Guardian and Tumblr to 'live-GIF' presidential debates

The Guardian has teamed up with Tumblr and four animated GIF-makers and together they will be 'live-GIFing' tomorrow's presidential debates.

Animated GIF files are popular on the social network and blogging platform (for example, see the news cat GIFs, of cats responding to news situations).

The Guardian and Tumblr are opting to use the sharable animations to provide the "most animated coverage of the 2012 presidential debates".

According to a post on the Tumblr staff blog, Guardian reporter Adam Gabbatt will be guest editor of Tumblr's election blog, plus will be liveblogging on the Guardian to "bring you the full stories behind the GIFs".

The four GIF-makers who, according to the staff Tumblr, will be "cranking out instant animations of the best debate moments, from zingers to gaffes to awkward silences" are: Tumblr editorial director Topher Price, Bobby Finger, Lacey Micallef, and Mr GIF.

There will be coverage on the GIFwich Tumblr blog, Tumblr's official Election blog, plus "additional debate updates, commentary and analysis" at the Guardian's election liveblog. The debates start at 9pm EST (2am in the UK).

According to Tumblr editor-in-chief Chris Mohney, Tumblr's research "indicates that most Americans now consume their hard news in the form of animated GIFs".

In an email to Journalism.oc.uk he added: "We take the potential of legitimate GIF journalism very seriously, as should anyone still working in the old-school blog-focused model of reporting."

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).