Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hockey or Election Coverage?



October 6th there is a provincial election in Ontario. It is also the opening of the NHL Season and the first game of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A real conundrum for some people. What to do? What to do?

Well, according to an online survey done by the Toronto star a vast majority of Star readers will be watching the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and perennial rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, followed by the Vancouver Canucks playing host to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hockey is king in a hockey town.

It got me thinking. Does this mean people don't care about politics and the election? Or is it just that people don't care about the Election coverage that every single news outlet in Toronto will be airing?  I think a bit of the first and a lot of the second. I think the poll results should really speak volumes to newsrooms everywhere about how they package election results. Do viewers/audiences really want hours and hours of results?

I think the answer is NO! In the day and age where people, many people, turn to the Internet - Twitter, Facebook, Google + , email,  smart phones - to get all the news that affects their lives I think this idea of hours of packaged election results coverage, with numbers, multiple reporters, analysis and multiple news anchors is getting old, fast. I think there is a need to give election results but it needs to be in a prettier package - a package that is more efficient, has a faster delivery, more information and less fluff and filler.

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