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Campaign Sites as Information Centers

Steven M. Schneider, Kirsten A. Foot, Elena Larsen, Meghan Dougherty, and Michael Xenos

March 4, 2003

Information Basics

In contrast with other media, the Web allows campaigns to move beyond sound bites and into megabytes in the kinds of information they make available about the candidate with relative ease and minimal cost. To what degree are campaigns using the virtual expanse of the Web to provide more information to citizens? One way to approach this question is to chart the number of different types of information made available on campaign Web sites.

To assess the types of information which campaign sites provided to Web users, we analyzed a sample of 587 Web sites produced by candidates running for a U.S. House, Senate or gubernatorial office in the 2002 general election. We reviewed sites for the presence of the seven types of information. First, we checked campaign sites for the two most basic elements of information about a candidate: 1.) a biography and 2.) an issue statement of any kind. Next, we searched the sites for five other types of information commonly produced and/or distributed by campaigns: 3.) campaign news and/or press releases; 4.) campaign event photos; 5.) information about voter registration; 6.) endorsements of the candidate; and 7.) text or audio files of candidate speeches.

Bundling Information

Nearly all candidates (97%) use Web sites to disseminate at least one of the basic information elements about a candidate— a biography or an issue statement. Eighty-five percent of campaign sites provide both of these types of basic candidate information. However, , and 80% offer at least one The percentage of campaigns providing more than one of additional information elements -- news releases, photos, voter registration information, endorsements or speeches -- drops off precipitously. Fifty percent of campaigns provide two or more types of information in addition to a biography and issue statement. Event photos are more likely to be found on campaign sites (42%) than voter registration information (31%), candidate endorsements (26%) or speeches (8%). (See Table 1)

Table 1: Prevalence of Information Types

Type of Information	Feature	% sites with feature	% sites with two or more features	Sites Examined

Basic			85%	587
	Biography	92%
	Issues	90%
Additional			50%	587
	Press Releases/Campaign News	73%
	Event Photos	42%
	Voter Registration Information	31%
	Endorsements	26%
	Speeches	8%

Differing Information Strategies

Candidates vary in their strategies for information dissemination via the Web. The highest levels of information provision are found on the sites of campaigns affiliated with major party and in high intensity races as well as on the campaign sites of incumbents. Around 60% of campaign sites with these characteristics have at least two additional types of information beyond the basics of biography and issue position. Twenty-one percent of third party campaign sites provide this level of information, along with 41% of campaign sites in low intensity races and 46% of challengers. The gender of the candidate and the type of office sought were not significant factors. (See Table 2)

Table 2: Characteristics of Candidate Web Sites with Information Types

Candidate Characteristics	No Information Features	Basic Features Only	Basic + 1 additional feature	Basic + 2 or more additional features	Sites Examined
All Candidates	1%	19%	30%	50%	587
Party Type*
Major Party	1%	13%	28%	58%	456
Third Party	2%	42%	36%	21%	131
Office Sought
House	1%	22%	29%	48%	391
Senate	0%	17%	22%	62%	78
Governor	0%	13%	37%	50%	118
Incumbency*
Challengers	1%	23%	31%	46%	435
Incumbents	1%	11%	27%	61%	152
Campaign Intensity*
Low Intensity	2%	26%	31%	41%	290
Medium Intensity	0%	14%	26%	60%	163
High Intensity	0%	12%	32%	56%	134
Candidate Gender
Male	1%	20%	30%	49%	500
Female	0%	14%	29%	58%	87

* indicates statistical significance at .05 or greater for independent variable in multi-variate regression

Summary

Nearly all campaign sites provided basic information about the candidates, and most provided at least one other type of information. However, many types of information commonly produced and/or distributed by campaigns were not available on campaign Web sites. The greater likelihood for major party candidates, incumbents, and candidates in intense races to provide more types of information on their sites suggests that robust information provision on the Web is more common for candidates who perceive themselves as having a good chance of winning, and/or the ability to pay a Web master.

Methods & Sources:

This analysis was conducted by researchers associated with WebArchivist.org, a research group directed by Professors Kirsten Foot and Steven Schneider at the University of Washington and the SUNY Institute of Technology. This analysis is part of a broader project investigating the role of the Internet in the 2002 elections. The project is sponsored by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Campaign Web sites were identified through searches on publicly available and subscription-only Web sites, including politics1.com, www.greenpapers.com, www.washingtonpost.com, www.google.com and the National Journal. For this report, approximately 515 sites were analyzed during each of the final 12 weeks of the campaign. The sites for these analysis sets were chosen by randomly sampling sites from races at a variety of competitiveness levels, with an emphasis on competitive races. Campaign intensity was measured using competitiveness rankings available on publicly available and subscription-only Web sites, including www.washingtonpost.com and the National Journal.

Citations:

We encourage you to use the reports published on PoliticalWeb.Info in your own publications. When referencing this report, please consider using the following citation: “Campaign Sites as Information Centers,” by Steven M. Schneider, Kirsten Foot, Elena Larsen, Meghan Dougherty, and Michael Xenos. PoliticalWeb.Info, Kirsten A. Foot & Steven M. Schneider (Editors), March 4, 2003, http://politicalweb.info/reports/information.html.

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