PT Insights

Nov
11

It’s been over a week now since another historic election day and even though Alaskans are still trying to determine who won their Senate race and a few House districts are still counting ballots, the impact of the election is starting to come into focus.

We’ve known since election night (and maybe even before) that Republicans would make large gains in Congress. But the new reality of outright control of the House has significantly altered the dynamics here in Washington. In our view, divided government may mean gridlock on some issues, but it will also be an opportunity for both parties to cooperate. Surely it’s in their interests to do so as voters sent a clear sign they expect results before 2012.

From healthcare and energy to financial services and trade, public policy debates around many issues will change significantly in the months ahead. Our public affairs team has taken our shot at trying to look into the future and see how some key issues might be affected. You can read (and watch) our thoughts here at www.webershandwick.com/election2010. Also, be sure to check out our thoughts on the site about how digital grassroots organizing and political advertising played out in the campaign and a look into the exit polls and what they tell us about the message voters have sent.

() Comment(s)

Nov
08

Video games and the 1st Amendment

Kristin Gossel

On Tuesday, while Americans were at the polls, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that caused the Justices to ponder what the Founding Fathers would have thought about video games. In Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association/Entertainment Software Association (ESA), lawyers for Powell Tate’s client the ESA, urged the high court to strike down a 2005 California statute that would regulate the sale and rental of violent video games.

During the lively discussion, several justices seemed skeptical of the measure, questioning its necessity, enforcement and, most importantly, its constitutionality. They also wondered if upholding the California law would lead to regulations of other forms of media. Justices Scalia, Ginsburg and Sotomayor asked about the violent content found in Grimm’s fairytales, Bugs Bunny and rap music.

The Polipulse snapshot of the online conversation around the case shows that many share the Justices’ concerns. About 40 percent of those blogging and Tweeting about the issue noted the need to protect the 1st Amendment, more than 20 percent expressed that this an issue for parents and one that government shouldn’t be involved in and about 15 percent mentioned the Entertainment Software Rating Board system already in place to help keep games intended for adults out of the hands of children.

Later this session, the court will announce its decision and we will learn whether or not the Justices feel this modern form of entertainment is entitled to the same First Amendment protections as books and movies.

() Comment(s)

Polipulse

Nov
02

On the Pulse

Jenna Langer

Powell Tate is on the pulse (pun intended) of sentiment analysis. That is, now we’re measuring not only how many people are talking about a given issue online, but their attitude and pivot points within actual conversations. Last week we launched PoliPulse, a tool that visualizes this data and creates a unique daily graphic summary of the policy issues driving online conversation.

But don’t take our word for it. Crimson Hexagon, our PoliPulse development partner, has demonstrated that they know a thing or two about sentiment analysis. In fact, they were recently quoted in both The New York Times and Fast Company on how we’re figuring out how to use the (literally) billions of tweets, blog posts and Facebook updates typed every day. The articles highlight one of the significant benefits of sentiment analysis: the ability to provide data on public opinion in real time – and not only that, but the ability to passively monitor conversations, tracking issues as they develop organically (vs. having respondents reply to specific questions presented by a pollster).

We use PoliPulse to monitor eruptions (and latencies) in a given set of conversation topics and analyze the impetus behind the fluctuations, the sentiment behind them and, most importantly, how best to engage (or not engage) in the issue. Our colleague Eric Hoffman last week used PoliPusle to analyze the Tea Party movement, suggesting that although the Tea Party consists of loose-knit organizations, their concerns are cohesive – and that typically leads to large voter turnout.

As you can see, the significance of sentiment analysis is catching on, and you can expect to see it in media coverage of the midterm elections today. The New York Times recently launched an online tool that measures Twitter traffic for candidates running for Senate or governor. And as part of its famed election coverage tonight, CNN will use sentiment analysis to identify issues that gain traction online. Can you say the new iteration of the Election 2008 Interactive Map?