Smear Politics Online

The panel Smear Politics Online will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st, in Hemisphere B.

Description
This year saw an unprecidented rise in online rumors and smears. From "Obama is a Muslim" to "Kay Hagan is Godless", the battle to stave off misinformation was fought online. Websites like fightthesmears.com and truthfightsback.com are the frontline in the battle.

Speakers

 * Ian Koski - Senior Client Managere, Blue State Digital. Ian joined Blue State Digital in February 2008 after three years as the founder and creative director of On Deck Communication Studio, where he crafted communications strategy and developed web sites for a variety of Democratic campaigns and causes. Ian's experience in politics is complemented by seven years of work as a journalist at newspapers in New York and Pennsylvania. His clips include coverage of politics, education, as well as college and professional sports. He has also worked for The Performance Institute, a nonpartisan think tank committed to improving government performance; the Highbridge Horizon, a bilingual community newspaper in New York's South Bronx; and the Daily Times, a newspaper in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Ian's sports reporting continues today on the web site NationalsPride.com - an independent, fan-published news and opinion web site covering the Washington Nationals baseball team. A big baseball fan, Ian founded the site with some friends in 2005. Ian has published several articles on online campaigning in several reports and journals and is a contributing author to the book "Getting Results: A Guide for Federal Leaders and Managers." He has a bachelor's degree in communication from Villanova University and a master's degree in political management from the George Washington University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.


 * Dave Leichtman - Director of Analytics and Technology, Blue state Digital. Dave helps Blue State's strategy clients succeed through critical data analysis, examining all aspects of our clients' online strategy by-the-numbers to ensure growth. He is also responsible for the strategy team's internal technical project management and development. He has extensive experience with online communities and project development as well as a wide-ranging technical background. Previously, he was vice president of a Web consulting firm that helped universities and small cities create online communities. He has also served as an assistant to the Vice President for IT at the University of Oklahoma, and as director of online communities there and at William and Mary. Dave is an active Arlington Democrat and is very active in Virginia politics. He was a head volunteer organizer for the Webb for Senate campaign and continues to spearhead volunteer organization efforts in Virginia. He holds a B.S. in physics, computer science, and mathematics from William and Mary, and a M.S. in physics from the University of Washington.


 * Brian Young - Director of New Media, Senator John Kerry. Brian Young is the Director of New Media in the Office of Senator John Kerry, as well as coordinating all online and email activity for Senator Kerry’s political organizations. He directed all of Senator Kerry’s online activities during the 2008 election cycle, including the use of Kerry’s large email list. During that election, he built TruthFightsBack.com, a site dedicated to using grassroots pressure to push back against smears against all Democrats. He has served in a variety of positions for political campaigns, including General Consultant for a campaign for US Congress, and, previous to politics, worked as a filmmaker, creating everything from 30 second spots to full-length documentaries.


 * Scott Zumwalt - Client Manager, Blue State Digital. Scott manages client engagements for a number of BSD strategy clients while drawing upon his background in strategic messaging, outbound email, online fundraising and video. Prior to his arrival at BSD, Scott most recently served as the Online Director for Kay Hagan's successful U.S. Senate campaign in North Carolina.  He previously directed the online communications for Hillary Clinton's Iowa and Oregon operations and for two years worked in coordination with BSD in executing new media strategies for Tom Vilsack's political organizations. Scott graduated cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in political economy.  Scott originally hails from Chappaqua, NY and in his free time enjoys running around DC and watching the Yankees win.


 * John Kelly - Founder, Morningside Analytics. John Kelly is the founder and lead scientist of Morningside Analytics. His research blends Social Network Analysis, content analysis, and statistics to solve the problem of making complex online networks visible and understandable.  In addition to leading edge work on US online media, he is leading an effort to map the global blogosphere. John has an M.Phil. from Columbia University (Ph.D. soon!), and has studied communications at Stanford and at Oxford’s Internet Institute. He is an Affiliate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

From Ian

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From Dave

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From Brian

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From Scott

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From John

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General/from discussion

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