Anderson Cooper 360 (10:30-11:00 PM, 10/30/08)

1) 10:30 PM: Live Barack Obama speech in Columbia, Missouri; supporters chanting "Yes We Can!"
2) 10:33 PM: Ticker running below screen talks about a story involving 100 anthrax hoax letters. Countdown to when first polls close: 4 days, 19 hours, 26 minutes and some seconds.
3) 10:34 PM: Obama compares himself to Clinton, to cheers from the audience. Mentions "Obama-Clinton economics."
4) 10:35 PM: Ticker mentions "CNN: The most trusted name in news." Headline above ticker reads, "Ahead on 360: John McCain on the trail today."
5) 10:36 PM: Obama credits the audience as being the strength of his campaign and the country. Stresses the need for a new direction. Massive cheers.
6) 10:37 PM: Ticker - Attacks in Spain injure 19, blamed on Basque separatists; death toll from Pakistani quake rises to 170; Rebel leader in Congo offers channel for aid delivery.
7) 10:38 PM: Crowd behind Obama is mostly white but multiracial, wide range of ages. Young girl taking video on a handheld digital point-and-shoot camera.
8) 10:39 PM: Obama asks all in crowd who make under $250,000 a year to raise their hands. Majority of crowd complies.
9) 10:40 PM: Ticker has moved on to economics. Consecutive ticker headlines are all linked, with each referencing the last; it is difficult to catch on.
10) 10:41 PM: As of September, 760,000 jobs have already been lost this year, says the ticker. Reading this fact forces me to miss part of Obama's speech until my attention jumps back to what he is saying.
11) 10:42 PM: Are there no commercials? Obama again relates the story of his mother's passing.
12) 10:43 PM: Obama promises all college students who serve their country will be able to afford their tuition. Countdown to when first polls close: 4 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes and some seconds. (Will this keep going for all five days??)
13) 10:44 PM: Obama discusses military. "I will end this war." Will put more forces in Afghanistan to track down and fight Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorists.
14) 10:45 PM: Obama emphasizes this won't be easy. George Bush has dug us a deep hole. Ticker talks about the recall of a given weight loss drug.
15) 10:46 PM: New attitude, new politics, says Obama. "That's what we've lost these past eight years." I wonder how many times he has mentioned the phrase "past eight years".
16) 10:47 PM: Emphasizes the importance of a parent's job and how everyone has to work together. "Black, white, asian, etc… republican, democrat, old, young, rich, poor, gay, straight, able, disabled…"
17) 10:48 PM: Jab at Sarah Palin: "There's no real or fake parts of this country. There's no city or town that's more pro-America than everywhere else."
18) 10:49 PM: Ticker says Peter Frampton is frustrated about someone stealing his Barack Obama yard sign. Barack Obama, meanwhile, asks the audience to believe in its ability to effect change. Emphasizes the young who cast their ballots for the first time.
19) 10:50 PM: Woman named Robin in Fort Lauderdale emailed Obama, he says; son just diagnosed with heart condition. Treatment is expensive and family couldn't pay, nor would insurance. She asks, "When those who oppose you hold you down, keep fighting and talking to the people."
20) 10:51 PM: A commercial is quite overdue. Ticker says North Carolina is ranked #1 in pre-season ESPN coaches' poll.
21) 10:52 PM: "Don't think for a second that this election is over… we are going to have to work like our future depends on it, you know what, because it does… all of you [young people] have got to vote."
22) 10:53 PM: Obama concludes. Anderson Cooper voiceover kicks in. Ticker talks about weather. Cooper promises more polls coming up and "stunning" results for Sarah Palin polls, as well as coverage of Bill Clinton and Al Franken rallies.
23) 10:54 PM: Commercials!
a. Enablex (reduces bladder leaks and accidents) - side effects include "bird vision"?
b. Passages Addiction Cure Center in Malibu (The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure)
c. Lose Your Excuse - energy conservation commercial from the government
d. Samsung commercial - they support eyesight recovery
24) 10:56 PM: Back already. Anderson asks Candy Crowley questions. Obama is going into "solidly Republican counties."
25) 10:58 PM: Cooper promises still more news ahead. Talks about polls coming up, then asks if polls should be trusted, then promises some Bill Clinton.
26) Commercials again; that was two minutes.
a. American Lung Association recommends vaccination for influenza (Faces of Influenza)
27) 11:00 PM: Just one commercial; we're back to Anderson with "breaking news" about Clinton. Anderson already cuts to a replay of the Obama speech, a quote that was just on.

Commentary: Obviously, the majority of this 30 minute block of Anderson Cooper 360 was dominated by Obama's speech. Obama seems to be doing an incredibly effective job of controlling the media in these past few weeks; he also has a recurring theme of how urgent it is that we all go out and help his campaign. He involves the audience well; even on TV, it does feel like his message is tailored to the viewer.

There were three segments of the screen to focus on during Obama's speech: The speech itself, the speech's headline/tagline beneath (sometimes quoting Obama, sometimes promising other coverage ahead), and the ticker running below. The ticker often referenced previous ticker headlines, which made it very difficult to jump in at any given time. In addition, it was impossible to both listen to Obama and read the ticker. The ticker headlines were clearly divided into different segments based on different overarching topics (world news, economy, health, weather, etc.). Apart from the main three sections, there was also already a second-by-second countdown to when the first polls closed, almost 120 hours in advance.

The commercial breaks were surprisingly short - one two-minute break with four commercials and one one-minute break with just one commercial. After watching 23 minutes straight of Barack Obama uninterrupted, it was rather jarring to jump to segments of Anderson Cooper 360 and commercials that were each no more than two and a half minutes long. The commercials did seem to have a common theme, however, and one that was shared with the Obama speech - all appealing to an educated audience, trying to convince them with reason. Perhaps this atmosphere is appealing to voters who feel condescended to by an incompetent government, which is probably why Sarah Palin's approach is causing such a backlash.