Mashline is a new media product. As its name suggests, it mashes "headline news and entertainment" in a range of formats on one website. Genevieve Desjardins, a former deputy director of communications in the Conservative PMO, said:
the site is one-stop shopping for both election news and election rumour. "You have the traditional media and then you click, you have the social media — all the blogs, all the video on YouTube, all the news on CBC, CTV, La Presse — every Canadian outlet is there and updated every minute."
On the Social Media page, this is posted:
Warning - Content posted directly from social media sites may be offensive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Indeed. There are 4 columns/areas dedicated to each of the four male leaders of the CPC, LPC, NDP and BQ. No Green Party.
The page is updated every 2 minutes or so. Though I bookmarked the website last week, I only check it perhaps 3 or four times a day. It appears to me that most of the social media that is fed to the PCP column is very critical of Stephen Harper and his Conservatives. Today I followed a link and discovered this clever YouTube:
HARPER IS A CYLON
This one has the potential for going viral, unlike the other Harper themed new media product launched to great fanfare last week.
It seems, from my unbiased perspective, that Mashline, as a medium for displaying glowing testimonials from Conservative bloggers and producers of social media is not working out favourably for them. Perhaps they should allow 'real' people to attend their events, besides the ones they trick for photo opportunities.
