July 2016

How Clinton and Trump Can Capitalize on Knowing Their Followers' Favorite Brands

[Commentary] As a complement to traditional polling, both campaigns can take advantage of the massive scale available via social affinities. Using an algorithm-based approach to measure the engagement behaviors of hundreds of millions of social users—think commenting, photo posting and retweeting—candidates can see which brands, TV shows, movies and celebrities engage their social bases.

Affinity measurement is a perpetual polling mechanism, constantly monitoring millions of preferences and passions. In contrast to social listening tools, measuring affinities identifies which entities will be most receptive by gauging the intensity of engagement between candidates and their potential voters.

[JT Compeau leads client services for AffinityAnswers, the first industry platform for predictive branding.]

There's the real GOP convention, and then what the media 'reports'

[Commentary] Two different Republican National Conventions are simultaneously occurring in Cleveland (OH), depending upon the news organization covering it. To hear it from the leftist media, the party stands divided and is not ready to nominate its candidate, features no Hollywood celebrities, the floor reels in chaos and protesters are rioting in the streets outside of Quicken Loans Arena. I feel as though I am in a completely different city and at a completely different venue.

From my perspective as a delegate from Michigan, the convention hall appears well-organized and on message, aside from a minor last gasp from the Never Trumpers. Nobody tore up the streets of Cleveland. Protesters outside the event are by and large demonstrating peacefully. Security is necessarily strong in the context of police murders in the country and jihadist activity in Europe. Members of the Fourth Estate will sensationalize stories to draw ratings and enhance their public profiles. That is how they approach their jobs. Their commentaries for the week were written long before they arrived in Cleveland, and they will spend the week amplifying the most inconsequential events regardless of facts.

[Hoekstra represented Michigan's 2nd Congressional District from 1993 to 2011 and is the former chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee]

Republican Party Platform Addresses Education, Nods to Edtech

The Republican Party has released its official party platform in full. The 58-page document outlines issues the party will focus on during the home stretch to the election and after, though nominee Donald Trump has not officially endorsed it. The platform claims that, "After years of trial and error, we know the policies and methods that have actually made a difference in student advancement." Those things are school choice, STEM education, phonics, career/technical education, merit pay for teachers, parental involvement, "ending social promotions" and strong administrative leadership.

Here is what the party had to say about edtech: "Because technology has become an essential tool of learning, it must be a key element in our efforts to provide every child equal access and opportunity." In the platform, Republicans praise the value of STEM education and the transformative effects of the "digital revolution" on everything from malls to schools. "Innovation" is high on conservative policymakers' minds—the word appears 22 times throughout the document. Rather than encouraging schools to look to the federal government for STEM education and innovation, the party urges them to make use of the expertise in their communities: "teaching talent in the business community, STEM fields, and the military, especially among our returning veterans."

Republican donor unloads on 'dirty' feeling of political donations

Multimillionaire Republican donor John Jordan says he sometimes feels dirty when politicians beg him for money. "It's kind of like somebody hitting on you," said Jordan. "Sometimes some of them are better than others and some of them just make you feel dirty," he added. "You know the ask is coming when this happens, when they become excessively familiar. When they talk about how they've known you and how they follow your business, and how's it going out there in California. Message: I care."

Jordan has rubbed many political consultants the wrong way by taking a similarly controlling approach in the world of political advertising. Instead of sending checks to super-PACs controlled by consultants, Jordan likes to set up his own super-PACs to keep control over his money and direct his own advertising. He's spent more than $2.7 million on super-PACs over the past three years, according to the Federal Election Commission, but he now believes most super-PAC spending is worthless. "I don't write checks anymore to super-PACs where they let other people spend the money," Jordan said. "One of the dirty little secrets of politics is exactly how dirty the super-PAC world really is. ... The ad makers, the media buyers are just making a killing."

The Supreme Court’s new definition of corruption is out of step with what Americans think

[Commentary] In June, the Supreme Court overturned former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell’s conviction for corruption in a unanimous decision. McDonnell had been convicted of corruption for allegedly using the governor’s office to enrich himself by personally hosting events promoting a friend’s business ventures in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. The court ruled that his actions were not corrupt because they were not official acts. In effect, the court has defined corruption in a way that requires prosecutors to prove an explicit quid pro quo agreement. This narrow definition is out of line with both public opinion and scholarly research on corruption.

