Hello from my kitchen table, at close to 2am. Sharing a thought I can't get out of my head on this election results day, even as the count has yet to deliver anything definitive. Do share your thoughts - either reply or I am on BlueSky - and
UPDATE: I added 2 more great pieces of reporting below, from The Journal & Dublin Inquirer, after sending this post as an email We can look at the tech story of the Irish 2024 General Election in 3 ways; tech as a campaign tool, tech companies as campaign actors, and
Before I get into it, you may have noticed that TheBriefing.ie has had a makeover. My long-time collaborator and friend Brent Gorsky did a full re-brand, including the very cool - and hand made - collages. He wrote about the strategy behind it here. And, I have added a
Irish Politics
Between Trump's appointees, mobile tech capital and changing tax rules, we are facing a possible fiscal cliff. Yet we are still hearing 2007-style auction politics. Where is the vision for a less FDI dependent economy?
With just over 2 weeks to go, we expect parties to be ramping up their ad spend. Fine Gael are, but Sinn Fein have yet to start a General Election digital campaign, at least on the paid side.
Election day is confirmed, and the money flows - and videos of high-fiving children - have commenced.
In Ireland we have our own election in less than 4 weeks time, and this time we will have a vote, and we have agency over how that election goes.
I was asked on the This Week programme yesterday to talk through the digital campaign. We only had 6 minutes (you can listen back here - including about Fine Gael's new ad push), but I wanted to make sure I squeezed in an acknowledgment of the work that
A.I.
Last night hundreds of people gathered on Dublin's O'Connell St to watch a Halloween Parade that did not exist; a spookily well timed rise of the Zombie Internet?
Let me convince you that at least 3 things are more interesting than the Taylor Swift endorsement deep/cheap/creepfake (which of course is just copying what Trump did, also for attention). These 3 things relate to political finance: 1. One party is spending 80% more in the run up
Revealing "shadow campaigns" and how AI-driven “deepfake” tools are reshaping political messaging and authenticity.
It looks like we are either 6 or 7 weeks out from the General Election. I am in full planning mode, and would love your input, advice, tips. As always, you can reply to this email to hit my inbox. I’ll be in a position to do about 2
