Primary thoughts May 5, 2008
Posted by Henry Howard in Uncategorized.Tags: Clinton, election, Obama, primary
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It’s almost here. (Well, technically, the Indiana Primary is here and has been here for a couple of weeks thanks to the early voting centers that Tippecanoe County has tested and embraced.)
Getting excited in Indiana about a presidential primary is highly unusual. But this year, thanks to the close race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nod, Indiana matters. Starting roughly a month ago, our area has seen former President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Obama, Chelsea Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Gen. Wesley Clark plus a couple of B list actors.
Due to the magnitude of the news — not only here but as America watches, listens and reads — our coverage called for some creativity and innovation. Thankfully, our staff has embraced innovative thinking for online. Here are some examples of how we’ve used our web site to offer readers coverage geared toward the online medium:
– Appearances by Obama and Hillary Clinton were webcast via mogulus.com. (Our videographer is a local high school kid.)
– Reporter Meranda Watling and others provided live updates for most of the events via our Web site and Twitter. I’m not yet sold on Twitter’s ability to deliver a large audience, but the potential is there.
– Beyond the live coverage of the campaigns, we also provided readers deep content online. For example, a Flash graphic on the aforementioned voting centers and a ballot search, both of which are here.
The transition to online has been breathtaking. Our online content is clearly geared toward the audience, as our print side has been geared to the print audience for decades.
And late Tuesday — after we finish off our coverage of the primary, which includes a live video — perhaps, it will be time to take a quick breath.
Nice recap, Henry.
A thought: Twitter is still very much a niche product, and one I’d agree is of little use to our readers right now. But I can tell you when I was live-blogging these events, I gained several new readers each time. By also posting links to the jconline coverage in my tweets, I’m sure some of them clicked through for more in-depth updates and detailed reading. So it’s a way to catch some could-be readers who otherwise wouldn’t ever be.
The thing about Twitter and every other social networking site is, it won’t be an end-all, be-all. But the more places you’re getting word about your content out to, the more chances people will come across it somewhere. If that makes sense.
That said, I’ll be glad when the election is over — or at least the attention focuses elsewhere for awhile.