Analyzing the profile of a would-be leader

(By Allan Vestal)

For my assignment to evaluate a work of video journalism, I viewed NBC News Chief Foreign correspondent Richard Engel's piece "Iran's 'accidental' opposition leader takes center stage." In the piece, Engel cites two expert sources who analyze Mir Hossein Moussavi's past, and how he came to be at the center of Iran's present political firestorm.

This piece is decidedly written for the medium. This can be clearly seen in some of the choices made in its construction. The report begins with footage from protests in Tehran over the allegedly rigged re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and details much of the protests which have come to be a daily occurrence.

I feel that had this instead been a print journalism piece, there would have been far less of an emphasis on this struggle in favor of more focus on both international relations surrounding Iran's recent election and a profile of Moussavi himself. Eventually, this piece ended up with just that latter angle, interviewing experts as to the would-be leader's political resumé in addition to his views and campaign stances. I feel that in a medium where coverage (in footage, mentions, etc.) of mass protests would have been less dramatic, there would have been more of a centralized emphasis on the ultimate angle this piece took. This would have helped the piece with its most glaring weakness (in my estimation): a seeming lack of focus.

Note: this piece is being posted much later than its counterparts by others, due to my prolonged absence from last week.