Digital Politics With Karen Jagoda

Michael Serazio is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communications at Boston College and author of The Authenticity Industries: Keeping it "Real" in Media, Culture, and Politics. Calling authenticity the moral framework of our time, Michael addresses whether politicians can fake authenticity and what gives inauthenticity away. Drawing on observations of reality TV, social media, pop music, commercial advertising, and electoral politics, Michael has written a thought-provoking analysis of how politicians are becoming more like brands and brands are acting more like politicians. We talk about How authenticity is created and demonstrated The different kinds of authenticity Perception of the authenticity of male and female candidates Role of influencers and nano-influencers in establishing candidate authenticity What will be seen as authentic in 2024 campaigns  #MichaelSerazio #TheAuthenticityIndustries #PoliticalCampaigns #PoliticalMessaging #VoterPersuasion #Authenticity The Authenticity Industries

Matt Robison is a political consultant and former chief of staff for former New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes, his co-host on the Beyond Politics Podcast.  Matt shines a light on the tendencies of New Hampshire primary voters and what the results might indicate about voter strategies in 2024. We talk about Independent and unaffiliated NH voters How negative ads impact primary voters The importance of endorsements  Do candidate debates make a difference Did Democrats change their registration to vote in the Republican primary #MattRobison #BeyondPoliticsPodcast #NewHampshirePrimary #NewHampshireVoters #Election2024 BeyondPoliticsPodcast.com

Marta Hanson, National Program Manager, Power the Polls, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to emphasize the need for a nationwide effort to recruit the next generation of poll workers to ensure that elections run smoothly.  In a presidential election year, it is estimated that one million people are needed to fill these paid positions at the local level to address language needs, balance party affiliation, and provide help with technology. Deepak and Marta talk about: The importance of opportunities for non-partisan and bi-partisan civic engagement  Demystifying the role of election administrators and poll workers Training poll workers Who is stepping up to become a poll worker How poll workers are being recruited through partnerships and events #PowerthePolls @TheDemLabs #HelpAmericaVote #PollWorkers #Elections #Democracy #Election2024  PowerthePolls.org TheDemLabs.org

Rajiv Bhateja, Co-Founder of They See Blue joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the need to educate and motivate Americans of South Asian origin to vote for Democrats and become involved in their local communities. Rajiv is an accidental activist bringing data analytic skills to this volunteer organization, allowing them to specifically target messages, organize, and get out the vote. Deepak and Rajiv talk about: Where South Asians live across the US Successful methods to reach South Asian voters Encouraging South Asians to run for public office Issues that are meaningful to this community Looking for irregular voters and new voters to impress on them the importance of the 2024 election #TheySeeBlue @TheDemLabs #SouthAsianCommunity #Mobilizing #Outreach #CivicEngagement #GOTV #Election2024 TheySeeBlue.com TheDemLabs.org

Anne Christine, investigative journalist and human rights activist Stop the Coup 2025, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to address the threat to civil rights from Project 2025, a 900-page Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise from the Heritage Foundation. The key is turning the Mandate into discrete components so people can understand this anti-diversity platform and plan to dismantle the Federal government. Deepak and Anne Christine talk about: Lessons learned from other countries fighting oppression The need for a big tent to include more voices in our democracy Getting information into the hands of people who can amplify the message of the fight against Project 2025 Overcoming voter fatigue Worst-case planning #StoptheCoup2025 @TheDemLabs #HumanRights #Democracy StoptheCoup2025.org  TheDemLabs.org

Sean Duggan, Founder of SD Media has seen many political cycles as Vice President of Advertising at Pandora and SiriusXM.  He notes that it is curious how some of the presidential candidates are relying so heavily on television ads.  The more things change, the more they stay the same. We talk about: The pace of buying digital ads for the 2024 primaries Competition for campaign advertising dollars Value of audio ads and advertising on podcasts Use of AI by political consultants and agencies Addressing the threats to campaigns from foreign interference #PoliticalAds #DigitalAds #AI #VoterPersuasion #Election2024 LinkedIn Profile for Sean Duggan  

David Riedman, Founder and Independent Researcher of the K-12 School Shooting Database, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to peel back the layers of the challenges of predicting and preventing school shootings. One significant step is to collect data and fill in the missing pieces to get a better sense of who is most at risk of being involved in a school shooting and actions that can be taken to protect students and staff. Deepak and David talk about: Differences between mass shootings and school shootings Getting a holistic picture of gun violence on school properties and imaging possible scenarios Understanding the drivers that lead to school shootings Danger of swatting calls to report false threats of school shootings Lessons learned from counter-terrorism to reduce school shootings #K12ssdb @TheDemLabs #GunViolence #SchoolShootings #MassShootings  K12ssdb.org  TheDemLabs.org

