Just another WordPress site
admin
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Posts by admin
Visualize Data with Politico
Nov 10th
President Obama before the mid-terms Photo by Sandra Abrams
Shellacking, Slaughter, Tsunami. No matter how news organizations characterized the midterm-election results, it was a golden opportunity for the media to use data visualization in their reporting. With the massive amount of data from so many national elections happening across all 50 states, political junkies needed a visual narrative and Politico delivered.
Politico used interactive maps (link to election maps) to consolidate the enormous wave of information being reported last Tuesday evening. Using blue and red to denote Democrats and Republicans, respectively, the color coded maps let readers instantly understand the winners and losers. No text was needed.
One interchangeable map was used efficiently. It changed with only a few clicks. Readers saw one map and could select one of three categories: Senate, House or Governor races. There was no going from place to place on Politico’s site. One click on the HOUSE category, then on a particular state, a pop up window with the names of the House candidates vying for office in a particular district (or in the case of Senators/Governors in that state). Also, within in that window was the number of votes each candidate received and by what percentage.
Then, Politico took the visual further by offering readers historic information. An arrow on the up right side of the map with different election years, allowed people to not only see the re
sults from 2010, but move the arrow to another year and see previous election cycles in terms of red and blue states. Below is an example of Nebraska in the 2006 Senate race.
Politico Historic map
So after a comparison of 2010 Senate races, the viewer could then move the arrow back to look at 2008 or 2004 and see which states were blue and then which were red. The information covered a ten year period of election results. In his 10000words.net blog posted on November 2, Mark S. Luckie, highlighted Politico-ranking it number nine out of 11- as one of the news organization that used “. . . their political coverage is showcased in a way doesn’t feel crammed or overwhelming.” (Read Luckie\’s post from election night).
When dealing with numbers, eyes can glaze over, and listeners and viewers can tune out. But Politico used data visualization in a cohesive way to illustrate the big picture of the change in the political landscape, at least for the next two years. The maps were easy to read and in the age of eyes just scanning the page, Politico won the night.
Politico's Governors election map
Politico missing in action or M.I.A. on crowdsourcing
Nov 2nd
Maybe this is how Politico feels? Photo by Sandra Abrams
Politico is missing in action when it comes to crowdsourcing. Or maybe it just hates crowds. Either way, Politico is M.I.A. on the issue. I could not find one example of a crowdsourced project for the political news organization. With the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, Politico missed a huge branding opportunity to get the crowd involved. Perhaps it was the memo NPR sent out to its staffers that made Politico skittish on using this event as a crowdsourcing project. Also, it could be that job was outsourced to its sister site, TBD.com, part of Allbritton Communications (story from editorsweblog.org tbd_uses_map-based_crowdsourcing_to_char.php ).
After all, that is what crowdsourcing is about, outsourcing your newsgathering to the “crowd” like an open call.
I checked and re-checked and I must be missing the place where to look on any general crowdsourcing projects it has done. Saturday’s rally by Comedy Central would have been ideal for Politico to initiate such a project. The timing was short, from 12noon to 3pm, so the duration for collecting data would not be for days on end. The information could have been turned into story from the audience or a quasi-poll. Questions could have been, your estimate of the crowd, or best sign, best musical performance and best political speech by a speaker and then categorized for the online audience.
With crowds estimated at over 200,000; this would have been a great way to examine what people were saying from one end to the other of The Mall. Perhaps the reasons for not using this particular venue had some disadvantages which we discussed in class: bias, yes, many people attending had political leanings to the left than to the right; newsworthiness, some in the crowd thought this rally was led by “real” news anchors -Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert; and finally, the issue of manipulation, individuals in the crowd might seek to influence projects to their own ends. Numerous examples fit this last issue: I saw several signs carried by men that read, “I am only here to meet women.”
What Politico did do for the rally was a minute by minute twitter feed with links to its own story, a live blog of the event, and the highs and lows story by Politico Click stewart_rally_highs_and_lows.html. But this is not the same as incorporating citizen journalism into an event; especially one of this size and with so many eyewitnesses. It would have been a great way to counter anyone including political pundits who did not attend but pontificated on what happened at such a large venue. The website does have a link for community, across the tool bar. People can comment on stories, a form of crowd sourcing on political discourse. But this is not a project.
