Reaching out

Should politicians restrict themselves to the tried and tested forms of communication? Or should they be permitted to adopt innovative methods such as Webcameron? Marina Hyde of The Guardian thinks not:

"It is of course perfectly possible that David Cameron lives, on occasion, off camera. There may be interstices in his existence that are not regarded as thrilling fodder for the masses, or placed on websites populated by lonely teens anxious to find a clip of a donkey braying the Star-Spangled Banner, or a 15-second mobile phonecam recording from the back of a Babyshambles gig. But I cannot imagine how utterly bathetic these moments would have to be not to make the cut of what the Tory leader views as transmittable footage.
As a former, much-disliked press officer at Carlton television, perhaps it is only natural that David should have adopted that tragically defunct company's legendary production values. "Watch out BBC, ITV, Channel 4," he jokes in the first Webcameron clip. "We're the new competition. We're a bit shaky and wobbly, but this is one of the ways we want to communicate properly with people about what the Conservative party stands for . . ."

I thought that his first video (here) was very good. OK, the kids were screaming and maybe it was a little stagey. But Dave gave a passable impression of a real human being.

And, in any case, why not try something new? If he can connect with the people otherwise turned off by politicians, then good for him. If journalists don't like it, then tough.