How Does Capitol Hill Consume Media?

[Commentary] The Emerging Media Research Council conducted a series of in-depth interviews with Capitol Hill staffers finding:

• Growing adoption and use: Congressional staff reported increasing use of digital tools, both personally and for their offices. Twitter and Facebook experienced the most growth.
• Traditional media remains powerful: Traditional news outlets and traditional platforms (such as newspapers and television) remain vital for offices' communications efforts and for staff personal news consumption.
• Two-way conversation is limited: Most staffers we interviewed were hesitant to use social platforms for two-way conversation with constituents. Most staff said they valued these tools primarily for messaging "out" to the constituents.
• Digital media is widely used as a "thermometer": Staffers consistently praised the value of social platforms and digital tools for "checking the pulse" of key political or policy issues, and for testing the efficacy of new communications language.
• Online advocacy campaigns have limited penetration to congressional offices: Despite increasing use of digital media by advocacy groups, most staffers said their office had never heard from such a group online.
• Congressional staff are the digital drivers: Though many members of Congress are interested in digital media, the interviews strongly suggested that communications staff are the key actors in the future of Congress' online presence.