Every shot I see today on the news channels has the anchor and his/her guests outside, with crowds massing behind them, holding placards and shouting slogans. During Crossfire, there was a guy in the background with his face painted red, waving some sort of illegible sign so you didn't even know who or what he was supporting. Right now, I'm watching Wolf Blitzer trying to talk over the ruckus of people yelling for and against Bush and Kerry.
Question #1: Why do the TV news channels put their cameras out there? There's nothing newsworthy about those people in the back of the shot, and it makes it harder to hear the people we're supposed to be able to hear. I don't think it makes things interesting. I don't think it tells us anything about the general mood of the community. What's the point of it?
Question #2: In this history of mankind, has anyone ever changed their vote because they saw someone flashing a sign and yelling a candidate's name? How would that thought process go? "You know, Martha, I was planning to vote Democratic…but while I was watching the news, I spotted a guy in a pig mask holding up a G.O.P. banner and…well, that really crystallized the issues for me so I've decided to vote Republican."
I assume the Bush supporters are out there now because they don't want it to be all-Kerry in the background, thereby suggesting that Arizona is going Democratic…and the Kerry fans are out there to prevent the Bush people from giving the opposite impression. But if CNN would just move their cameras inside, those folks wouldn't have to bother, and we could actually understand what Jeff Greenfield is trying to say, struggling to be heard over the din. (Hmm…that might be a good reason to keep the demonstrators out there, drowning him out…)