Now that the race for the white house is over and the people have spoken we can look back, not at the electoral race itself, but at how the media covered the event. It is crystal clear that this was one of the most heavily covered election ever and most of the TV networks used the events in political reality to expose new, interesting, unfortunately useless, technologies through which reporting can be done.

The night the election was held TV exposed their shiniest pieces of equipment, ranging from immense touch screens, to ice skating rings painted like the map of the United States to holograms in the studio, reporting from the site.

Maybe the most talked about stunt performed by a TV station in election night is CNN’s hologram. This was both criticized and praised by many, as the entire stunt seemed not very sharp and, maybe most obvious, it was completely not necessary. People say that CNN’s hologram can be taken as a symbol, embracing the future in election night, through the use of future technology, but what people seem to forget is that a reporter is sent into the field with a reason.

CNN should indeed be congratulated by the very courageous attempt of creating a hologram, but the overall result seemed almost ridiculous and it didn’t help the actual “reporting” with anything.

On the other hand, all the attempts made by various TV stations should be applauded, but only as gestures as these kind of radical changes made to the reporting of an event should happen gradually, not suddenly.