Obama everywhere

With the Inauguration tomorrow it seems like Obama is all people are talking about these days. And rightfully so. We really are watching history in the making.

It's not often that we can recognize that what is unfolding right in front of us is going to end up in history books somedays. Most of the time we simply look at events with a day-to-day microscope, sometimes missing the big-picture. But with all of the news coverage surrounding the election of Barack Obama, I've realized that we're witnessing something special, something historic. When you think about it in those terms, it's pretty cool.

I can't tell you I remember watching any other Presidential Inauguration in my life, even though I'm sure I have. But I know I'm going to watch the Inauguration tomorrow because I recognize what it means as a whole, regardless of people's political leanings.

Usually it takes years for us to look back on a time and realize that what was happening had historic value. I'm not sure if the people who watched and listened to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream speech" in 1963 realized the place that speech would have in history. Maybe some of them did, but I would guess that not many people could have known right then, that King's speech would stand the test of time and go down as some of the greatest words even spoken.

Similarly, I'm not sure what place in history Obama's election and Inauguration will hold. Who knows if his speech tomorrow will be the kind of thing that ends up etched in the walls of a monument? But I do understand that tomorrow could likely be a day people will be talking about and reading about long down the road.

With all of that said, the documentation of this election and Inauguration has to be greater than any Presidential race before. I'm not sure exactly how to quantify that statement, but it seems like it just has to be true. The amount of 24-hour in-depth coverage has given people an information overload, but the coverage also creates a valuable archive for the writers of history books to use 100-years down the road.

Some of the news coverage has blown my mind. One of the coolest things I've seen is what CNN is doing in terms of user-generated content. CNN wants to get people involved and give them "ownership" of the coverage, so they are having people send in photos they take during the Inauguration. The photos can be of any angle of the Inauguration ceremony tomorrow from D.C.

Once people send in these photos, then CNN compiles these crazy graphics of hundreds of images to give a panorama type view of the Inauguration scene, and it is all generated from images submitted by viewers. I saw a demonstration of this yesterday on CNN during the coverage of the "We Are One" event. Very cool.

Also, ireport.com is allowing people to share their stories of the Inauguration on the user-generated, unfiltered news site.

Even though the coverage CNN is doing has nothing to do with me and this internship, I thought it was worth mentioning because of the national interest appeal.

As far as how the Las Vegas Sun is covering the Inauguration... The Sun has a blog that has been updated several times a day starting over the weekend. Most of the posts have been done by a reporter who is in D.C. covering the event.

She has provided some unique story angles about the atmosphere around D.C., to the Inauguration party scene and old Harvard classmates talking about Obama.

I contributed to this blog today with an interesting post about people betting on the Inauguration. Some websites are taking bets on everything from how long Obama's speech will last, to what color tie he will wear. (A pink is bringing in 25-1 odds).
It's Vegas, so of course people love to talk about gambling, which made this an interesting and pertinent topic.

In addition to this blog from D.C., we're also covering the event and the reactions taking place here in Vegas. How are people going to watch the event on the strip? What are they saying about it?

One of my favorite videos is one of people at a local barber shop talking about the election of Obama. To me, that is local journalism.

Well that's it for now. I'll be watching tomorrow, as I get to see history in the making!