The Washington Times’ Scott Galupo writes about the way cable networks have covered the 2008 primary election this season. Galupo describes the factors that have contributed to the networks’ decision to make broadcasts, “a more improvisational, laid-bare affair.”
One of those was the use of movement. “Leggy Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly has patented a background-to-foreground approach to the camera, chitchatting as she makes her way down the studio ramp. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper stand and chat with panelists as though they’re at the office water cooler,” he writes.
Another key element to the change in coverage has been technology. CNN SVP and Washington bureau chief David Bohrman describes the huge “liquid wall” in CNN’s Election Center. “It had been something I wanted to do for years,” he said. “I wanted this big, dynamic room where we’d be able to toggle between individual tote boards and be able to transform it at the snap of a finger to a wall full of live remotes.”