Broadcast vs. print analysis

By Rachel Mills

I watched Anderson Cooper moderating a discussion between CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anthony Fauci live on Cooper's show on CNN Thursday evening.

Compared to print, the news was very conversational. The news was coming from question-and-answer segments between the hosts and the doctors. There were very few stats in the clip. It was mostly the doctors' professional opinions while the try to educate on the general situation.

They use very general trends, like "increase" or "80 thousand-some," where print would use specific statistics.

You get a lot more reaction from the reporters/correspondents than you would see in print.

There was interaction from the viewers. Cooper took questions from the viewers to pose to the doctors. You don't get this kind of interaction from print. News in print is typically a one-way street.

There was also videos sent in from viewers shared on the program.