Multi-modality debating: How social media (especially Twitter) are changing the presidential debates

How we choose to watch political debates changes what we get out of them. That’s not really news: scholars have been discussing this effect since the first televised presidential debates in 1960. Popular wisdom suggested Nixon’s poor appearance (“death-like”) on TV hurt his standing compared to Kennedy’s vitality, later supported by finding that people who …

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Misery loves company: Colbert’s new drinking buddy

The South Carolina primaries are over and the victory – seemingly impossible only a week ago yet surprising no one tonight – went to Mr. Gingrich. But if Mr. Romney needs someone to commiserate with over a glass of beer, he has a most unlikely partner: Stephen Colbert. Colbert flirted with the idea of a …

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