Interview with Alan Rosenblatt, Center for American Progress

Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Online Advocacy at CAPAF. He is a frequent speaker and author on digital media, advocacy, and politics, including social networking, blogging, grassroots, and mobile advocacy strategies. He is the founder of the Internet Advocacy Center ; an adjunct professor at American University, where he teaches Internet Advocacy Communications; and a blogger at TechPresident.com and DrDigiPol.com . Alan is also a founding team member of Media Bureau Networks (MBN), a pioneer in streaming media services; a contributing editor to Politics Online ; and serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals dedicated to the study of the Internet, politics, and government. He taught Political Science at George Mason University for nine years, where, in 1995, he launched the first-ever cyberpolitics course. With MBN, he webcasted live coverage of the 2000 Presidential Conventions. In 2001, he served as Vice President for Online Advocacy Services division at Stateside Associates. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Director of Training Programs at e-advocates. Alan Rosenblatt has a Ph.D. in Political Science from American University, an M.A. in Political Science from Boston College, and a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Tufts University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

 

What role will localism play in the Web 2.0 world now that 'community' has such a larger meaning?

While the internet makes creating geographically dispersed communities possible, it also enhances local communities by extending the offline interactions online, giving more depth to community engagement.

 

Traditional media outlets have met a lot of criticism due to the lack of ownership of these properties by women/minorities. Will the same argument apply to ownership of new media companies?

To the extent that anyone can start a blog, the potential for women and minorities to become owners of new media are limitless. That said, once consolidation begins, we may see a squeeze. I am heartened that one of the top new media organizations already is owned by a woman... the Huffington Post.

 

Does the increased use of the Internet for political outreach ultimately mean that the high cost and barriers of running for public offices will be lowered for all candidates?

In principal, yes. We will still see high dollar campaigns, but the potential for an effective low cost internet campaign will emerge and be competitive.

 

In other countries, mobile devices are commonly used for political and informational campaigns, so why aren't Americans using mobile technology for much beyond entertainment? What needs to change?

The US mobile market was stunted early by our commitment to server provider-centric marketing instead of device centered marketing. So we have high prices for text messaging and too much of a focus of internal network services. As a result, Americans developed a taste for email and IM before the SMS taste developed. That is the opposite of what has happened in other countries and explains our slow uptake. As a result, we may never see the penetration rates of other countries.

 

As more nonprofits transition to their .org identity, must the overall roles of nonprofits evolve as well? How?

For new non-profits, it will be possible to create leaner organizations that require smaller budgets to be effective. These groups will be able to thrive on small donor fundraising. Larger non-profits that migrate online will still be saddled with a large overhead that will require more fundraising.