How to Hold on to Election News Junkies (and others, too)
The trick is to keep it current. And do that effectively you’ve got to pay attention to the news. Sometimes that means reading papers and visiting Web sites you might not normally access.
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PrintThe Wall Street Journal reported today that election web sites are plotting to extend visitor views beyond campaign season. Clearly, these media outlets aren’t going to rely on old strategies to keep viewers coming back for more. So how are they going to do it and what lessons can we take away from their approach?
First, we need to resist the temptation to get lazy. Yeah, the election is over, but that doesn’t mean we should stop paying attention. According to the WSJ piece, “Some of these outlets view 2008 as a crossroads in American politics that has permanently elevated the public’s interest in government. Others hope to preserve their audiences by shifting to more timely or timeless topics.” Take note: the election brought out more people than we’ve seen in a long time. There were lines, for goodness sakes. One site that used an algorithm to predict the outcome is considering using those forecasting tools to predict other culture events and trends. Think about it: is there something your firm has done for one purpose but can apply toward something else, another project, an event, a report?
The trick is to keep it current. And do that effectively you’ve got to pay attention to the news. Sometimes that means reading papers and visiting Web sites you might not normally access. But reading a variety of material helps to keep our own thinking fresh and often allows us to see things we might not normally embrace.
But just as these election outlets are trying to find effective ways to expand they will continue to be vulnerable to the highs and lows of our very fickle culture.
First, we need to resist the temptation to get lazy. Yeah, the election is over, but that doesn’t mean we should stop paying attention. According to the WSJ piece, “Some of these outlets view 2008 as a crossroads in American politics that has permanently elevated the public’s interest in government. Others hope to preserve their audiences by shifting to more timely or timeless topics.” Take note: the election brought out more people than we’ve seen in a long time. There were lines, for goodness sakes. One site that used an algorithm to predict the outcome is considering using those forecasting tools to predict other culture events and trends. Think about it: is there something your firm has done for one purpose but can apply toward something else, another project, an event, a report?
The trick is to keep it current. And do that effectively you’ve got to pay attention to the news. Sometimes that means reading papers and visiting Web sites you might not normally access. But reading a variety of material helps to keep our own thinking fresh and often allows us to see things we might not normally embrace.
But just as these election outlets are trying to find effective ways to expand they will continue to be vulnerable to the highs and lows of our very fickle culture.
