„The Echo-Principle. How online communication changes politics“ is the first comprehensive text that goes beyond a description of the how the media landscape and communication structures changes, but also shows how to communicate successfully in this changing media world. It will be published by the Viennese publishing house Czernin Verlag in June 2013.
While the blog is mostly in German, there are some blogposts in English. Among them is a guest post by Ethan Roeder, Obama’s Director of Data and my talk „7 things US campaigns can teach us about citizen engagement.
Click here to see all english posts on one page.
Why the Echo-Principle
The core business of (political) communication is to influence the public discourse. Back in the days, this was achieved by working with traditional media and public relations tools such as press releases, press conferences, media campaigns, studies, etc. What news papers discussed, so the conventional wisdom, is the public agenda. Topics that weren’t in the papers, did not happen.
A few years ago a new channel emerged and it seemingly changed everything: The Internet (especially in the form of „social media,“ traditional media suddenly recognized it as revolutionary). But online channels did not change everything, so my first theory: They publish only those political discussions that have, until now, not have taken place in public and thus were not present in the minds of political communicators. In addition to traditional media – and the influence of the discourse there – communicators have to participate, monitor and shape online discourse.
„In addition,“ because the death of traditional media is premature swan song, my second thesis. Rather, traditional media and online channels form two sides of an echo chamber, distribute and amplify the messages.
However, this new page follows very different rules than traditional media. Anyone who tries to use old PR tactics on the new channels will fail. „The Echo-Principle“ shows, with the help of examples from the European and U.S. political communication, what these new principles are.
About the author
Yussi Pick is Managing Partner at Pick & Barth Digital Strategies, a communications firm specializing in online strategies for the public sector and non-profit campaigns. He was named a 2013 Rising Star by Campaign & Elections Magazine and is an Alum of the Fulbright program.
In 2012, he co-founded the highly successful campaign-watchblog www.usa2012.at and served as a pundit for ORF on US-election night. Prior to his return to Austria, he was Director of Online Strategies at Blueprint Interactive in Washington, DC where he consulted candidate and advocacy campaigns. In 2010, his client “No on Prop 23″ was awarded with the “Best of Social Media” Pollie Award of the American Association of Political Consultants.
Yussi has been quoted in serveral Austrian newspapers, as well as the New York Times and the Washington Post.
A Fulbright Scholar, Yussi holds a Masters Degree in Political Communication from the American University in Washington, DC and a Magister from the University of Vienna.