Changes expected to US party conventions 2:14
(CNN Business) - Critics have derided political conventions as a glorified television show for several election cycles. This year, that's what it really is: a television production with live footage and short clips from around the country.
The Democrats' big show begins Monday night. "The scaled-down convention will be a mix of live and prerecorded speeches and highly produced visuals," Astead W. Herndon and Reid J. Epstein of The New York Times wrote Sunday. Their story had a Milwaukee deadline, but they noted that "no official business will take place in Milwaukee." A virtual convention, indeed.
- Programming, guests and key topics: what to see on the first night of the Democratic Convention
Hundreds of live streams
CNN's Jessica Dean wrote: "The Democrats' virtual convention will feature hundreds of live broadcasts from across the country and four venues located in New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Wilmington, Delaware, according to a source who has seen recent convention plans.
"The completely virtual convention will feature masters of ceremonies who will lead the two-hour show in the evening, with those people broadcasting primarily from the Los Angeles studio, according to the source," Dean wrote. "In addition, there will be live speakers from around the country every night broadcasting from historic and symbolic locations that will thematically reinforce their comments."
John Verhovek of ABC reported that Democrats plan to structure the first night of the convention around a "trio of crises taking over the nation." Those are the covid-19, the recession and the national reckoning on racial injustice. The Daily Beast compared the convention to the CND's "Most Important Zoom Meeting."
Who is Kamala Harris in US politics? 1:43Behind the scenes with Ricky Kirshner
Hundreds of people are producing this giant Zoom call. They are led by the executive producer of the Democratic National Committee (CND) since 1992, Ricky Kirshner, who also produces Super Bowl halftime shows and Tony Awards broadcasts. He told Michael Scherer of The Washington Post that “Anything can happen. It is not written, I can tell you. There is a lot live on this show.
However, some elements are written into a script, and some speeches are being recorded in advance. The live footage "will be mixed in real time with an approximately equal proportion of pre-recorded performances, mini-documentaries and speeches," Scherer wrote.
And that is a source of tension between the organizers of the convention and the television networks. NBC, ABC and CBS have committed to one hour of convention coverage per night, at 10 pm Miami time. Cable channels like CNN have scheduled special coverage throughout the night, but that doesn't mean that the convention TV show will automatically air. "The New Circus" could fail "if the television and cable networks have their talents on the air speaking on all the carefully prepared sets and less partisan viewers decide to dismiss the show as too long a propaganda film," wrote Scherer.
To be sure, loyal Democrats will watch the official livestream on the CND website, and Republicans will follow suit within a week. But what moments will make their way to a wider audience? We will see.
Biden and Harris launch presidential campaign against Trump 4:56Why Conventions Matter
These comments on George Winslow's Broadcasting & Cable cover story hit the spot:
- “With the problems facing the country right now with the coronavirus and economic decline and race riots, the conventions will provide voters with plans for how each party plans to address these issues and what the country will look like under a Democratic president or a Republican President, ”said Marc Burstein, ABC's Senior Executive Producer for Special Events.
- CBS News political director Caitlin Conant said the conventions "will allow candidates to basically reintroduce themselves to the United States and refocus on politics."
Notes and quotes
- Trump called "Fox & Friends" Monday morning. In particular, this comes at the same time that his campaign tries to counter-program the CND with a massive purchase of digital ads.
- And it comes on the heels of Trump's latest tweet criticizing Fox's news operation. He said the network "can't be viewed on weekend afternoons" and encouraged people to watch One America News instead. .
- While Trump is on Fox, Biden's substitutes are covering other morning shows: Elizabeth Warren is on "Today," Pete Buttigieg and Muriel Bowser are on "Morning Joe," Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar are on "New Day," and Booker. it's also on "CBS This Morning."
- Bloomberg's Jennifer Epstein noted that Kamala Harris's first three interviews after the vice-presidency nomination were with black women: Errin Haines of The 19th, Natasha Sonia Alford of The Grio and Tanya Christian of Essence.
- The most memorable phrase from The Grio interview: "They're going to get involved in lies," said Harris ... "And we're ready."
- Sabrina Singh joins the Biden-Harris campaign as Harris' press secretary.
Trump lies to reporters while Biden avoids them
Two things can be worrisome at the same time without being equally bad. Example: Biden's inaccessibility. Reporters are rightly criticizing Biden for not having a conference call for days. That's bad, but it's worse for Trump to spread disinformation at his press conferences.
"There is a frustration, I would say, as someone who spends a lot of time covering the Biden campaign, that he has not been particularly accessible," Khalid said. " I mean, last week, he introduced his vice president. I think a lot of journalists hoped there would be some format in which we could ask questions, 'but it wasn't.
Harris noted that this is strategic on Biden's part: “They know what they're doing, why they're doing it, and we can scream about it. And voters can decide how much they care.
ABC got first joint interview with Biden and Harris
ABC has booked the "first joint interviews" with Biden and Harris. The network says David Muir will have the interview and Robin Roberts "will have a conversation with Biden and Harris about the historic Democratic presidential ticket." Interviews will air in a prime-time special on Sunday at 8 pm ET.
Democratic National Convention