It matters if CBC's Rosie is on your trail: The Election Twitter Coverage

The Twitterverse is a funny thing.

Last night Iggy was in Winnipeg in front of a motivated and passionate crowd numbering about 1,100. He gave a barn-burner of a speech; one that clearly articulated his positions and was even newsworthy for what he had to say about the polls. Sadly, the event received very little "twitter" coverage from the national reporters tasked to Iggy's campaign. I am not blaming them - just stating a fact. The reporters in question just don't happen to twitter all that much.

On the other hand, Jack Layton is in Winnipeg this morning at a considerably smaller rally (600 people max.) giving a much less substantive speech than Iggy gave last night - but he is receiving 4-5 times the twitter attention. Especially from CBC's @RosieBarton. Again, I am not blaming Rosie. She is a fine reporter, as are many of the others from other news-outlets now covering Layton. It's just a fact that Rosie twitters more than most - so, ergo, Jack is getting more digital ink today than Iggy got last night.

Guess it has always been true. Even before the advent of the age of social media. Simple fact is and always has been that: who a news organization assigned to a given campaign greatly impacted how that campaign was portrayed to the public. J.W. Dafoe comes to mind. Not all reporters or their "inks" are created equal. And for those of us today who occasionally dwell on social media networking sites such as Twitter,the impact is both immediate, perceptible, and stark. In today's world, he who gets the most "ink" on a campaign trail is invariably the one being covered by those reporters with the most active thumbs! Is it fair to the under-served candidate trying to get his message out? Probably not. Is it biased? Absolutely not. A news organization's resources are tight, and not all campaigns can be accorded equal treatment. That being said... I do think Iggy has been under served in the last week and a half.

So what's the scoop? Fact, if an @RosieBarton or an @kady from CBC are covering your campaign you have a much better chance of getting your message out quicker & more often than those candidates who get two crotchety old dudes with bifocals, carbuncles, & arthritic thumbs assigned to their trail. In the Twitterverse that's just the way it is!