Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

You can now add the World Wide Web as a new battleground for the upcoming general elections.

This as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has placed its political advertisements on the popular video sharing website Youtube.com. Some of the ads which have been on local radio for the past three weeks are now on the website.

When The Gleaner visited the website this week, there were eight JLP ads which were added over a week ago available for viewing.

These included "PNP old bus not changing course 1 and 2" and ads featuring the Golding family.

These ads have been causing quite a stir with the catch phrase "not changing no course", and they initially drew the ire of People's National Party (PNP) President Portia Simpson Miller, who has accused the JLP of distorting her message.

Warren Newby, president of JLP-affiliate group, Generation 2000 (G2K), who is responsible for placing the ads on the website, said the move was aimed at a younger generation.

"We are using the medium to get to the young and peppy crowd and we think it is important to use technology to get information across," Mr. Newby said.

Welcomed development

Carlton Samuels, director of Information Technology at the University of the West Indies, said the use of this new medium is a low-cost way of reaching voters in the 18 to 30 age cohort.

"Essentially to me it speaks well to their savvy; to how new media, especially the Internet, are shifting communication models," Mr. Samuels told The Gleaner. "To be using Youtube for their election campaign is a welcomed development."

Citing the last presidential elections in the United States, and the Internet's impact on some results, he said the impact of the Internet in the current campaigning should not be underestimated.

"What they should not underestimate is that there are huge numbers of Jamaicans, especially students who are accessing these social networking sites," he said. " ... the Internet has a profound multiplier effect and it is another avenue for pushing information to potential users of information."

Andrew Okola, PNP Youth Organisation President, has also indicated that his organisation will be using the Internet in its campaigning. While no PNP ads were found on the website, Mr. Okola said his organisation would soon be rolling out the party's ads.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com