An important component of U.S. presidential election coverage by Al Jazeera English, an English-language news channel headquartered in the Middle East, was an automated process that imported constantly changing election data from The Associated Press into the channels’ existing Vizrt graphics system.
Montreal-based AstuceMedia provided Al Jazeera English with the AstuceMedia Election System, which helped the broadcaster project winners on-air and online before many U.S. networks.
Coverage was broadcast live from Al Jazeera studios in Washington, D.C., and Doha, Qatar. Adding to the network’s coverage were Al Jazeera studios in London and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, along with a team of reporters worldwide.
AstuceMedia automated the entire system, delivering real-time calculations of summary results and vote count tallies as well as instant updates for interactive maps. Graphics were projected on a 13 x 2 Barco video wall and integrated a continuous flow of data from the AP. That data flow was automatically imported to the AstuceMedia Election Database.
In addition, AstuceMedia created a Web interface so news producers could view and edit data. The data was pushed to Al Jazeera’s Web site, which featured a results table and interactive map. This enabled Web site visitors to view up-to-date election data.
For more information, visit www.astucemedia.com.
