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Washington Post can set new standard for online journalism

By roniayalla · On September 30, 2008

Washingtonpost.com’s recent launch of its Political Browser is not just an attempt to get in on the game of link journalism and news aggregation but an insightful way at wooing 36 percent of the American public that now regularly consumes news online. Perhaps more importantly, their nontraditional approach will be important in the future in capturing the attention of the young and currently disengaged to whom technology is second nature.

That the public is turning away from traditional media in lieu of online news isn’t news. But as the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported last month, a third of the public has reached a crossroads in which online news consumption blends with traditional media outlets. Many newspapers haven’t taken well to the trend, and The Post is in a position to lead the way.

American news consumption graphic

If you haven’t seen it, the Political Browser from political reporting powerhouse Washington Post, offers readers “what’s good on the web” via links to traditional news sites like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as commentary and stories from both sides of the aisle a la The Huffington Post and Powerline.

It draws on the good reputation of its journalists by offering their suggested links. It integrates a wire-photo feed and links to video stories. I have to wonder if the photo feed will ever include links to “amateur” news photos via sites like Flickr.

And you can’t forget the social aspect of the model that allows readers to suggest links, as well as comment on any link The Post suggests.

Pew’s data — that one-third of Americans are logging on and consuming news during the course of the day rather than in one sitting and have a desire to consume from blogs in addition to traditional media outlets — makes the Political Browser a model that other newsoutlets would be smart to follow. The future news consumers of the world aren’t neccessarily interested in politics and current events now, but they will be someday. And it’s unlikely they’ll backtrack to traditional media to do so.

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4 Comments

  • harlan clonts says: September 30, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    Weird..we were discussing new media in class today. Your program seems to be not on top of the ball, but rather, creating it. Best of luck, to the whole program.
    Sincerely,
    One person in Wichita.

    Reply
  • randa says: October 1, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    Since joining the MCDM program, I read more news online and from a variety of sources. However, the sources I read from are online versions of established newspapers, not USG blogs for NEWS. I read (over the course of a week) viewpoints from seven countries now. Britain: The Telegraph/Financial Times/The Herald; Brussels Journal; Hong Kong; PRC; Buenos Aires Herald; and Canada’s The Globe. Then of course there are the USA papers: The Seattle Times/PI and NY Times, sometimes the WA Post. Though I have browsed the non-traditional sites, I don’t find them compelling, they fail to ‘stick’ me with return-itis. I find them sensationalized like ‘The Star’…intended to raise one’s blood pressure. I do however, read subject matter ‘expert’ blogs such as The Sartorialist and Technorati.

    I am happy to hear the published newspapers are linking to their contributor sites. Perhaps that will help improve the quality of writing one finds on the web, raise these articles higher in the ratings so we can find them via search engines.

    Reply
  • Alvin Singh says: October 1, 2008 at 6:27 pm

    Great article and proves that traditonal newspapers will not only have to have a good web presence but a also news linked website that will provide more than just one wrting staff.

    Reply
  • Washington Post can set new standard for online journalism « Midwest by Northwest says: October 2, 2008 at 12:37 am

    […] posted by me at FlipTheMedia.com on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 1:22 […]

    Reply
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