Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 02, 2009 at 14:38:20:
How did media cover Chicago's bid?
October 2, 2009
BY LEWIS LAZARE | Chicago Sun-Times Media and Marketing Columnist
In the middle of a stormy fall night in Chicago, the city's 2016 Olympic bid committee delivered its final pitch to the entire International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen, Denmark.
As they had been promising to do for days, all of Chicago's major television stations were on the air live and ready for the city's presentation at 1:45 a.m. local time, which was 8:45 a.m. in Copenhagen.
Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 and Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9 started their coverage first, though WGN was for some reason several minutes late in cutting to the live coverage of Chicago's presentation in Copenhagen. The rest of the city's TV outlets cut in just a few minutes before Chicago's pitch began and quickly shifted their coverage to Copenhagen.
None of the city's TV stations had their first-string anchors on duty in the very early morning hours, but most of those anchors are expected to be in place for the mid-morning Friday coverage of the IOC vote and announcement of the 2016 Olympic host city. The audio and video feed of Chicago's presentation from Copenhagen was pleasingly clear on all stations.
As for Chicago's all-important final Olympic pitch before the IOC, it was a mixed bag. The city's video presentations adequately captured the look of the Windy City without providing anything particularly fresh or memorable, and the use of young children to express Chicago's hope of hosting the games was a rather obvious ploy.
Mayor Richard Daley got through his speech without major snafus and with a extremely determined expression on his face.
Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan struggled mightily through his however, as he tried to portray the city as a welcoming place with, among other things, great shopping -- an odd note, it seemed.
Without question, First Lady Michelle Obama provided the most gripping, unforgettable moments in the 45-minute presentation. She was extraordinarily regal and compelling as she delivered a deeply-personal, heartfelt talk about growing up in Chicago and her father's love of sport.
Her husband, President Barack Obama, was, unfortunately, somewhat anti-climactic. His rambling speech lacked a clear, forceful focus, and perhaps because of his last-minute, overnight flight from Washington, D.C., the President's delivery was mostly devoid of the emphatic charm he has employed so effectively in many previous talks.
But Chicago has now done all that it can to land the 2016 Olympic Games. Chicagoans will know soon after they awake and get to work on Friday whether all the years of effort the city has put into the bid and its final pitch have paid off.