Al Qaeda and Obama

A recent article detailed the video response from Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy, which coldly acknowledged the election of Present-elect Obama.

In the video, Zawahri gave little to the election, saying that Obama's new face for the presidency is merely only masked "a hearted full of hatred." Additionally, Zawahri took swipes at Obama's personal character, calling him a hyprocrit and a traitor to his race, and compared him unfavorably to Malcolm X.

The article did a great job giving the significance of this comparison, as the article explained Zawahri's motives in bringing up Malcolm X and using descriptives such as "house negro" for Obama, Condoleza Rice, and Colin Powell, as Zawahri was trying to speak to the country's African-American muslims.

Also worth noting is that with the Zawahri's video uploaded on the webpage, being able to watch it gave another dimension to the story.

The article can be found here.

Obama and McCain meet

Well, now with the election over, the peaceful transition of power has begun. It's weird not turning on CNN or opening the newspaper to find pictures of Obama, McCain, and Palin plastered everywhere.

In a recent New York Times article, a post-election meeting between Obama and McCain was chronicled. After the election, there has been a general sense of calm after the storm with politics, and the article seems to reflect that.

It may be the fact that the quotes from the sources are generally calming and uniting, rather than the divisive, vicious comments that were constantly thrown at each other during the campaign cycle. It also may have to do with the fact that the reporter can now report on actual high level meetings, rather than pretty pointless, unimportant happenings (at least in the general scheme of things).

More than anything, I liked the historical perspective the article gave, when at the end it mentioned how Senator John Kerry didn't even wait a week to attack President George Bush after his defeat in 2004. It gives us a reminder that although this election was historic and monumental, it accomplishes the same thing with every election, and that it really isn't all that different.

The article can be found here.

President-elect Obama

So it is all finally over, and in a resounding mandate against the Bush presidency and a emphatic call for change, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States with a landslide win.

It's hard to imagine that such a long, strenuous campaign season ended in such a lopsided vote, but everything takes a back seat the historical night that was last night.

Watching the returns on television (I preferred CNN's coverage), new technology was evident throughout the night, as it becomes more and more clear that the media's electronic medium is growing more and more prominent. On the web, I found CNN's online coverage to be exceptional, and I was very impressed with the New York Times' website's interactive features.

After the news broke that Barack Obama won the presidency, an exceptional job was done covering the significance of a truly historical event. Everything from video of Jesse Jackson tearing up at Grant Park to interviews with Civil Rights leaders, the emotive aspect of last night was not lost.

Even still, waking up this morning and seeing people on the news waiting in line for a newspaper is still a good sight to see. The print industry may be on its way to becoming obselete, but even still, there is nothing like a seeing a front page covering a monumental moment.

Calling the Election

The time has come, it is election day! Even more than who wins the Presidency, I am curious to see the final voting turnout numbers. After a few decades of staggering American voting turnout rates, it looks like the American people are excited and motivated to be apart of the political process.

In an article on the day of the election, the New York Times talked about the coverage of the election. No longer will people be waiting until the next morning to check out the headlines of the paper to find out who came out on the top (like in the good ol' Truman vs Dewey days), but people will be watching simultaneous coverage of the electoral count as it unfolds.

The article discusses how the television media, specifically the major networks, will go about calling the election, especially with an early landslide being a possibility.

The article was really interesting, as it touched upon most of the major networks for comment. Since networks will be relying on slow official ballot counts from the state and unreliable exit polls, networks are wary of reliving something along the lines of Tribune's gaff with Truman and Dewey. Even still, in today's competitive market, these networks are battling each other to be the first to announce the next President of the United States. With key battleground states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina all closing their polls early due to their eastern time zone, the networks could call the election by as early as 8 PM tonight.

Networks, publications, and online news mediums may have their fingers on the trigger, but don't expect these networks to pull a Tribune and declare Dewey the winner. When asked how Katie Couric will go about interpreting the polling data, Senior Vice President of CBS News Paul Friedman said it would be more along the lines of her reporting indications, such as “Given what we know about the results, or the projected results in various states, it’s beginning to look like it will be very difficult for John McCain to put together enough votes to win this election.”

