GE2024: Attack Ads, Money Problems, and the WSJ

Before I get into it, you may have noticed that TheBriefing.ie has had a makeover. My long-time collaborator and friend Brent Gorsky did a full re-brand, including the very cool - and hand made - collages. He wrote about the strategy behind it here. And, I have added a

Tech looms over this election, but as fiscal policy, not a campaign tool

Between Trump's appointees, mobile tech capital and changing tax rules, we are facing a possible fiscal cliff. Yet we are still hearing 2007-style auction politics. Where is the vision for a less FDI dependent economy?

Where is the Sinn Fein digital campaign?

With just over 2 weeks to go, we expect parties to be ramping up their ad spend. Fine Gael are, but Sinn Fein have yet to start a General Election digital campaign, at least on the paid side.

GE2024: Simon Harris here, and here, and here, and...

Election day is confirmed, and the money flows - and videos of high-fiving children - have commenced.

We don't have to wake up like this again in 4 weeks (or 4 years) time

In Ireland we have our own election in less than 4 weeks time, and this time we will have a vote, and we have agency over how that election goes.

Canvassers: our secret weapon against online & financial distortion

I was asked on the This Week programme yesterday to talk through the digital campaign. We only had 6 minutes (you can listen back here - including about Fine Gael's new ad push), but I wanted to make sure I squeezed in an acknowledgment of the work that

Did AI hallucinate a Halloween Parade and put hundreds of people on Dublin's streets? {Updated}

Last night hundreds of people gathered on Dublin's O'Connell St to watch a Halloween Parade that did not exist; a spookily well timed rise of the Zombie Internet?

3 things that are more interesting than that Taylor Swift video

Let me convince you that at least 3 things are more interesting than the Taylor Swift endorsement deep/cheap/creepfake (which of course is just copying what Trump did, also for attention). These 3 things relate to political finance: 1. One party is spending 80% more in the run up

The Shadow Campaign has Begun, and Deepfake Vs. Cheapfake

Revealing "shadow campaigns" and how AI-driven “deepfake” tools are reshaping political messaging and authenticity.

GE2024: What we're covering, and how can you help

It looks like we are either 6 or 7 weeks out from the General Election. I am in full planning mode, and would love your input, advice, tips. As always, you can reply to this email to hit my inbox. I’ll be in a position to do about 2

Budget reaction: the quiet triumph of the data centre lobby

In amongst the giveaways, was a opening for the Apple Tax windfall to be siphoned into state subsidies for data centres.

Apple Tax, Populism, and the Persistent Fallacy that Accountancy is Economics

Tax and tech are entering their accountability era. The Irish State, which has both enabled and benefited from the previous Wild West era, faces the prospect of not just an economic but also a political crisis if it doesn’t adjust.