The notable point of the interview wasn't the iPad conversation, it was that The Daily repackaged the footage after the shootings, splicing in police cars, boundary tape, and encouraging quotes from Giffords' husband to frame the discussion in light of the shootings. What results is video of a Congresswoman talking about her iPad, juxtaposed with editing that tried to connect the conversation directly to the Tuscon event.
"The Daily's biggest video feature on what is, essentially, its first day, is cringe worthy," wrote Fast Company's' Tyler Gray. "In the same way that the app has married features of a digital publication with that of a print one, it's also married elements of commercialism with actual news." Politico's Ben Smith also noted "quite the synergy" between using Gifford's increased exposure to praise the iPad. His post was succinctly titled, "Gabby Giffords, iPad Spokeswoman."
The Village Voice's Joe Coscarelli was less kind to The Daily. "To do [this] on day two, and with packaging that could be described as inexpert, sympathy-wise, comes across as a tasteless reach for publicity, trading on a name that is exponentially more popular than it was when the spot was filmed, but not less self-promotional," he observed. "It's not that the story isn't interesting or true, but it's still enough to trigger a wince and a cringe."
Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments
or send an email to the author at
ehayden at nationaljournal dot com.
You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Erik Hayden
User Comments
Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register