The coverage of the 2008 Presidential election was like no other, we can all admit that.

The technology blew away viewers under the age of 60. As for the rest of the viewers, well, they weren’t so fortunate, thousands of paramedics were dispatched Tuesday evening in an attempt to rescue seniors suffering from shock and awe of CNN’s holographic reporting.

Hope you didn’t miss it, because it’s real. CNN used hologram technology to…talk to Wolf Blitzer?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg&hl=en&fs=1]

I wish I could say they used the amazing technology to channel important info in hyper speeds, or provide more clear, concise news, or broadcast Vince Vaughn along with all his witty remarks onto the news set. But, nothing really productive came out of this. In fact, the reporter who was “hologramed” into the set, just gave a pointless update which could have been done over live video.

So what is the point? What does this do for the story? Not much. The news wasn’t any more informative. The only plus here is the visual effect-which is an attribute found more commonly in features.

A feature. That’s what CNN provided voters with this year. Lots and lots of cool stuff that entertains us. interviews with Rudy Guliani, a man who had no newsworthy purpose on set, just provided entertainment. Worthless statistics like- “Look Bob! Red states tended to vote more republican!” and… “Wow! Obama had more white voters than Al Gore!”

That’s impresive right? Well, wait- there was also a 10% increase in voter turnout. So more white people voted for McCain than Bush too. Hmmmm.

“But Bob…wait! Obama turned these red colored states into blue ones!”

And finally a piece of news discovered out of statistics. Thank you CNN, you have finally found something. Except instead of doing it behind the scenes and broadcasting it upon being revealed, you did it on live television.

Ultimately, what am I trying to say? Just because Rudy Guliani said it, or because more White people voted for Obama than Al Gore, doesn’t make it news. It is entertainment. It’s the information that is used to develop news stories, or occupy an audience in the meantime.

Discovering a huge dolphin in the Atlantic ocean that sonar’s positive opinions of Obama to the people’s minds on the Florida Coast, which caused more white voters to vote Obama…now that’s news.

Please disregard the Cable News Network as news. They are now officially the Cable Entertainment Network.

____________________________________________________

Update: November 7, 2008- CNN used (two days after the election) the smart boards with touch screen technology to present “Problems on Obama’s Presidential Plate,” when I came to the conclusion that the use of unnecessary “ooh…ahh” technology DELAYS the message. News is diluted by technological advancements. Edward R. Murrow would be ashamed, as would my media teacher Lee Musler, because both of them taught me that writing is the most important task in news writing and broadcast journalism.

Reporters used to write stories, edit them, and revise them to reach the clearest, most concise point of delivery for viewers, while landing a hefty piece of information simultaneously.

Now reporters are skipping the writing process, and preparing a visual tool that has sound bites and B-roll in it, which can be triggered by the touch of the reporter’s finger. The reporter talks in between these media files.

What has this ultimately done? Delayed the delivery. Slowed the news story. Creates FLUFF. I now get less organized news stories in a longer time period.

Bring back old school journalism now.

Written by a former Studio Television Production major