NBC News Teams Up With Facebook To Host Sunday’s GOP Debates


Facebook on Laptop Screen

NBC News will host a new round of Republican Primary Debates on the Sunday before the 2012 New Hampshire GOP primary and they aren’t going in alone this time, announcing a partnership with social network Facebook who will co-host the event and stream it live start at 9 a.m (ET)

The event will air on NBC, New England Cable News (NECN) and then re-air on MSNBC along with streaming live to Facebook.

According to NBC’s David Gregory:

“This campaign cycle, the rules have changed,” while he goes on to add, “While it’s been said that all politics are local, today it might be more accurate to say all politics are social.”

While Gregory’s comment is in part true,, social media isn’t a new option for politicians, for example it was used by the Obama campaign throughout his first Presidential election campaign, although social media has definitely blossomed into a bigger beast at this time. CNN and YouTube also partnered in 2008 to create a debate series in which candidates answered questions submitted through the social video sharing website, while ABC News and Facebook teamed up for a 2008 New Hampshire Debate partnership which saw Facebook groups used for visitors to interact.

Other notable events? Twitter recently held a Town Hall meeting with President Obama, although he chose to use more than 140 characters in his responses 🙂

Event organizers have also setup what they call the “First Presidential Townhall on Twitter” which will take place on July 20.

When all is said and done social media has quickly become a crucial part of the election cycle, it will be interesting to see how the relatively new internet medium helps or hurts a candidates rise to public office, especially on American’s biggest political stage.

How do you see social media molding the political election landscape?


James Kosur

James Kosur has worked in the new media space for the last 10 years, helping many publications build their audiences to millions of monthly readers. He currently serves as the CEO of Aven Enterprises LLC.

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