Matt Krayton, Founder of Publitics, shines a light on the need for a management structure in political campaigns as much as in a business. Starting from the digital perspective, Matt has developed the InfluenceIQ approach, a unified framework to break down silos for making better campaign decisions. We talk about: Mechanisms for making decisions to execute on strategy Preparing for rapid response and when to do nothing Targeting voters across platforms and where to allocate resources Value of social listening for developing messages How to combat misinformation and disinformation and the need for third-party validation to push back Fighting disengagement of voters #Publitics #PoliticalCampaigns #Voters #RapidResponse #Election2024 Publitics.com  

Brian Hansbury, part of the leadership team at The Media and Democracy Project, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to shine a light on the role of local journalists in maintaining a strong democracy. Advocating for public policy solutions that benefit local communities and support diverse opinions, this group is surgically raising awareness about the consequences of lies from broadcasters and offering ways for citizens to have their voices heard. Deepak and Brian talk about: How citizens can take on sources of disinformation and those normalizing bad actors Role of the FCC in restricting misconduct and news distortion by companies with a broadcast license like FOX Corporation  News and information is a public good and needs to be supported because a common set of facts is necessary to solve problems #MediaandDemocracyProject #TheDemLabs #GrassrootsOrganizing #Organizing #FCC #LocalJournalism #CitizenActivism #Activism  The Media and Democracy Project TheDemLabs.org

Alexis Posey, Chief Campaign Officer at The Center for Cultural Power and Political Director of the Cultural Engagement Lab, talks with Deepak Puri of The Democracy Labs about how narratives impact voter opinions. The Cultural Engagement Lab commissions a network of artists and creative people from underserved communities to use their storytelling skills to support advocates, candidates, and civic engagement efforts. All activities aim to bridge the gap between cultural and political organizing to reach people of all ages. Deepak and Alexis talk about: How experienced artists are creating more compelling campaign messages Integrating a cultural strategy into campaigns to drive social justice How to engage a multi-cultural coalition Understanding communities at the local level needed to tell compelling narratives Influencing policy through creative visual and audio depictions of the story to engage voters in the issue @CulturalEngagement #CulturalEngagementLab #TheDemLabs #CulturalPower #Organizing #Cultural

Dr. Joe Tucker, CEO of Enveric Biosciences, shines a light on the challenges of those working with psychedelic therapies to inform legislators about the need for regulation to gain acceptance for the use of these molecules for medicinal purposes. In this era of increasing mental health awareness and neurodegenerative diseases, research on the unique characteristics of hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic drugs shows the potential to meet unmet medical needs effectively. We talk about: The greatest need for psilocybin-based therapies How drug developers are making psychedelic therapies that are safer and more accessible Why these therapies need to be regulated What elected officials can do to encourage more research #Enveric #PsilocybinBasedTherapies #Psilocybin #PsychedelicTherapies #Psychedelics  Enveric.com

Andrea Miller, Center for Common Ground joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to highlight the results of the recent election in Virginia and the impact of early voting on the outcome. As seen around the country, even school board races were contentious. Deepak and Andrea talk about: The variations in the Virginia election results in this diverse state The value of political television ads Voter suppression tactics Postcarding campaigns Plans for 2024 @CTR4CMNGround #VAElection #EarlyVoting #GOTV @TheDemLabs CenterforCommonGround.org TheDemLabs.org

Edward Erikson, Founder and President of Erikson Communication Group, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the possibilities of finding common interests and ways to unite local communities.  As a political consultant, Edward emphasizes the value of snowball organizing to find additional supporters and the need to keep testing new methods to reach voters. Deepak and Edward talk about: Finding common ground with voters in this partisan environment Role of social media and local media to educate about issues Mistakes candidates make in telling their story Rapid response and when not to respond Challenges for first-time candidates  #EriksonGroup @TheDemLabs #Voters #VoterEngagement #Organizing #RapidResponse #Childcare #WorkForce EriksonGroup.com TheDemLabs.org

Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, has been working on an AI tool for managing and responding to the volume of text messages exchanged using the Peerly peer-to-peer texting platform. Now widely available, AMP {AI} enhances the value of voter engagement and provides rich data that reveals sentiment and real-time interest. We talk about: The changing nature of voter engagement Optimizing voter targeting based on responses to text messages The shift from generic campaign messages to personalized messaging Managing follow-ups to requests and opt-outs How AI changes the role of volunteers and campaign staffers #Peerly #AI #AMPAI #P2PTexting #P2P #VoterEngagement #VoterSegmentation #VoterOutreach Peerly.com Peerly.com/amp-ai

Molly Rima Hoopes, Senior Political Account Executive, Division D at VoterX, is working in the expanding arena where targeting and media offer new options for finding and persuading voters. Though traditional media buyers are still buying linear TV ads, cross-screen reach and targeting opportunities offer incremental reach for campaigns to find cord-cutters, deliver a call to action to specific audiences, and supply metrics about engagement for building relationships.   We talk about: Cross-screen reach and need for appropriate creative for each viewing experience Programmatic social display ad buying on social media to reach beyond the base Rich media formats that have been developed to increase voter engagement Targeting opportunities to reach new and low-propensity voters How Influencer marketing is being used in political campaigns #VoterX #PoliticalAds #DigitalAds #Fundraising #Organizing #VoterPersuasion #VoterEngagement #PoliticalCampaigns #Election2024 VoterX.com

Gina Keller, Co-Founder of Distill Social, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to highlight how social media is used for grassroots activities in Michigan to drive voter awareness, voter registration, and turnout. Gina shares insights about using TikTok to offer something as simple as a sticker to raise interest and enthusiasm.  Deepak and Gina talk about: Building emotional connections with voters How content is shared on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites Turning words into visuals Multi-layered approach including online ads and organic content is needed to talk to those beyond the base Improving the chance of content to go viral  Organizing online versus walking the neighborhood #DistillSocial #Organizing #TikTokforOrganizing #RelationalOrganizing #OnlineAdvertising #PoliticalAds #Election2024 @TheDemLabs DistillSocial.com TheDemLabs.org  

Richard Rose and Raymond McClendon Communities United for Justice join Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to review relational organizing using local leaders to build awareness about candidates and ballot initiatives. The topic is how grassroots organizers are using digital and traditional tools to build robust networks of organizations targeting specific voters to get out the vote. Richard and Raymond have started in Georgia, moving from there to demonstrate the power of collaboration to win elections. Deepak. Richard and Raymond talk about: Competition to get voters excited about voting Voter mobilization, particularly of younger voters Fighting disinformation and misinformation about candidates and issues Using social media and text to build relationships with voters #Cu4Justice @TheDemLabs #GOTV #Organizing #VoterTurnout #GrassrootsOrganizing #Mobilization  Cu4Justice.com  TheDemLabs.org

Matthew Hildreth, Executive Director of Rural Organizing, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to identify the elements of rural communities often missed by candidates in their search for voters. With a background in broadcasting and local engagement, Matthew points out the need for more funding for organizing in rural areas and leadership development at the local level. Deepak and Matthew talk about: Growing the Democratic brand in rural communities Organizing in rural areas What campaigns do not understand about rural voters Civic infrastructure in rural areas The good and the bad of local media #RuralOrganizing #RuralVoters #Organizing #Fundraising #Election2024 @TheDemLabs RuralOrganizing.org TheDemLabs.org

Rachel Levy, candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the November 2023 election, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to provide a view from the front lines of running for office in a primarily rural, newly drawn district. Rachel is an activist, teacher, mom, wife, and candidate with a strong sense of the need for civic engagement to fight extremism.  Deepak and Rachel talk about: Diversity in rural communities Techniques that work for outreach and canvasing in a mostly rural conservative district Issues most important to rural and small-town voters Encouraging civic engagement Driving GOTV #RachelForDelegate #VA59thDistrict #VAElection2023 #GOTV RachelforDelegate.org TheDemLabs.org

Michael Kaiser is the President and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization working with Federal campaigns to secure their organizations and staff against cybercrime. DDC is providing free and low-cost security tools not counted as a campaign contribution with special permission by the FEC because unsafe political campaign practices are seen as a national security threat. We talk about Most significant cyber threats to political campaigns What cyber bad actors are trying to accomplish Security tools that DDC is making available to campaigns, staffers, candidates and their family members Focusing on what might happen, not what could happen Expanding this model to state and local races #DefendingDigitalCampaigns #DDC #2024Elections #PoliticalCampaigns #AI #Deepfakes #Disinformation #Misinformation #Cybersecurity #CampaignTech DefendCampaigns.org