TVNewser wasn’t the only one to be watching the networks last night as they made their projections and manipulated their iPads.
Below is a roundup of what some of the other media writers had to say:
The rapid rise of the Tea Party also gave networks an overarching theme for election night coverage. Television oftentimes favors colorful characters over substantive issues, and thanks in no small part to the conservative movement, a new cast filled TV screens and Web sites on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
So, my election night was spent flicking between MSNBC and Fox News; my surf along the Republican wave guided by the blustery Keith Olbermann and his panel of MSNBC big names for some returns, and by Fox’s Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier for others. As you might expect, it was like dinner with the Montagues and Capulets; two households alike in indignity with very different takes on the dishes being served.
The metaphors conjured up by the media to describe the events of Tuesday night fell mostly into two clean camps: natural disasters and the undead. The Republicans’ big win in the House, even if they fell short in the Senate, was either a tsunami (Juan Williams), an earthquake (Sarah Palin) or a river reversing its course (Mike Huckabee). Meanwhile, Harry Reid’s victory in Nevada made him either Dracula or Lazarus (Sen. John Kerry), while the GOP’s overall ascendance was “like the sequel to ‘Twilight’” (Huckabee).
If you look at no other cable TV coverage of election night, you need to see this from MSNBC. It is the reaction of a the panel that spent the night at a desk analyzing the results for viewers.
Some might call it an anchor desk, but I would not debase the word “anchor” by putting it in front of a desk that includes folks offering this kind of analysis. The team includes: Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell and Eugene Robinson.