Rally for Sanity and/or Fear, The Crowd Photo by Sandra Abrams
I do see that TBD.com is asking the community to report and help the news organization map any voting trouble for Tuesday. Instructions are clear for the participants help-tbd-map-voting-problems-tuesday-4003.html . Perhaps Politico will piggy-back on this story in some way. As for the rally, a missed opportunity for Politico to actively engage its readership and the “Faces in the Crowd.”
To pay or not to pay for comments, an economic model for Politico and other new media darlings
Oct 27th
Politico's Ben Smith, at recent event Photo by Sandra Abrams
As the structure of old media falls away and new media is transforming the future of journalism, companies are grappling with the new media economic business model. To pay or not to pay to comment on Politico’s website maybe one way to augment the bottom line. The Attleboro (Mass.) Sun-Chronicle is charging for the privilege to do just that per one of our readings, paywall-for-comments.
Politico is seeking new ways to beef up its balance sheet. Just this week, reports surfaced it will start a subscription news service focused on segmented sectors: health care, technology and energy. The news will be what Capitol Hill, agencies and associations are doing in those areas. Subscribers will be charged $1,500 to $2,500 a year for the first topic and then $1,000 for each additional industry.
But paying to comment will give us other problems. Assessing Politico’s comment systems may give some insight. Politico has a two systems. For those who wish to response to the general website stories, there is more of a “laissez-faire” approach with about 18 guidelines. But for those focused on its Arena section, if you want to comment, there are stricter procedures. In both cases, people have to register to comment. And Politico takes it one step further than other sites, people can and do indicate political party affiliation. Avatars and fake names such as Wiz-ziw are acceptable. (screenshot when I figure it out)
For Arena, which is a cross-party forum with different topics selected by one of three editors (recent forum question, arena) there is a designated moderator. Not true for Politico’s general site. Comments for the Arena section can be made by using the “chime in” tab and civility is critical. You have to register under your full and REAL NAME, so there goes the issue of anonymous. Also, there is a restriction on word count, fewer than 200 because all responses are read before they are published which again, is in contrast to the general site.
For its general site under FAQ, question twelve gives you all the answers with the actual ground rules for comments. After saying it never censors based on party or ideology, there is a list of 18 guidelines from no profanity, no abusing fellow readers and no spamming. This is different from HuffPost’s policy, “allows a reasonable amount of profanity and a stated policy against Trollish behavior.” There’s no dedicated moderator but all inappropriate comments will be reported to the law enforcement. Also, in the comment section in the lower left is a place where respondents can hit one of three icons: reply, quote or report abuse.
(screen shot)
I did not see anything over the top during my perusal of the site’s comments except for one respondent, named “greyhawk.” He had four comments for one answer, out of the 200 for a story about Tim Kaine: Nice Guy in a nasty time (story here, 44156.html). Greyhawk wrote what appeared to me, a manifesto entitled, “Art of War and Warface.” It did not seem to me that anyone from Politico stepped in to take action. He appears to be a regular to Politico’s site from the comments I read on other stories with long answers to the story or other comments. Too long.
Also, to comment directly to any editorial staff member, just click on the “about us” at the bottom of the site. Click on a name, and you will get a picture, a box for your comment and where appropriate, a list of stories and top websites. For example, Roger Simon,to contact him directly, click here.
With Politico so hands off about commenting, why not make money from it? Using the Kaine story, the 200 comments at one dollar each, an easy 200 bucks. For Greyhawk, that would $4.00 for his comments. Or the story about Nancy Pelosi basks in Michelle Obama’s softer image ( Nancy & Michelle ). The story has 118 comments would translates to $118 dollars. But given that in this political cycle, the level of antagonism is higher than in previous years, would it mean that the people who can pay will take over the conversation just to ratchet up the discourse? I have concerns about those who can pay and those who can not, and paying means you take away the level playing field. If the pay to pontificate model was put in place at Politico, would we see an even bigger digital divide? And finally, would we see an increase in vitriol behavior because of the attitude, “I paid there I can say ***?” The Internet is an evolving medium and with Politico looking for new revenue streams, this maybe an option but if you are leaving some people out of the discussion then that is not fair.
