Tag Archives: New York Times

The New York Times did something very unusual in it’s coverage of the second presidential debate. The debate has ended and I can hear CNN on the tv upstairs turning it over to their army of talking heads with only 30 seconds to make their point and move on the next one. Meanwhile downstairs I was watching the debate on NYT’s streaming live video while clearing up some emails. The NYT’s coverage just lets the cameras roll for half an hour after the debate has ended. They pan and cut from camera to camera now and then, no audio just the buzz of the live audience but the interesting thing they are showing is that McCain has left the room, he is gone within minutes, no interest in the 100 or so people in the audience who were posing him questions earlier. Obama however looks around and sees the opportunity at hand. He and Michelle start and one end and work their way through the seats to meet each and every one of the people. You can see the people sitting on the McCain side of the stage eagerly awaiting their turn, which eventually comes. By the 15 minute mark people are out of their seats and it has turned into a mini- Obama rally. No audience member has left; they are now all requesting autographs, taking pictures of themselves and eventually settle down into one big group shot with Obama and Michelle at the center. That continues on till nearly half an hour post debate. No doubt – Obama wins the audience by a landslide.

From an online media perspective it shows how “newspapers” now are competing against tv’s for eyeballs for live events. But also it shows how the medium changes the message. CNN has to sell ad time, it has to push it’s message against the audience. Perhaps the NYT hasn’t seized on ad selling of the video property or maybe it’s journalists are ready to appear as talking heads? Maybe it will never will and online video will continue to show quite different views of the same event.