I have argued that looking for bright-line distinctions between corrupt and non-corrupt acts is futile: Rules, roles, and conceptions of justice keep changing, because they are inherently controversial — and so are constantly being revised in further political struggles. First one side defines corruption in a particular way; then another group makes efforts to pull the definition closer to what it thinks. We have seen this shift in our lifetimes. Such controversies over the limits of power are healthy for democracy. In fact, it is less remarkable that the justices have defined corruption in narrow ways than that we expected them to resolve the question in the first place.

[Michael Johnston is the Charles A. Dana professor of political science emeritus at Colgate University.]

Google Cuts Its Giant Electricity Bill With DeepMind-Powered AI

Google just paid for part of its acquisition of DeepMind in a surprising way. The Internet giant is using technology from the DeepMind artificial intelligence subsidiary for big savings on the power consumed by its data centers, according to DeepMind Co-Founder Demis Hassabis.

In recent months, the Alphabet unit put a DeepMind AI system in control of parts of its data centers to reduce power consumption by manipulating computer servers and related equipment like cooling systems. It uses a similar technique to DeepMind software that taught itself to play Atari video games, Hassabis said. The system cut power usage in the data centers by several percentage points, "which is a huge saving in terms of cost but, also, great for the environment," he said. The savings translate into a 15 percent improvement in power usage efficiency.

NAB: FCC Too Quiet on Eight-Voices Test

Federal Communications Commission local ownership rules prohibits duopolies where TV station co-ownership would leave fewer than eight independently owned stations, which means most markets, but broadcasters say that prohibition is unjustified and unsupported by economic analysis and have commissioned a study buttressing their case.

The FCC does not plan on changing that rule, according to its quadrennial media ownership review proposal that has already been approved by a Democratic majority, though FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said the item remains under discussion, and can still be tweaked. Facing yet another opportunity lost for the FCC to loosen ownership regulations, the National Association of Broadcasters has submitted a study providing what it says is a basic economic analysis on the so-called eight voices test, an analysis NAB says the FCC has repeatedly failed to do itself.

Black media has a plan to stay relevant as mainstream journalists encroach

Mainstream media—fueled by amateur videos showing tragic interactions between police and people of color, social-media activism, and wider awareness of racial discrimination—have flocked to cover black issues, with dedicated beat reporters, black-focused verticals, and graphic photos. Mainstream interest in the black story has put black media in a tricky position in the battle for audience attention, but they’re not giving up the mantle without a fight.

Black media outlets both digital and analog are responding by finding new story angles, choosing to focus not only on the events themselves but also on the larger context, with honest analysis of what politics and police brutality mean for the future of black Americans, and how they cope with daily life. These outlets are striving for a level of authenticity and trust that still eludes mainstream players—many of which employ few people of color. The ultimate value of all black media is that it gives a true and full picture of black life and culture.

The real world is fast becoming a digital colony

[Commentary] One of the defining trends of tech in recent years has been the colonization of the real by the digital. By that, I mean the tendency for technology to overlay our experience of people, places, and things, with networks that exist primarily online. The classic example of this is the digital map. Maps have always existed separate to the physical space they represent, of course, but the ease of use and ubiquity of apps like Google Maps and Citymapper have created, in many peoples’ eyes, a disconnect between our experience of the world, and the geographies that exist solely on our smartphones. But this is just one example, and the colonization of the real is only just beginning.

Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos has been permanently suspended from Twitter

Milo Yiannopoulos, the tech editor at conservative news site Breitbart and a pretty notorious Internet troll, has been suspended from Twitter for the final time. He’s now banned for good for repeatedly abusing other users, the company confirmed.

Yiannopoulos crossed the line when he went after actress Leslie Jones on the microblogging site. Jones was harassed and taunted by users, many of them sending her racist images and slurs. She ultimately signed off “with tears and a very sad heart” after publicly pleading with Twitter to intervene. Yiannopoulos, who had 338,000 followers and a Twitter bio that called him “The most fabulous supervillain on the Internet,” was one of the main instigators. He tweeted that Jones was “barely literate” and also referred to her as a man. The permanent ban means that Twitter will essentially keep Yiannopoulos off its network in any way possible, including finding and suspended any new accounts he creates. It’s the same punishment Twitter has handed down to other repeat trolls, like rapper Azealia Banks and Gotnews founder Chuck Johnson.

Benton

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