The Controversial Win of the Seattle Seahawks over the Green Bay Packers

The recent “victory” of the Seahawks over the Packers, and the subsequent outrage expressed by dismayed NFL fans demonstrate that Internet activism can influence current events in the sports world. Prior to this game, the NFL powers-that-be authorized the employment of replacement refs due to its labor contract dispute with the referees’ union. Because both sides could not agree to a compromise, the regular refs did not go to work, and the league was forced to employ replacements as the season began. For those who used software to monitor Internet activity regarding this move, they found that fans were apprehensive.

The stupidity of this decision soon became apparent to everyone at the end of the game. The Seattle QB had thrown a desperation heave towards the end zone in the dying seconds of the game, and a Green Bay player was able to intercept the ball before the Seahawk receiver could put his hands on it. But the replacement refs consider it a touchdown and a victory for the Seahawks, even after spending 10 minutes reviewing the tape.

Twitter exploded with derision. There was no need to learn how to monitor Internet activity to gauge fan reaction, as even the mainstream media got into the act. After a constant barrage of contempt and ridicule, the NFL higher-ups finally agreed to a compromise with the regular refs in order to bring about their return.

Sometimes, Internet Activism Can Fail

The recent bout of Manny Pacquiao against Timothy Bradley is an example of how Internet activism may still be unable to bring about necessary change. Pacquiao was an overwhelming favorite going into the fight, and most of the discussions among experts were centered on what round Bradley would be knocked out by Pacquiao’s lightning-quick fists. However, in the fight no knockout took place, and the judges were the ones to determine the winner of the bout. Even as sportswriters already set to publish online reports of a Pacquiao win, the announcer stunned the crowd—and perhaps the entire sporting world—when it was announced that Bradley had retained his crown by a split decision. It made sense to no one, as even the declared winner Bradley admitted for the need to see the tape of the fight in order to figure out how he won.

Sports writers and commentators had a field day with that decision, and those who were using software to monitor Internet activity reported that Twitter has exploded with outrage from disbelieving fans. Those who tried to monitor Internet activity reported that many illustrious figures in other sports believed that it was another stain in the history of boxing, and that they would never again pay to watch a boxing match after such a poor decision.

However, the decision was upheld, and no significant change has taken place in boxing even after the display of Internet activism. Perhaps the Nevada state athletic commission did not know how to monitor Internet activity to evaluate fan reaction to their decision, but it is more probable that they just simply don’t care.

If you’re not familiar with podcasts, it is an episodic series of audio, video, or other kinds of digital media. It can be downloaded from or streamed through the internet and is provided by different groups, individuals, or companies. Like other web content, podcasts can be produced and created by anyone. As long as they have something to say, they can easily broadcast.

Podcasts take on a wide range of topics. However, like radio commentary, politics is also one of the most popular things talked about in these programs. Usually, the program chooses the topics they want to tackle or they can get ideas from the suggestions of their listeners. With the internet as its primary platform, podcasts can easily generate feedback, which allows it to be as listener-friendly as possible.

There are tons of reasons why this relatively new medium has quite a steady following. For one, the fact that even regular folks can create their own podcasts makes it as identifiable as possible. A political science student with enough time and guts can easily launch his own show and attract listeners from all over the globe.

President Obama’s Weekly Address Podcast

The open communication lines now adopted by the internet-savvy youth of today also tend to favor political podcasts. Listeners can easily make an input in the discussion through the podcast’s comment section, which allows discussions on the subject. Unlike radio commentaries where people can only end up frustrated with what they believe is wrong, they can actually address specific points in this medium.

Of course, the fact that you can listen to podcasts anytime you choose is another strong point of these shows. People can choose to stream the episode or download it for later consumption easily. This provides listeners a better grasp and control with things, which is much needed and preferred by the public nowadays. With today’s busy lifestyles and easy access to technology, who has the time to catch live broadcasts?

Podcasts have definitely made its mark in the broadcast industry as it has already made some in the radio business to consider their techniques and practices. It has opened up new concepts when it comes to creating content, making traditional producers take new measures to keep up with the latest trends.

Politics an age old topic and political podcasts may just be the next best way to push discussions forward. And like other new technologies and trends, it is very promising and shouldn’t be feared, shunned, or stunted. It can even be a great opportunity for people to learn, so why not give it a chance?

James S. Brady White House Podcast

Internet is the new revolution and it has become an indispensable component in our lives. We use internet to shop, to pay bills, to do research, to learn, to be entertained and much more. Apart from these, internet has also lately been gaining a lot of attraction from the political parties and with the advent of podcasts internet is proving to be one of the most favorable mediums for organizing political campaigns.

Not going much back in the history, we can take the recent example of President Obama’s internet based campaign this year in which his campaign team used social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to reach their supports across US. They even mailed thousands of mails to the people to appeal for vote and tried different kinds of strategies to win votes and to make money. These included asking for small donations in exchange for political coffee mugs and opportunities of winning a dinner with President Obama; all this via emails. Even the official campaign website of Obama helped the supporters to find the locations of local events which bolstered their campaign even more.

“The successful [2012] campaign is going to be one that integrates all the various elements of the digital channel – email, text, website, mobile apps, and social networks – together as one digital program and also mixing the digital program together with the offline reality of field organizations,”, cited Joe Rospars who is the chief digital strategist.

When the political campaigns started to falter they then turned to the political podcasts which again brought the attention of the supporters towards them. Internet media tools like social media and podcasts have today changed the way election campaigns used to be organized. You can easily get the idea of the power of internet to the political parties by the fact that Obama raised about whopping $500 million through internet based campaigns. In order to achieve this figure all he did was regular communication with his supporters via mails and sms. As simple as that.

With the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter swelling with new users with each passing day organizing and running political campaigns would become even more profitable. It won’t be wrong to say that within a few years the conventional political campaigns would become obsolete and podcast based and social media based campaigns would replace them.