washingtonpost.com

1
washingtonpost.com

• Political Coverage
• 2004 -2008

2
Overall Audience

• 85 percent national/international
• 15 percent local
• Local Audience Intense Loyal

3
Politics Audience

• Local/National-International
• National Audience - General Interest Readers
• Local Audience
• General Interest
• Insiders

4
Evolving Content Areas

• Video
• Data
• Interactive Features (Tools,Games, Etc.)
• Blogs
• Reader Involvement

5
Digression Reader Involvement

• Is reader comment and conversation an inherent
  good for your readers, for your organization,
  for your community, for society?
• Is it Journalism and/or does it (or can it) serve
  a journalistic purpose?
• Can you/should you commit resources?

6
2004 Video

• Speeches
• Battleground Documentary Reports
• Ad Watch

7
2004 Data

• Charting the Campaign
• - Tracking Poll
• - General Campaign Finance Numbers
• - Most Visited States

8
2004 Interactive Features

• Spheres of Influence (view)
• Compare the Candidates
• Veep-o-Matic
• Swing State Analysis Map

9
2004 Blogs

• ?
• Campaign Diary (view)

10
Digression What is a Blog?

• Written in a Certain Style more conversational,
  lighter edit.
• Updated Often at least daily.
• Interaction With Readers readers comment,
  writers comment back
• Published With Special Tools via blogging
  software quicker, more flexible, different
  format

11
2004 Reader Involvement

• Online Discussions
• Message Boards

12
2006 Overview

• Content Areas Evolve and Converge
• Standing Alone Integrated
• Explosion in Data, Blogs, Reader Involvement
• Print/Online Relationship Blossoms
• - Projects jointly conceived, produced
• - Staff sharing
• - Cross publishing

13
2006 Examples

• Video
• Issues Documentaries (view)
• Ohio River Ramble (view)
• Data
• Congressional Votes Database (view)
• Key Races (view)
• Mixed Messages (view)

14
2006 Examples (cont.)

• Reader Involvement
• Articles
• Blogs
• Blogs
• The Fix (view)
• Interactive Features
• Midterm Madness (view)

15
2008 Taking Shape

• Video
• More original programming (view)
• Stand Alone, but Much More Integration (view)
• Data Explosion
• More projects (Campaign Finance)
• More programmer/journalists in the newsroom
• Blog Mania
• Flexible format/publishing platform
• Effective way to interact and explain ourselves
  to readers

16
2008 Taking Shape (cont.)

• More Reader Involvement
• Blogs, Article Comments, Niche Communities
• Interactive Features
• Move Toward DIY Tools for Readers
• Even Closer Relationship with Print
• Invasion of Online Newsroom
• Productive v. Painful

17
2008 Lessons

• Blogs
• Must have an identity
• Build a community (niche areas)
• Good way to begin interaction with readers
• Video
• Have a Strategy (Stand Alone v. Integrated)
• Multimedia Training
• Hire Video Journalists
• Reader Involvement
• Build Communities
• Find Ways to Do Journalism

18
2008 Lessons

• Data
• Find Free Data
• Hire programmer/journalists
• Give readers a crack at it
• Interactive Features
• Hire Designer Journalists
• Tell Stories in New Ways
• Use to Back Up Other Content