Welcome This page is intended to further the body of academic research in online politics consistent with the Institute's mission statement. This web page links to content that is neither produced by nor endorsed by the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. The Institute is not responsible for any potentially false or misleading claims, imagery, content, or material that may be accessed from this page. If you have any questions or concerns about material that is not contained on but may be accessed from this page, please contact the video's creator. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Institute by email at ipdi@ipdi.org. We will continue to update with additional videos as we become aware of them. If you know of a video you would like to submit for possible inclusion, please email the Institute at ipdi@ipdi.org.

Political Web Video

Web video has become a popular outlet for political ideas and opinions. With advances in easy-to-use software programs and the rapidly decreasing price of equipment, the barrier to entry continues to drop dramatically, allowing ever growing numbers to make themselves heard (and seen).

The Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet welcomes this development as another triumphant of the web's democratizing effect. By allowing ordinary citizens to express their views through this rich and dynamic medium, it is inevitable that web video will open up the political process. The dark side to this development, however, is that scurrilous or demeaning content can be posted online every bit as easily as enriching and informative content.

With these conflicting possibilities in mind, the Institute hereby presents its online web video library. We believe it will help visitors answer some of the many questions, including:

• Who is producing web video?
• What are they communicating?
• How do they communicate it?
• What are their goals?

The IPDI web video library is arranged by category of producer and by issue in the 2004 election cycle. The three categories of producers are Party Committees and Candidates, Interest Groups and 527 Organizations, and Individuals and Other Groups.

Each issue page highlights a single issue or candidate characteristic that has been discussed during the election cycle. The purpose of this format is to allow our site's visitors to compare and contrast videos on like topics by each category of producer. You may find that certain approaches are more effective than others. Some approaches may be more entertaining. Some approaches are more sophistocated. You may find some of the videos offensive in their viewopint or in the presentation of the materials

The IPDI web video library contains only those videos that involve candidates and issues relevant in the 2004 election cycle and are intended primarily for distribution on the internet. You will not find television advertisements on this site unless those ads were originally produced and publicized on the internet. If you are interested in television ads, please visit The Living Room Candidate Web site for a comprehensive library of political television advertisements.

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