MySpace, Burnett team up to launch "INDEPENDENT"

MySpace, the most popular social networking site announced Wednesday that they are teaming up with reality TV producer Mark Burnett to launch a new political reality show that will have contestants live in the public eye, interacting with supporters, protesters, activists, and others.

Dubbed INDEPENDENT, the interactive television series will seek the nation's next great politician through an online, offline, on-air multimedia campaign. Focused on finding the next great American politician, the show apparently will help reshape the face of US politics, including the next Presidential election by combining reality-competition television with the Internet.

The News Corp.-owned social network and the mastermind behind hit reality series like ‘Survivor’ and ‘The Apprentice’ hope this political reality show will encourage and empower young Americans to participate in the political process.

"Through this new network television series and the partnership of MySpace, we're going to discover in a big way, what America really thinks, and bring to light the issues that are closest to those who now finally have a chance to be heard," Burnett said in a statement.

"INDEPENDENT represents a giant leap in the re-democratization of American politics," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace.

Unlike the traditional reality show in which contestants are isolated from the real world, contestants in the political reality show INDEPENDENT, expected to launch in early 2008, will meet public and interact with supporters, protesters and others.

Through an interactive ‘town hall’ environment, contestants will receive feedback from MySpace users and TV viewers who will get a chance to rate their performance.

Interested candidates will audition for the show by submitting a MySpace video. The chosen contestants will then set up MySpace Impact profiles to serve as their campaign headquarters. The MySpace community will be empowered to propose the issues and challenges to Independent candidates, who will struggle to sort it out in the hometowns of those most affected by the issues.

The show will solicit prominent national politicians who will participate in the show as Independent mentors. They will advise at the time when contestants struggle with community and constituent relations, campaign crisis, and the election process.

"MySpace puts political power back in the hands of everyday people and INDEPENDENT takes it to a whole new level," added Tom Anderson, President and co-founder of MySpace.

The winner of the show will receive $1 million prize, which must be donated to a political cause or used for the winner’s own attempt to run for office. According to MySpace and Mark Burnett, what the winner do with that million dollars is subject to a list of options, all political in nature, but the choice he or she makes will be greatly influenced by the MySpace community and the viewers of the network television show.

No TV network has yet come forth to pick up the show, probably because MySpace is touting INDEPENDENT as a "multiplatform" show, airing on TV as well as running on the Internet.

MySpace will bear all Web-related costs, including video and special profiles for the mock-candidate contestants, while the yet to be named future broadcast partner and Burnett’s company will pay all the costs for the TV show.

MySpace has already ventured into politics by launching the Impact Channel. The social-networking hub released last moth the Impact Channel, a political community on the social network designed to empower politicians, non-profits, and civic organizations to connect with the global users of MySpace.

People who want to register to vote or learn the latest on the 2008 U.S. elections can visit Impact Channel (http://impact.myspace.com). The Channel contains a voter registration tool, links to all 10 presidential candidates’ (five Republicans and five Democrats) profiles, content from ‘GOOD Magazine’, Impact-related event and job listings, videos, and programs.

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is the largest Internet social network site in the world, drawing nearly 90 million users worldwide, with 64.4 million unique visitors from the U.S. in February.