CNN - THE FORCE IS WITH TV NEWS CHANNELS

THE FORCE IS WITH TV NEWS CHANNELS

CNN at times had the look of a special-effects movie during its electioncoverage Tuesday night, expecially when its in-studio team discussed theresults with correspondent Jessica Yellin in the field, who appeared on theset as a 3-D hologram. It sometimes appeared as if the coverage were part ofa Star Wars movie, what with the hologram image colored with a bluecaste and outlined with a white halo. Indeed at one point, Yellin remarked,"I feel like Princess Leia." Newsweek's online site commented that"it was a cheesy, gratuitous technique." CNN also had a chance to featureits "Magic Map," a touch-screen map displaying the electoral votecomposition that outshone similar screens employed by rival news channels.All in all, the television and cable networks handled their electioncoverage without the embarrassing glitches that have plagued them inprevious elections. On Comedy Central, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbertparodied the election coverage (when Stewart would remark that it was "ahistoric night," Colbert would incorrectly correct him, saying that it was"An historic night") during a one-hour special. The broadcast, which wasscheduled to end at 11 00 p.m., stayed on the air for a moment past thatwitching hour so that Stewart could announce in all seriousness, "I wouldjust like to say, if I may ... that at 11 o'clock at night, Eastern StandardTime, the president of the United States is Barack Obama." (That eventactually will occur on January 20.)

05/11/2008