1: “The merits of merit goods: Journalism and social democracy in a
time of austerity,” Christopher Ali, University of Virginia
Respondent: Carleen Maitland, Penn State
9:45-10:00 Break
10:00-11:00 Session 2: “The Impact of the Citizens United Decision and the Reaction of
Digital Mobilization Groups,” Jarice Hanson, University of Massachusetts –Amherst
Respondent: Sascha Meinrath. Penn State
Part II: Social Media Aspects
11:00-12:00 Session 3: “What Campaigns Become as Social Media Become the Infrastructure of Political Communication,” G. R. Boynton, Padmini Srinivasan and M. Zubair Shafiq, University of Iowa
Respondent: D. Linda Garcia, Georgetown University
12:00-1:00 Lunch
Part III: Access
1:00-2:00 Session 4: “The Gender Bias- Women in the online space with a case study of
women online in India,” Upasna Kakroo, Brandanew
Respondent: Shoko Kiyohara, Meiji University, Japan
2:00-3:00 Session 5: “Which Digital Divide? Measuring Broadband Access and Election Outcomes,” Sarah Oh, George Mason University
Respondent: Melissa Aronczyk, Rutgers University
3:00-3:15 Break
Part IV: Campaigns and Elections
3:15-4:15 Session 6: “Transparency of politicians’ actions, representation and the role of the digital media,” Marco Portmann, University of Bayreuth, David Stadelmann, University of Fribourg, and Reiner Eichenberger, CREMA – Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts, Switzerland
Respondent: Amit Schejter, Ben Gurion/Penn State
4:15-4:45 Summing up day 1
5:00 Keynote Presentation: “Money, US Politics, and Information Technology: from Howard Dean to Donald Trump” Matthew Hindman, George Washington University
Reception
Tuesday, Sept. 29
9:00-10:00 Session 7: “Direct-democratic campaigns in a commercialized media system,” Linards Udris and Mark Eisenegger, Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society, University of Zurich / University of Salzburg
Respondent: Nicol Turner-Lee, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:15 Session 8: “The Intersection of Agenda-setting and Campaign Finance in a Digital Media World,” John A. Fortunato, Fordham University and Shannon E. Martin, Indiana University
Respondent: Manuel Puppis
11:15-12:00 Concluding Remarks