CBS News.com: Build Your Own Campaign

by Jessica Demczar
jd422505@ohio.edu


When first visiting cbsnews.com, I immediately noticed the "Campaign '08,
Complete Coverage" box. Upon clicking on the box, an entire page opens up,
with various stories, videos and little tools to help viewers learn as much
as they can. It has a "campaign toolkit" that has topics such as "Where
they Stand," "Campaign Ads," and "Poll Database." It's really nice that
these things are right at your fingertips and just a click away. It makes
it much easier for the viewer to find exactly what they need about each
candidate.

Something else that caught my eye was the "Ways to Win" box on the page.
This section allows you to "build your own presidential winner." It gives
you a map and then allows you to plot out which states will vote republican
and which will vote democratic. You can choose what you think will happen.
This is incredibly interactive which I think is great, especially for an
election. I'm not sure how many people will actually take the time to do
this, but it's a great thought.



Also on the website, there are blogs, videos, photos, and polling results.
Overall I feel like it's a pretty good website, though it's pretty Sarah
Palin heavy right now. I understand that she's an important part of this
campaign, but she seems to dominate the website. She's not necessarily the
top story, but there are a lot of little things, like picture slide shows
of her life, and there's lots of blogging about her. I'm curious to see
when this Palin "fever" will stop.

In the next few weeks, I'm anxious to see how the website changes, how
coverage of Sarah Palin changes, and how the network adjusts to this
historic election. I'm impressed with the interactivity of their website
and how it gets people thinking about the process and how they can affect
it.