New Research Project

I've decided to try and focus in on the use of new media by political communications and whether it offers a viable tool with which to re-engage those who are apathetic about voting. The first part of this new project will be to identify an area, preferably a specific constituency, where voter turnout has been particularly low. It will have to be somewhere in the London area as I don't fancy spending a fotune on train tickets going to and from other towns or cities. Once i've decided on the location i'll create a database of contacts including the MP, local councillors, journalists, youth & religious groups, schools etc. Hopefully I should be able to get a reasonable cross section of people in the community who will be willing to be interviewed on the issue and to see whether new media, in their context, could provide a viable tool to engage the public. It would be great if i could also get some data from the public too about how they feel about politics using new media to communicate with them and whether this could make it more relevant or credible for them. Whether this is possible because of the lack of resources remains to be seen but I might give it a go anyway. Still, if I do manage to get a broad range of opinions it shoud still provide me with a good snapshot of whether new media can have an affect on participation in politics.