Thoughts on the DNC Media Coverage

[Brad King]

I'm interested to hear what you all thought of the media coverage of the DNC.

I watched zero mainstream media coverage, instead opting for live streaming speeches (no filter), text of speeches, blogs and Twitter. I feel like I got a pretty good sense.

Sounds like the TV dudes were puking all over themselves.

Thoughts? Bueller?

[John Gartner]

I opted to record everything from C-Span so that I wasn't exposed to the pundits. I heard that Brian Schweitzer's awesome "regular guy" speech was even shown on the networks, and it is not to be missed. (More of my thoughts on the speeches and a link to Schweitzer's video here http://www.matternetwork.com/2008/8/democrats-drill-mccain-on-energ....)

Via The Daily Show and a few minutes of the morning news programs, I did see some of the pundits trying to make their opinions the story. I quickly tired of many of them saying ahead of time what Hillary, Biden and Obama "must" do. Let the people decide, and rather than trying to influence opinion and set expectations ahead of time, I preferred the post-speech analysis from bloggers.

Most of the speakers I heard (the biggest names) had at least one or two memorable lines in taking down the opposition, and those were the soundbites that were picked up on.

[Brad King]

I used the Web to get those videos and speeches. Honestly, I did not hear one second of punditry in 4 days -- and I plan on doing the same with the Republican convention.

It. Was. Heaven.

I'm not a brilliant dude, but I'm relatively smart. I don't think I need a filter for the message. How did the media miss this so much? When did reporters et all begin to think what they had say mattered more than what the sources were saying?

I would love to see the ratings from this (and the spin that says people just don't care about politics -- which is like taking a website that isn't making money and listening to executives talk about why nobody could ever make money online).

[David Willson]

Thank god for C-span.

Yes, the entertainment conglomerate cable and broadcast productions and their pundits are annoying. Worse. They badly distort a very important political process. But to me, there was another great benefit of the C-span coverage. Except for what was going on at the podium and the video feed from the DNC, the entire coverage was out among the crowd at floor level.

Watching C-span, I actually had the sense I was there. The close-up shots of the delegates having a great time, reacting to the speakers and just soaking up a great outdoor event was as important to the whole experience as being able to follow the entire podium program without punditry.

Because of its size and aura of historical significance, this was probably a once in a lifetime American experience. And the C-span coverage allowed some of us to almost "be there."