The Shop Talk panelists talk about politicians who are using YouTube and social media to make announcements rather than holding news conferences.
A couple recent examples: Congresswoman Michele Bachman (R-MN) used a video to announce she would not seek re-election, and Bruce Rauner posted a video on-line to announce he will seek the Republican nomination for governor in Illinois.
The Rauner video is basically a three minute commercial. While it’s well-produced and points to numerous challenges facing Illinois, it does not explain how he would address those issues. He would likely be asked to provide more details during a news conference (it should be noted he later campaigned in several cities around the state).
Some critics believe reporters have brought this on themselves by largely focusing on the horse race instead of the issues, and by being overly concerned about superficial matters. But by avoiding reporters, politicians are delivering their messages unfiltered and without having to provide any hard facts or details.