Social Media and Journalism, the changing rules
Oct 22nd
Social Media & Journalism at the NPC event l-r, Joseph Campbell, Howard Mortman, Mark Hamrick, Linda Feldmann and Patrick Gavin Photo by Sandra Abrams
As with any medium that delivers news, social media has been the biggest game changer by far in journalism. Last week in class, we learned that the strategy of using social networks for news organizations is constantly changing. The rules of the game are fluid and right now raising more questions than answers.
Citizen journalism -is it legally actionable? That was the question raised by Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor when discussing one of the problems social media has had on the industry. She was part of a panel at the National Press Club Wednesday evening entitled,”Social Media & Journalism.”Also on the dais, C-Span’s Communications Director, Howard Mortman, Politico’s Patrick Gavin, and Joseph Campbell, former print reporter and now professor at American University. Mark Hamrick with Associated Press served as moderator.
Gavin, who covers the lighthearted stuff at Politico, said in new media, old media rules apply because there is room for errors. Fact checking is still important. He offered a warning about bad tweets, “If you get something wrong, then every piece of reporting becomes suspect. It allows spin meisters to be even more powerful.” And he adds, “With the need for speed, reporters need to be really careful with the information.”
But he also said, “Double sourcing is going away.” For him, Twitter is the hot thing and tweeting pushes you to step up your game, “You also write to impress your competition.”
The issue of speed has Feldmann, who is CSM’s White House reporter, questioning the new fast and furious filing ‘news model’ of journalism. She worries about the impact of filing on demand will have on maintaining standards. With readers clicking and skimming, what impact will this have on standards?
The fast and furious model is not new, said Campbell. He pointed out during the heyday of Hearst and Pulitzer fighting it out; speed was critical with multiple editions daily.
Audience member, Rick Dunham, the editor of Texas on the Potomac, the Houston Chronicle’s Washington, D.C.-based blog txpotomac, offered up a previous conversation he had with Gavin a year ago about Twitter. “A year ago, we were wondering if seven tweets a day were too many. Now, it’s a different environment in just one year,” said Dunham. Today, it depends on your community, said Gavin.
Another question they discussed a year ago and still worth asking, is tweeting self-pimping?
Gavin checking tweets before the event Photo by Sandra Abrams
“Everyone self promotes, everyone tweets more than they should and everyone cross tweets about personal and work,” said Gavin. He suggested you follow good practices, “Try not to be a jerk and don’t embarrass your employer.”
I could not stay until the end so I missed the Politico’s scribe’s exchange with Helen Thomas about Twitter but here is the link to the Politico story thomas_ill_think_about_tweeting.html.
C-Span’s Mortman explained how his news outlet uses social media. The success of Washington Journal rest on callers with 60 calls per show. Now questions are taken via Twitter, not just phone. On its Facebook page ( CSPAN) not only will it post its schedule but also the question from the show to encourage further discussion. Recently, it has teamed up with Four Square to provide educational and landmark information about the Nation’s Capital. Tourists are big users. As for his personal Twitter account, Mortman sticks to tweeting about his favorite TV shows, like Mad Men.
The days of traditional journalism jobs are gone. Twitter, Facebook and blogging are now a daily part of the day. There is more to read and more to do to keep up with your job and the competition from inside and outside our ranks. The rules of the game continue to evolve. Six months from now, what will be different?
My dinner with Politico’s Facebook
Oct 20th
Evening meal, by Sandra Abrams
Recently, reports have surfaced that Steve Jobs of Apple and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook had dinner to discuss ping. I’m sure their conversation was more interesting than my dinner in front of the computer digesting my evening meal and Politico’s Facebook pages. In the end, I got indigestion. It appears that Politico has NOT taken full advantage of Facebook and all it has to offer. I was surprised and disappointed that such a savvy news organization has not utilize this tool.
