Social media versus traditional media: Evolution of political scandal coverage just one of the main forms of crisis communication. The first major political sex scandal occurred in the late 18th century, when Alexander Hamilton was investigated for an alleged financial scam, which turned out to be an extramarital affair. Even then, without social media and 24-hour news circles, Hamilton was forced to respond and be held accountable for his actions. However, the circumstances surrounding politicians and how they respond have evolved significantly, especially as the 21st century began. With the popularization of the Internet and social media, politicians are more vulnerable online as the separation between public and private life has rapidly diminished, thus changing the nature of political scandals. Especially sex scandals, as they involve a single figure rather than entire organizations or companies for which multiple individuals can be held responsible, which makes analysis in the context of crisis communications more difficult. This is why this essay will focus exclusively on political sex scandals and will attempt to analyze and detail how a response was conducted using both social media and traditional media. The cases that will be discussed all occurred in the Internet age. The first scandal we will talk about is the 1998 Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, which is arguably the biggest sex scandal to date, and because it occurred on the brink of the Internet explosion and had a lot of news coverage and therefore cannot be excluded from this analysis. The second case will involve Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose scandal originally broke on Twitter and was already using Twitter as his primary source for communicating with his constituents. The third and final case we will talk about is that of Herman Cain who used both his social media platforms and traditional media as a communication tool. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayEvolution of Political Scandals in Mainstream MediaIn 1998 news broke about then-President Bill Clinton about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and proved a turning point in the coverage of political scandals. Due to his position as president, Bill Clinton was already a highly monitored public figure and this was not the first time he had been accused of infidelity. After the scandal first broke, President Clinton denied the accusation on television, uttering what would become one of the scandal's most memorable lines: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." (Clinton, 1998). Almost a year later he admitted the affair and resigned from the position of president. Monica Lewinsky described herself as one of the first victims of cyberbullying and was “brought to you by the digital revolution” (Wakefield, 2015). According to his TED talk, Lewinsky said that “when the story broke online. It was one of the first times traditional news was usurped by the Internet for a major story.” (Lewinsky, 2015). Although social media as we know it today did not exist in 1998, images of Lewinsky wearing a black beret quickly went viral, as did comments and jokes posted in response to online articles (Wakefield, 2015). The next case surfaced in 2011,when Rep. Anthony Weiner sent a lewd photo to a 21-year-old college student using his main Twitter account. Weiner quickly removed the photo and claimed that his account had been hacked. Days after the scandal broke, Weiner responded to questions at a press conference in which he said that "[he] was hacked. It happens to people. Move on." (CNN Wire Staff, 2011), but refused to answer the question of whether the photo was his. He even refused to ask police to investigate the hack that his team described as a simple “joke” (CNN Wire Staff). His appearance that day is often described as “unusually defensive” and with “forced attempts at humor and awkward efforts to change the subject” (Kornacki, 2011). news coverage, a further revelation was released involving Weiner sending shirtless photos of himself to a second woman. These revelations were a turning point, as Weiner decided to once again call a press conference, where he tearfully apologized for the repeated incident and admitted that he was the one who sent all the photos Weiner went from completely denying and ridiculing any allegations of his alleged sex scandal, to fully admitting guilt and ultimately resigning from the board. assignment on June 16 (CNN Wire Staff). Coverage of the scandal on social media Before the scandal broke, Weiner used his Twitter account to sarcastically respond to opponents and this was reflected in his response, which saw him constantly joke about the allegations. One interesting thing to note is that after the scandal made headlines, he did not use his Twitter account or other social media to apologize for the scandal or directly acknowledge it. For example, as she was about to make an appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show to talk about the allegations and clear the air, she tweeted the following: “On Rachel tonight. We'll talk about Trump eating pizza with a fork! #Dude, you're a New Yorker!” (Jonsson, 2011). Until his resignation, he continued to avoid using his Twitter account as a way to appease his supporters and the general public regarding the allegations and never admitted any guilt. However, when he responded to one of his accusers it was as always in a very sarcastic and joking way: “Wow, so many followers now. #IsthereTrollRemovalSoftware?" (Jonsson, 2011). Interestingly, when he resigned, he refrained from tweeting about his resignation, but simply stopped posting on Twitter altogether. The only time he acknowledged the scandal and admitted guilt, it was in the mainstream media during press conferences, where his behavior was very accommodating and emotional. It is possible that his team discovered that, because his Twitter account was a place of aggression and used primarily to attack adversaries, it would not be appropriate to use it as a form of expression of remorse. Furthermore, Weiner was an already serving member of Congress at that time, so there was less immediate pressure to respond immediately to his supporters However, the uncharacteristic silence on Twitter likely made Weiner appear guilty, and the contradictory portrayal of himself in traditional media versus social media may have led to more people believing the allegations and Weiner losing any remaining credibility. . The latest case concerns the Republican candidate Herman Cain. In 2012 an investigative report detailed that two former National Restaurant Association employees complained about Cain's "sexually suggestive behavior that made them angry and uncomfortable." Although Cain hadsome minor financial problems prior to the allegations, this was the first time a