Delicious Today: How news sites can cover an election night – examples from Norway

#1: How news sites can cover an election night -– examples from Norway

"TV would be the channel of choice for most users where you could follow the counting of votes live. This has changed. More than at any earlier election the news web sites this year took an active part not only in distributing the latest results but also in giving people a platform to discuss the elections. In fact we see a new user habit on big events like elections: Many people watch television and visit web sites simultaneously. More and more web services like Twitter and Facebook are being used to discuss what they watch on TV, creating a new form for social experience around the televised event."

This article summarized some of the new digital media techniques used by Norway's leading news organizations in covering the September election. In U.S., with the senate elections in 2010 and presidential in 2012, media organizations need to start preparing for their coverage now in order to stand out among countless choices that the audience has. I remember my disappointment at PBS on the evening of the 2008 presidential election. Most of the time it was talking heads on the screen. Where was the latest results? Where were the interviews with voters? Where was the interactive map that other channels have? Despite my deep affection for PBS, I ended up watching commercial channels that night. I hope public broadcasting will do much better job next time. Please! Let's treat the next big election event as our Superbowl moment; let's plan now and present a coverage that will blow Americans away.