Back to presidential basics

Several media outlets have created online-multimedia election packages, often times concentrating on the presidential candidates and their stances.

However the Associated Press (AP) is approaching the election a bit differently.

They are creating multimedia package called "The Measure of a Nation" that goes back to basics.

The AP writes:

We're starting not with the candidates but with the American people and their culture, and the principle that politics is a mere reflection of the enormous changes occurring in the nation.

The AP package contains magazine-style writing pieces, documentary videos and photo galleries, and will be updated throughout the year. AP writers Ted Anthony and Ron Fournier and online producer/videographer Jaime Holguin are leading the project.

Click on the picture to link to the video:



The first story is The Mythic Presidency. It examines what the public expects from a president and where these beliefs came from.

Anthony and Fournier write:

You think the presidency is about politics? Sorry. It's the values. No wonder we expect so much.

The AP will concentrate on nine specific areas. They hope this package is a "multimedia user's guide to the American presidency," and perhaps even serve future presidential candidates.

I came across this multimedia package on CyberJournalist.net and think that it's a great project. The AP has taken a story that has been covered to death and found a way to make it exciting and new.