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Dare to compare: CNN Vs The White House Communications

I have been paying close attention to the communications & multimedia campaign from the White House and I really enjoy the West Wing Week, a video diary that is produced by the White House communications staff. The series aims to be "your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave."

You can watch the latest episode of West Wing Week (1/21/11 or "A Rather Large Painting") here:


Browsing YouTube, I came across the CNN White House week in review. Which is basically the exact same weekly diary, but produced by professional journalists. You can watch the CNN piece here:



I believe that the White House production is far more better, covers more issues, has access to the President that mainstream media journalists do not, and offers a view that was not previously offered from mainstream media.

The White House West Wing Week came out yesterday, the 20th of January, and the CNN White House week in review, came out today, the 21st of January. From yesterday the White House video has over 10,000 views and the CNN video is in single digits.

So, does CNN need to produce these sort of mini-series that cover each week in the White House? And if so, do they need to upload it to their YouTube channel a day after the official White House has uploaded their own version?

People that follow developments are already subscribed to the White House YouTube Channel, or are already aware about the video through the White House, and Barack Obama, facebook accounts.

From this example we can clearly see that mainstream media is lagging behind in covering a news review. The White House team clearly produces a much more detailed account of what happened.

  • Also, have a look at the tag words in the White House video: West Wing Week President Obama Michelle Obama First Lady State Visit China President Hu Cory Booker villaraigosa state dinner JFK Kennedy Caroline Kennedy MLK Martin Luther King Jr service Richard Holbrooke Zardari Kal Penn
  • And the CNN video: CNN News Politics white house week in
The White House video will be more popular in YouTube, CNN hasn't used quotation marks, so the video has tags the words: in, house, white and week. 


Instead of double covering a "White House week in review", which I believe is very lazy in terms of reporting, CNN can try focusing on reporting as journalists.

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