I first started out by doing a Google search for Politico’s Facebook page. At the top of the search was Politico, the Official Group ( group.php?gid=6977265898). But upon closer examination, I was sure this was not the official page. The logo was a cartoon and the postings were full of diet ads and get-rich-quick schemes. Definitely not official.
Then I went to Politico’s website and at the bottom of my screen was a pop up bar that said to become a member of Politico’s Facebook, click here. So I did. I found the correct page (politico)and herein is what I found.
The newsfeed listed a story about House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and her last major speech with familiar themes. The story sat on its Facebook page for two hours before another story appeared. It gathered 38 comments. Not a great headline. Later in the day on Monday, the headlines got better. A sampling: “Republicans put 99 Democratic held seats in danger.” Good one because many political pundits are saying Republicans will likely win 50 to 60 seats in the House. The eye-popping number stands out.
Republicans put 99 Democrat-held House seats in danger
Another one was, “Alexi Giannoulias to Mark Kirk: ‘Were you shot at?’, ” again I clicked. One more: “Christine O’Donnell questions separation of church, state.” But a huge missed opportunity to engage Politico fans. Where was a quiz question on the Constitution or a poll on House seats up for grabs?
Next, I clicked on Politico’s Click Facebook page. There is no link from one to the other on the front. The following news on Click: Fashion, whistleblowers and peace, posted 8 hours ago; Jill Biden opens up about service in Self Magazine, posted 8 hours ago; Bob Schieffer gets roasted, posted 8 hours ago. You get the picture, dumping news into the site. While, the information was good, I wonder how fresh it was. Another missed opportunity.
My next move was to find the Facebook page of the various reporters such as Mike Allen and others. I could not find individual Facebook fan pages for Politico’s reporters. No links to a personalized reading list. Also, no quizzes, no feedback, no questions like Nicholas Kristof’s Facebook. Clearly, the fans of Politico want to engage in political discourse, but there is a lack of engagement.
There was also no photos of the different reporters on Facebook. The photo section did have drawings from its cartoonist, Matt Wuerker.
Why not let people vote on best cartoon of the week? 
I thought by going to Politico’s Facebook page, I would get a tasty morsel about politics but it was just your basic hamburger on the information turnpike.
Being a Follower of Patrick Gavin
Oct 13th
Follow the Leader Photo by Sandra Abrams
My mother always told me not to be a follower. She would tell my siblings and me, “If all you friends jumped off a bridge, would you follow them?” I agree with her, why be a follower? This is the question I have been asking myself, why follow Patrick Gavin of Politico on twitter (pwgavin) if it was not part of my homework assignment?
His beats are entertainment and gossip for the political website (bio on Mr. Gavin) and so far, I feel I must be missing something. I do not find his tweets all that entertaining. True, I have only been a follower for a few days so perhaps I am making a hasty judgment. After all, he does have 6,487 followers. Me? Nada, zilich, nobody.
Take one of his post from this past Tuesday, a tweet about entertainer, Jay-Z, and his new PSA about voting with a link to Gavin’s own story on Politico’s Click website. The link to his own story, is a brand builder, I understand that and would do the same. (screen shot insert)
It was interesting but on this particular day, there was bigger news happening inside the Beltway, right at the White House. Movie star, George Clooney, had a meeting with President Barack Obama. Yes, the session was on a very serious, topic, the violence in Sudan. Clooney was seeking help from the President. Gavin’s number of tweets on the star: nothing, not even a Retweet of a picture from one of colleagues from the stake out location where the actor gave a press conference following his White House meeting. Maybe I don’t understand the parameters of this beat but I would imagine that any entertainment figure in town would at least be acknowledge by the beat reporter in some fashion.
Many of Patrick Gavin’s tweets comprised of links to his story on the web or Retweets of colleagues’ stories. One R-T from Mark Knoller was actually a picture of the swing set used by the Obama girls, the same day Clooney was speaking to Obama. Still, I did like the tweet with the Washingtonian Magazine article about the music scene in the D.C. area. I saw this as way for Gavin to connect to his readers. But with so many followers, will they all be interested in D.C’s music? Another tweet was the list of people attending Quinn Bradlee’s wedding. That is the kind of fun information I would want from a reporter following this beat.
