| Barack Obama was elected president in a campaign featuring rapidly expanding use of the Internet for political information. The literature notes a disparity in media use between generations of Americans. Younger voters utilized the Internet, while older voters preferred traditional media. The problem examined in this study was the lack of empirical information identifying these generational differences; why they existed; and how they might affect voting decisions. This qualitative study used deep questioning of 18 Rhode Island residents about their media usage and votes during the 2008 campaign. The respondents included six Democrats, six Republicans, and six independent voters from Providence County, Rhode Island who had a strong interest in the 2008 election and followed it closely in the media. The study was framed by the theory of media uses and gratifications, which posits that people have specific uses or reasons for choosing media and that they derive certain gratifications or benefits from those media choices. The literature also reflected that campaigns derived uses and gratifications from media choices as well. Generational differences in media uses were found. Voters over age 60 chose traditional media of newspapers, radio, and television and often avoided Internet news sources. Voters under age 31 were the complete opposite, using Internet media almost exclusively, with relatively little use of traditional media. The middle age group, ranging from 31 to 60, used a hybrid of traditional and new media sources for political news. As Internet technology expands into politics, its impact is worthy of further study. It has implications for how political campaigns and candidates try to communicate with voters in differing generational categories.;Keywords: Internet, politics, communication, mass media, uses, and gratifications. |
