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.
1 comment:
I do agree that the article was well-written, but I fail to see its relevance. I understand that many voters want to see the human side of politicians, but it seemed that this was a story that the reporter fashioned from a few tossed around phrases by some people who happened to know Obama. There was little personal information from Obama himself and that is truly what readers desire.
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