Tastes of the Campaign

My election update fits surprisingly well with this week's reading. I was browsing The New York Times' website for a topic and came across an interesting angle. Jodi Kantor put together an video that is in companion to an article she wrote. Both deal with the way politicians eat on the campaign.

I thought this was an interesting feature approach to the campaign. The video, titled "Food on the Campaign Trail" obviously used some of Kantor's writing but was voiced by Ben Werschkel. Its 3:09 minute length was surprising. Obviously longer than the typical TV package, the piece proves that the internet can escape some of the time-crunch pressures that TV experiences.

After watching the video and reading the companion article, I can definitely say that the video is more interesting for the viewer. I think that this is such a visual story that a standard article cannot do it justice.

Both the video and the article serve two primary purposes. One, they explain the role of food on the campaign trail because it attracts people and two, they make the the politicians seem, quite frankly, human.

While I could probably have gone through life without knowing Obama's workout and diet routine or Clinton's prayers for weight loss, it's nice to know that they deal with the same issues as everyday citizens.

Likewise, I couldn't help but notice that the camera work wasn't all that fancy and the writing wasn't over the top. I think the pieces were put together in a way that makes the viewer really feel like they got --pardon my pun-- a taste of what life on the campaign trail is like around meal time.