Tune in soon to see how it unfolds.

The article can be found here.

Behind the Scenes

I'm back from a brief hiatus, and just in time, too. We're probably a little more than 30 hours away from finding out how this McCain Obama saga will play out.

The New York Times has vamped up its coverage of the Presidential election in the waning moments, but there was a specific article that I'd like to talk about.

In "Even Keel for Obama in Final Turn to Election," Jeff Zeleny takes an interesting approach to giving the nation a glimpse into Obama's campaign cycle so far.

From the start, I had to enlist the services of Google to find out what "even keel" meant (If something is on an even keel, it is balanced). The article differs from other coverage-based counterparts that report the happenings and issues circulating on the campaign trail. Much like the style of reporting we are currently learning about in the Jour-200 classroom, this feature is a hybrid between explanatory reporting and a profile feature.

The article gives light to information that readers did not know beforehand that would be particularly interesting - Obama is currently reading “Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the C.I.A., Afghanistan and Bin Laden,” and occassionally reads US Weekly. Incredibly well-written, Zeleny uses everything from descriptive narration of Obama to quotes from his close friends and advisors.

Admittingly, I had mixed reactions to this when I first read it. In the midst of quite an important election, did I really want to spend my time reading a fluffy feel good article about the "behind-the-scenes" of campaigning? But the more I read, I found the timeliness and newsworthy aspects of the article to be at the heart of the article. Zeleny sought to bring to light the motivation and emotion behind the campaigning news that we read about on a daily basis. The article also discusses the political processes that happen behind the scenes, such as Obama's meetings with Senator Harry Reid and his phone calls with Secretary Henry Paulson.

Zeleny does a great job of incorporating his perception of what happens behind the scenes of Obama's campaign trail, while still bringing to light what really is important.

Needless to say, I, like the rest of the country, is on edge to find out how it all goes down tomorrow. Hopefully I can sneak in one more blog before either McCain or Obama gives his victory speech.

The article can be found here and I highly encourage all of you read it.

McCain and Unwanted Advice

A recent feature article discussed the role of Mike Murphy, the chair of John McCain's 2000 Presidential campaign, who has since alienated himself from McCain and his campaign staff.

Now an enemy of sorts with the McCain staff, Murphy has been highly critical of how the campaign has been run so far, using media mediums such as on-line blogging and cable television. Especially disturbing to the McCain campaign has been that Murphy has used MSNBC to sound off on McCain's campaign, a station which the campaign has treated like an enemy.

The article really does not go in-depth, primarily noting events that have occurred. It seems as if the article was a last second thought that was squeezed out before the deadline. The only sources the article quotes are some of Murphy's writings and another former McCain adviser, John Weaver.

At the end of the article, Mark McKinnon is mentioned. McKinnon was a high-ranking adviser in the McCain camp that left the campaign because he did not want to be involved in a campaign focused on tearing Barack Obama's campaign down. The article mentions that McKinnon declined to comment, but McKinnon's view on something like this would have been really interesting to hear.

McCain and Obama Palling Around

In a recent article on its website, the New York Times covered the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, which John McCain and Barack Obama both attended and spoke at.

The event was a lighthearted on in itself, as both candidates both took time to poke fun at each other and at themselves, much to the delight of the many distinguished guests present in the audience.

The article followed suit, as it was published on the website's political blog "The Caucus" rather than be its own separate article. Additionally, the article was written in a fun tone, capturing the spirit of the event.

Most importantly, the coverage of the event included video of the speeches given by the candidates, showing the multimedia medium in which today's newspapers have found themselves in.

Lastly, I must say it was refreshing not just to read a lighthearted article in the coverage of this election, but in general, it was great to see the candidates in such a light. Maybe politics need more humor and good fun.

If you guys have some time, really try and watch this video. I promise you it'll be worth it.



The article can be found here.