Written by Omar Rivera
2020 Elections: What You Need to Know by The New York Times
What these videos succeed in doing is informing their audiences of the candidates who have formally announced that they’re running for the democratic nomination of President of the United States in the 2020 election. Each video is around two minutes in length and they briefly inform their viewers of the candidates, answering any question: who are these candidates?
The first thing that is consistent within the series is the animation style. We see multiple layers of stills and archived news footage stylized with a color palette complimentary to the democratic party’s color. The consistency between the videos bring a sense of unity, one of the many things these candidates say is a theme and priority in their campaigns. The approach to the series is traditionally journalistic, using archived clips that give the viewer a synopsis of the candidate throughout the years—highlighting their strengths and the challenges they face against the other announced candidates. The videos also include what the current president thinks of the candidate, with video clips of him criticizing them and their positions on certain issues.
One thing that I do think The New York Times needs to do is feature more democratic candidates who have formally announced a 2020 bid. So far, they only have five videos, featuring Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar. According to CNN, as of February 28th, 2019, a total of 13 candidates have announced so far.