Table of contentsIntroductionEvolution of political scandals on traditional mediaCoverage of scandals on social mediaDifferences between social media and traditional mediaConclusionReferencesIntroductionPolitical sex scandals are as old as the American Republic itself and have become one of the most important forms of crisis communication. The first major political sex scandal occurred in the late 18th century, when Alexander Hamilton was placed under surveillance for an alleged financial fraud, which turned out to be an extramarital affair. Even then, without social media and 24-hour news circles, Hamilton was forced to respond and account for his actions. However, the circumstances surrounding politicians and the way they respond have evolved considerably, particularly at the turn of the 21st century. With the popularization of the Internet and social media, politicians are more vulnerable online, as the separation between public and private lives has rapidly diminished, changing the nature of political scandals. Especially sex scandals, because they involve a single person rather than entire organizations or companies where multiple individuals may be held responsible, making them more difficult to analyze in the context of crisis communications. Therefore, this essay will focus solely on political sex scandals and attempt to analyze and detail how a response was carried out using both social media and traditional media. The cases that will be discussed all occurred in the Internet age. The first scandal that will be discussed is the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal of 1998, which is arguably the biggest sex scandal to date, and because it occurred on the eve of the Internet explosion and caused the subject of extensive media coverage and therefore cannot be left aside in this analysis. The second case will involve Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose scandal initially broke out via Twitter and who was already using Twitter as his primary source of communication with his constituents. The third and final case that will be discussed is that of Herman Cain who used both his social media platforms and traditional media as a communication tool. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssayEvolving Political Scandals on Mainstream MediaIn 1998, news broke about President Bill Clinton over his affair with the intern from the White House Monica Lewinsky and demonstrated a turning point in the coverage of political scandals. Due to his position as president, Bill Clinton was already a highly scrutinized public figure and this was not the first time he was accused of infidelity. After the scandal was first reported, President Clinton denied the accusation on television, uttering what would become one of the scandal's most memorable lines: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” (Clinton, 1998). Nearly a year later, he admitted to the affair and resigned as president. Monica Lewinsky described herself as one of the first victims of cyberbullying and was “brought on by the digital revolution” (Wakefield, 2015). According to his TED talk, Lewinsky said that “when the story broke online. It was one of the first times that traditional news was usurped by the Internet in favor of a major news story. (Lewinsky, 2015). Even if there were no social media like we knowAs we know today in 1998, images of Lewinsky wearing a black beret quickly went viral, as did comments and jokes posted in response to online articles (Wakefield, 2015). The next case occurred in 2011, when Rep. Anthony Weiner sent a lewd photo to a 21-year-old student using his main Twitter account. Weiner quickly removed the photo and claimed his account had been hacked. Days after the scandal broke, Weiner answered questions at a press conference where he said, “[he] was hacked. It happens to people. You keep going. (CNN Wire Staff, 2011), but refused to answer the question of whether the photo was of him. He even refused to ask police to investigate the hack, which his team called a mere "prank" (CNN Wire Staff). His appearance that day is often described as "unusually defensive" and accompanied by "forced attempts at humor and awkward efforts to change the subject" (Kornacki, 2011). As media coverage intensified, another revelation was released involving Weiner sending shirtless photos of himself to a second woman. These revelations were a turning point as Weiner decided to call a press conference again, where he tearfully apologized for the repeated incident and admitted that he was the one who sent all the photos. Weiner went from completely denying and ridiculing any accusations regarding his alleged sex scandal to completely admitting his guilt and finally resigned from office on June 16 (CNN Wire Staff). Coverage of the scandal on social media Before the scandal broke, Weiner used his Twitter account to sarcastically respond to opponents and this carried over into his response, in which he constantly joked about the allegations. An interesting thing to note is that after the scandal made headlines, he did not take to his Twitter account or any other social media to apologize for the scandal or directly acknowledge it. For example, when he was about to make an appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show to talk about the allegations and clear the air, he tweeted the following: “On Rachel tonight. I'm going to talk about Trump eating pizza with a fork! #DudeYoureANewYorker! » (Jonsson, 2011). Until his resignation, he continued to avoid using his Twitter account to placate his supporters and the general public about the allegations and never admitted any wrongdoing. However, when he responded to one of his accusers, it was as always very sarcastic and joking: “Wow, there are so many followers now. #IsThereTrollRemovalSoftware? (Jonsson, 2011). Interestingly, at the time of his resignation, he refrained from tweeting about his resignation, but simply stopped posting on Twitter. The only time he acknowledged the scandal and admitted his fault was in the mainstream media during press conferences where his behavior was very accommodating and emotional. It is possible that his team found that because his Twitter account was a venue for aggression and was primarily used to attack opponents, it would not be appropriate to use it as a form of expression of remorse. Additionally, Weiner at that time was already a member of Congress, so there was less immediate pressure to respond instantly to his supporters. However, it is likely that the unusual silence on Twitter made Weiner appear guilty, and the contradictory portrayal of himself in traditional media versus social media may have led more people to believe the accusations and Weiner lost its remaining credibility. The last case concerns the Republican candidate. Herman Cain. In2012, an investigative report stated that two former employees of the National Restaurant Association complained about "sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable." Although Cain had experienced some minor campaign finance issues before the allegations, this was the first time a substantially negative story had been published against the candidate. Cain's main Twitter account, @thehermancain, provided an immediate response to the allegations, posting a tweet just minutes after the story was published. It said the following: “From the HC Team: Unfortunately, we have seen this movie before. Mr. Cain and all Americans deserve better” (Bingham, 2011) and linked to a press release in which Cain entirely denied all accusations against him. Cain simply denied the accusations and even attacked the source of the article, claiming that he was “the target of liberals” (Burns, 2011). A day after the scandal, Cain made numerous public appearances in which he continued to completely deny all accusations, claiming to not even know the name of any of the women, and encouraged the media to focus on his agenda. campaign. On Twitter, he continued to encourage people to follow his media appearances and encouraged further donations to his campaign. However, after all these accusations, his chances of running began to decline and he fell eight points behind Romney. As a result, Cain suspended his campaign. Differences Between Social Media and Traditional Media In Cain's case, there are subtle differences in how he handled his response on social media and traditional media. However, as more women continued to come forward and the allegations continued to pile up, he never contradicted himself and stood firm on his stance that he was innocent. For example, in response to another woman's accusations, he tweeted: "Welcome to the campaign, Gloria Allerd." What took you so long? (Miller, 2011). With this tweet, it became clear that he attempted to discredit the accuser, mockingly tweeting "What took you so long?" ”, which perfectly represents the purpose of his tweets during the scandal. Trying to shift the blame to someone else and discredit the source with the argument that the left is trying to distract from his campaign and ruin his chances of becoming president. He used social and traditional media as platforms to completely deny all accusations and remained consistent on each one. The only difference is that he used his Twitter account to immediately respond to all the details posted and encouraged people to actively participate in the campaign by donating. He also used social media to highlight events favorable to his campaign, such as a new poll or a record fundraising day. His appearances in mainstream media were orchestrated to deny all allegations of sexual harassment in a more rational manner. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion In conclusion, it became clear that each situation represented a different set of circumstances and that all cases had their own style on Twitter, which impacted the nature of their response on the networks social. Weiner used Twitter to respond sarcastically to his opponents, and that remained unchanged in his response. Although Cain used Twitter to deal with his attackers in the same way as