substantially negative story had come out against the candidate. Cain's main Twitter account, @thehermancain, provided an immediate response to the allegations, posting a tweet minutes after the story was published. It read as follows: “From the HC team: Unfortunately we have already seen this film. Mr. Cain and all Americans deserve better” (Bingham, 2011) and linked to a press release in which Cain completely denied all allegations made against him. Cain continued to deny the allegations, and even attacked the article's source by claiming that he was "targeted by liberals" (Burns, 2011). A day after the scandal, Cain made several public appearances in which he continued to completely deny all allegations, claiming that he did not even know the name of one of the women, and encouraged the media to focus on his campaign platform. On Twitter he continued to encourage people to follow his media appearances and encouraged further donations to his campaign. However, after all those accusations, his chances of running began to decline and he remained eight points behind Romney. As a result, Cain suspended his campaign. Differences Between Social Media and Traditional Media In Cain's case, there are subtle differences in how he handled his response on social media and traditional media. However, as more and more women continued to come forward and the accusations continued to pile up, he never contradicted himself and remained steadfast in his position of being innocent. For example, in response to another woman's accusations, she tweeted: “Welcome to the campaign, Gloria Allerd. What took you so long?” (Miller, 2011). With this tweet it became evident that he tried to discredit the accuser, mockingly tweeting “What took you so long?”, which perfectly represents the purpose of his tweets during the scandal. Trying to shift the blame from himself to someone else and discrediting the source with the argument that the left is trying to distract him from his campaign and ruin his chances for the presidency used both social and traditional media as a platform to completely deny all allegations and has remained consistent on all of them. The only difference is that he has used his Twitter account as a way to immediately respond to any published details and encourage people to actively participate in the campaign through donations. He also used social media to highlight stories favorable to his campaign, such as a new poll or a record-breaking fundraising day. His appearances in mainstream media were orchestrated to deny all allegations of sexual harassment in a more rational manner. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion In conclusion, it became clear, that each situation represented a different set of circumstances and that all cases had their own Twitter style which affected the nature of their social media response. Weiner took to Twitter to sarcastically respond to his opponents, and his response remained unchanged. Although Cain used Twitter to handle his attackers similarly to Weiner, he did not wait with his responses and remained consistent across both social media and traditional media. Another thing they both have in common is that they both promoted their media appearances via Twitter and did not admit any wrongdoing. However, while social media offers politicians the opportunity to respond immediately, it only allows them to respond in a more subdued manner. Accordingly, it is

Topic > Social media versus traditional media: Evolution of political scandal coverage just one of the main forms of crisis communication. The first major political sex scandal occurred in the late 18th century, when Alexander Hamilton was investigated for an alleged financial scam, which turned out to be an extramarital affair. Even then, without social media and 24-hour news circles, Hamilton was forced to respond and be held accountable for his actions. However, the circumstances surrounding politicians and how they respond have evolved significantly, especially as the 21st century began. With the popularization of the Internet and social media, politicians are more vulnerable online as the separation between public and private life has rapidly diminished, thus changing the nature of political scandals. Especially sex scandals, as they involve a single figure rather than entire organizations or companies for which multiple individuals can be held responsible, which makes analysis in the context of crisis communications more difficult. This is why this essay will focus exclusively on political sex scandals and will attempt to analyze and detail how a response was conducted using both social media and traditional media. The cases that will be discussed all occurred in the Internet age. The first scandal we will talk about is the 1998 Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, which is arguably the biggest sex scandal to date, and because it occurred on the brink of the Internet explosion and had a lot of news coverage and therefore cannot be excluded from this analysis. The second case will involve Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose scandal originally broke on Twitter and was already using Twitter as his primary source for communicating with his constituents. The third and final case we will talk about is that of Herman Cain who used both his social media platforms and traditional media as a communication tool. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayEvolution of Political Scandals in Mainstream MediaIn 1998 news broke about then-President Bill Clinton about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and proved a turning point in the coverage of political scandals. Due to his position as president, Bill Clinton was already a highly monitored public figure and this was not the first time he had been accused of infidelity. After the scandal first broke, President Clinton denied the accusation on television, uttering what would become one of the scandal's most memorable lines: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." (Clinton, 1998). Almost a year later he admitted the affair and resigned from the position of president. Monica Lewinsky described herself as one of the first victims of cyberbullying and was “brought to you by the digital revolution” (Wakefield, 2015). According to his TED talk, Lewinsky said that “when the story broke online. It was one of the first times traditional news was usurped by the Internet for a major story.” (Lewinsky, 2015). Although social media as we know it today did not exist in 1998, images of Lewinsky wearing a black beret quickly went viral, as did comments and jokes posted in response to online articles (Wakefield, 2015). The next case surfaced in 2011,when Rep. Anthony Weiner sent a lewd photo to a 21-year-old college student using his main Twitter account. Weiner quickly removed the photo and claimed