The post-election audience
Ratings for cable TV news and the number of visits to news Web sites built for weeks and then peaked on Election Day, giving the electronic media some of their biggest audiences in years. But since then, TV ratings and online traffic have fallen -- in many cases precipitously -- indicating that viewers and visitors have largely quenched their thirst for political news.
-- The Washington Post
My sense is that this holds true here, too. I have not checked our Web site data -- as a local news site we didn't do much with the presidential story online unless the candidates were here. Still, since election week, we have published virtually all presidential transition stories inside the paper. The suspense and excitement of the horse race is gone, and now people are waiting to see how their decision plays out. But Obama's not in office yet so it's premature to dissect his performance much.
And no one is talking about President Bush. Has there been a lamer duck in recent presidencies?
Things will gear up again in early January.
Comments (8)
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Your introspection as you captain your listing ship to irrelevance is boring.
Posted on November 21, 2008 12:43 PM
How constructive, Roch101. You must be proud of your insight.
To the subject at hand, people came to news sites because there was a topic they were interested in. What John should be thinking about is what websites can do to keep that audience now that the election is over. Saying the news appetite waxes and wanes is the passive approach. That gets you nowhere. Maybe create a deep politics site. Maybe expand your video into areas that are more interesting. Maybe create a discerning civic-minded blog aggregator. I don't know enough about news, but do something.
Posted on November 21, 2008 1:23 PM
Mindy, thanks. I was actually thinking more about the audience of the newspaper when I wrote that, but you're right. We need to be thinking of other compelling content for the Web site.
Posted on November 21, 2008 2:05 PM
Yes, "do something" is great advice. How about starting with reporting?
Posted on November 22, 2008 9:25 AM
You should have quoted that entire sentence, Roch! Actually, I'm liking the idea of a discerning civic-minded blog aggregator.
Posted on November 22, 2008 12:45 PM
"Roch! Actually, I'm liking the idea of a discerning civic-minded blog aggregator."
Oooooh! I'm sure an aggregator censored by your "discernment" will be a big hit. But, have it -- might want to fix your log in, search and commenting system, restore your archives, get Google friendly and improve the overall speed of the site first -- or, like I suggested, think about the very core of what should be your mission first. But, eh, what do I know?
Posted on November 22, 2008 4:15 PM
Oh, sorry, Roch. I didn't mean to rile you. It was just a little joke.
Posted on November 22, 2008 6:33 PM
I am riled, John. It could be because I've just quit smoking, or it could be that I'm losing my patience with the mediocrity and mendacity that keep Greensboro down. We could soar, here, but instead we just bump along because we keep our standards pretty low.
Posted on November 23, 2008 11:34 AM