Newspaper/TV convergence experiments often take place in markets that are big enough to have savvy editors and TV producers, but small enough to be nimble.
In Bakersfield, Calif., The Californian newspaper’s Web site has election coverage that was created in conjunction with a TV partner. According to Californian managing editor Logan Molen, the site has “lots of stuff that we’ve never done online before,” including:
- SMS polling and election night results delivered to phones. “On election night, we plan multiple SMS polls, with real-time results being showed online and on our partner TV station’s newscasts.”
- A news crawl that for now features headlines but on election night will be patched directly to the TV partner’s on-screen crawl showing real-time results
- Blogs (one for the paper, one for the TV station and two from local politicos)
- “Dinner with a Candidate” in which local families host dinners with candidates and ask them about the election.
- Lots of video, including analyses of campaign ads
The Californian also plans to add interactive candidate and issue calculators in which readers can make selections and learn which candidate or stance best matches their choice.
Nearly every news organization worth its salt is experimenting with its election coverage this year. What are some of the better examples you’ve seen? The Chasers want to know.