that his account had been hacked. Days after the scandal broke, Weiner responded to questions at a press conference in which he said that "[he] was hacked. It happens to people. Move on." (CNN Wire Staff, 2011), but refused to answer the question of whether the photo was his. He even refused to ask police to investigate the hack that his team described as a simple “joke” (CNN Wire Staff). His appearance that day is often described as “unusually defensive” and with “forced attempts at humor and awkward efforts to change the subject” (Kornacki, 2011). news coverage, a further revelation was released involving Weiner sending shirtless photos of himself to a second woman. These revelations were a turning point, as Weiner decided to once again call a press conference, where he tearfully apologized for the repeated incident and admitted that he was the one who sent all the photos Weiner went from completely denying and ridiculing any allegations of his alleged sex scandal, to fully admitting guilt and ultimately resigning from the board. assignment on June 16 (CNN Wire Staff). Coverage of the scandal on social media Before the scandal broke, Weiner used his Twitter account to sarcastically respond to opponents and this was reflected in his response, which saw him constantly joke about the allegations. One interesting thing to note is that after the scandal made headlines, he did not use his Twitter account or other social media to apologize for the scandal or directly acknowledge it. For example, as she was about to make an appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show to talk about the allegations and clear the air, she tweeted the following: “On Rachel tonight. We'll talk about Trump eating pizza with a fork! #Dude, you're a New Yorker!” (Jonsson, 2011). Until his resignation, he continued to avoid using his Twitter account as a way to appease his supporters and the general public regarding the allegations and never admitted any guilt. However, when he responded to one of his accusers it was as always in a very sarcastic and joking way: “Wow, so many followers now. #IsthereTrollRemovalSoftware?" (Jonsson, 2011). Interestingly, when he resigned, he refrained from tweeting about his resignation, but simply stopped posting on Twitter altogether. The only time he acknowledged the scandal and admitted guilt, it was in the mainstream media during press conferences, where his behavior was very accommodating and emotional. It is possible that his team discovered that, because his Twitter account was a place of aggression and used primarily to attack adversaries, it would not be appropriate to use it as a form of expression of remorse. Furthermore, Weiner was an already serving member of Congress at that time, so there was less immediate pressure to respond immediately to his supporters However, the uncharacteristic silence on Twitter likely made Weiner appear guilty, and the contradictory portrayal of himself in traditional media versus social media may have led to more people believing the allegations and Weiner losing any remaining credibility. . The latest case concerns the Republican candidate Herman Cain. In 2012 an investigative report detailed that two former National Restaurant Association employees complained about Cain's "sexually suggestive behavior that made them angry and uncomfortable." Although Cain hadsome minor financial problems prior to the allegations, this was the first time a substantially negative story had come out against the candidate. Cain's main Twitter account, @thehermancain, provided an immediate response to the allegations, posting a tweet minutes after the story was published. It read as follows: “From the HC team: Unfortunately we have already seen this film. Mr. Cain and all Americans deserve better” (Bingham, 2011) and linked to a press release in which Cain completely denied all allegations made against him. Cain continued to deny the allegations, and even attacked the article's source by claiming that he was "targeted by liberals" (Burns, 2011). A day after the scandal, Cain made several public appearances in which he continued to completely deny all allegations, claiming that he did not even know the name of one of the women, and encouraged the media to focus on his campaign platform. On Twitter he continued to encourage people to follow his media appearances and encouraged further donations to his campaign. However, after all those accusations, his chances of running began to decline and he remained eight points behind Romney. As a result, Cain suspended his campaign. Differences Between Social Media and Traditional Media In Cain's case, there are subtle differences in how he handled his response on social media and traditional media. However, as more and more women continued to come forward and the accusations continued to pile up, he never contradicted himself and remained steadfast in his position of being innocent. For example, in response to another woman's accusations, she tweeted: “Welcome to the campaign, Gloria Allerd. What took you so long?” (Miller, 2011). With this tweet it became evident that he tried to discredit the accuser, mockingly tweeting “What took you so long?”, which perfectly represents the purpose of his tweets during the scandal. Trying to shift the blame from himself to someone else and discrediting the source with the argument that the left is trying to distract him from his campaign and ruin his chances for the presidency used both social and traditional media as a platform to completely deny all allegations and has remained consistent on all of them. The only difference is that he has used his Twitter account as a way to immediately respond to any published details and encourage people to actively participate in the campaign through donations. He also used social media to highlight stories favorable to his campaign, such as a new poll or a record-breaking fundraising day. His appearances in mainstream media were orchestrated to deny all allegations of sexual harassment in a more rational manner. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion In conclusion, it became clear, that each situation represented a different set of circumstances and that all cases had their own Twitter style which affected the nature of their social media response. Weiner took to Twitter to sarcastically respond to his opponents, and his response remained unchanged. Although Cain used Twitter to handle his attackers similarly to Weiner, he did not wait with his responses and remained consistent across both social media and traditional media. Another thing they both have in common is that they both promoted their media appearances via Twitter and did not admit any wrongdoing. However, while social media offers politicians the opportunity to respond immediately, it only allows them to respond in a more subdued manner. Accordingly, it is