Observer-Reporter forum

ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

Just curious... And I know that with our little community here, we don't have a sample size big enough to really make determinations...

But a lot of "news" gets posted here throughout the day... breaking news, topical articles, stories that have been in the news, etc...

In some respects, this forum is a better source of information throughout the day than a lot of other outlets... we have similar interests, at least as far as political news is concerned, and what ends up on here with lots of responses and back and forth is like the "hot button" issue or topic of the day... realistically, we will have beaten a story or topic to death before it even makes it to the next day's print.

Is there anyway to extrapolate trends off of data on this forum (and/or other interactive locations) in order to make decisions as to what content makes it into the next day's "real" news (paper and website)?

For example, you have a blank spot in your print paper that needs an AP article... you have tons to choose from... One was posted 3 minutes after it went public the day before and has 4 pages worth of "libchit atheist abortionist" back and forth... the other ones were never mentioned... Do you run the story that has already generated interest, albeit amongst 10 people who would argue about the proper side of an egg to crack?

Information is always getting ranked in cyberworld... articles get passed around facebook, upvoted on reddit, and shredded to pieces on boards like this every day... before they even get a chance to be "real news"... if you could tap into that pre-screening, you could create a more compelling product... if you are limited in what you can put in your physical newspaper, might as well go with the stuff that has some momentum
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