Election projections

It is an undisputed fact that last Tuesday’s election was historic, to say the very least. America now has a black president, and America’s youth proved they actually do care about their futures.

However, these details pale in comparison to the real landmark feat of this year’s election: The TV viewers of this great nation got to see reporters as 3-D holograms.
Beam me up, Wolf Blitzer. 

Live from Chicago, CNN transmitted an image of correspondent Jessica Yellin into the newsroom. True, it was slightly entertaining, but more than anything, it was weird and unnecessary.

Besides, the concept itself was a crazy notion to begin with. Get this: She wasn’t actually there, but all the folks at CNN had to do to see and hear her was push a button. Incredible! It was almost as if they were using one of those newfangled contraptions ... I think they call them “cameras”?  

During the first broadcast, an overly amused Blitzer marveled at the technology and remarked, “It’s still Jessica Yellin, and you look like Jessica Yellin, and we know you are Jessica Yellin.”

Crazy, huh?

And the holograms weren’t the end of the overdone, techy centerpieces either. Viewers also got to see results displayed inside a virtual Capitol, and that lucky son-of-a-gun John King got to play around with the “magic wall” all night.

The gears and gadgetry that went into making the night a technical masterpiece were both complex and costly. To project Yellin’s 3-D image into the Election Center, CNN engineers spent three weeks setting up a tent with 35 high-definition cameras to film her body from different angles.

It was an expensive effort to produce a cheap trick, and it seems like all the time and resources poured into this scientific sham could have been put toward a better use – like saving the whales, supporting world peace or buying IU the rights to a decent mascot.

Since its launch in 1980, CNN has been known as a credible, in-depth news source. In fact, it made history with its coverage of such world-changing events as the Battle of Mogadishu and the Sept. 11 attacks. This sudden showing of fluff was more than likely just a small novelty meant to enliven several slow hours of ballot counting, but if the network continues down this slippery slope to an overall lack of substance, it might as well change its name to “Fox News.” 

Even more disturbing, what does it say about us when “the most trusted name in news” decides it needs to project Princess Leia into our households just to keep our attention? Why would the network even feel the need to keep us interested during what might have been among the most politically significant nights of the century so far?

What can we say as a final judgment on CNN’s condescending – albeit pretty cool – display of technical prowess? Stick to the news, and we’ll continue to rely on video games and “Desperate Housewives” whenever we get a hankering for frivolous entertainment.