News Release

August 14, 2008
TO:	Reporters, editors, producers
FROM:	Amy Lunday | 443-287-9960 | acl@jhu.edu
RE:	Johns Hopkins professor available to discuss Barack Obama's decision to electronically announce his choice for vice president

The "Be the First to Know" promotion is poised to drop the name of Barack Obama's running mate into inboxes everywhere "the moment Barack makes his decision," according to an e- mail sent by the campaign. No need to be glued to CNN or buy the next day's edition of the New York Times — Obama supporters (or anyone who signs up) will directly receive the scoop in an e-mail or a text message on their mobile phones.

This upcoming cyber announcement is the biggest example to date of the ever-expanding role the Internet and mobile technology are playing in the 2008 presidential cycle, according to Adam Segal, a faculty lecturer in the Master of Arts in Communication in Contemporary Society program at Johns Hopkins, where he teaches Internet and mobile strategies as well as ethnic marketing and political communications. From exploring the role mobile messaging will play in increasing voter turnout to the power of Web videos, Segal is available to talk about how 2008 is a year of technological and political convergence like never before.

"The presidential campaigns of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are volleying back and forth with innovative Internet and mobile communications with the expectation that technology may help decide who wins the presidency this November," Segal says. "Non-traditional communications are becoming an everyday reality and are even impacting on the tone and types of coverage provided by traditional media outlets."

Often quoted by the media in his role as the director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins, Segal recently initiated the Johns Hopkins Internet Project, which will allow him to study changes in Internet marketing and advertising, with a particular focus on search engine advertising. He is the president of The 2050 Group, a public relations and multicultural marketing agency in Washington, D.C., serving major Hispanic organizations, among other clients. He contributed a chapter to The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research: 1984-2004 (Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Jan. 16, 2008).

Contact: Adam Segal at 202-422-4673 (cell) or 202- 756-2252 (office) or by e-mail at adam@the2050group.com.