And why was he in Las Vegas, sending a twitpix of Pete Rose? Perhaps if I had been followwing Gavin longer, I would know. I see little interaction with his audience. I expected more, something juicy from Politico’s Gavin. I picked Gavin because I was having problems adding anyone to my list and finally got the add list to work. His name was at the top of the Politico lists and he does have many followers but I will not be one of them.
Salute the Red, White and Blue! Politico flies the flag in its web design.
Oct 6th
The Stars and Stripes photo by Sandra Abrams
During election cycles, politicians fly the colors of the American flag, red, white and blue, to rally voters. Politico has co-opted these colors in its web design to cover all things political and keep readers on its site. The combination of the three colors as a background or font color, add harmony to maintain the flow throughout and brings unity to Politico’s entire web design, page after page, www.politico.com.
The endearing acronym, C.R.A.P., contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity, describes Politico’s design. The contrast of red and blue with a white background shows there is a sharp difference in color among the various sections. Red could represent the Grand Ole Party (GOP), or be taken as a power color. It is also the color used for the tab marked headlines across the menu bar at the top as if to alert the reader. Blue on the other had, is the color choice for Democrats. It could be viewed as a soothing and trustworthy color choice. Hence, reporters’ bylines are in blue. Also in contrast is font size of the word, Politico, it varies as your eye moves over the site.
Next is Politico’s repetition of those colors throughout the site. From page to page, the color theme of red, white and blue, is used consistently. There is repetition in the word Politico – it is always in red, always in the same font style, and always in capital letters. The font size of the text for stories is the same and in harmony. One recent break in tradition was the special banner to identify two new opinion columns which showed a different font and size.
Just like traditional newspapers, Politico’s site follows a grid system. Its alignment flows from section to section, from photos to stories. Each new square and line offers distinct and different news elements. Finally, proximity is used appropriately with related elements group together. Fox example, on the right side, blogs in one box and below that section, Politico Opinion in another box. The unity works and make it easy for readers.
There are few ads on the site but even ads are consistent with the color theme with the words such as ‘sponsored by’ in blue to maintain the harmony. What is jarring to me are the photos attached to the top story. The photos are five or six inches high and force readers to scroll down to read the content. The scale of the photos from my perspective take away from the harmony compared to the other photos on the site. Otherwise, Politico pays homage to America’s flag to the fullest.
The situation with my blog theme change
Sep 29th
The situation with my blog theme is this – I don’t want to change it. But the directive by our professor is change it and then write 300 to 500 words defending your choice. I just created the blog two weeks ago with the TwentyTen theme. That site is simple, clear and offers plenty of white space. In addition, it appears functional. And now, in less than three days, I have to pick and justify a new layout.
It’s like buying a new purse. My current handbag, is neither a luxury name nor new. But it is functional. It’s black and made of cotton material which means it doesn’t show the dirt and is lightweight. The outside pockets make accessing my metro card easy when a train is pulling into a station and I running to catch it.
My old but functional purse
But the purse is old, the zipper handle is broken, the shoulder strap is falling apart, and the material is becoming threadbare. Looking for a new bag is not easy. It will be something I will use every day, like a blog. We can “preview” different themes for our new blog but such a big decision takes time.
However, unlike a purse, the blog will be interacting with other people. There are readers to snag, to keep and to prevent from bouncing elsewhere. I look at the various themes, and decide on Mystique. With its dark block of color at the top, it is the antithesis of TwentyTen with all its white space. I think about the readers’ experience. Will less white space be a turnoff?
I like the contrast between the name in white and the dark color at the top. Within the black is a grey bar with various sections on the left and below that the latest post which is considered prime real estate on a site. The start of the latest blog entry can be seen under the bar making it less work for the reader. To the right is a white rectangle for a quick search.
To see the first post or various icons, no scrolling is necessary. The build-in widgets on the right side are group together, and offer the reader another place to go which hopefully will reduce the bounce rate. I like the unity in the font size for both the blog entry and tags and twitter, www.twitter.com
For now, I like the change. But I forgot to ask Sean an important question that many seasoned shoppers remember, “What is the return policy?”