washingtonpost.com Launches New Aggregation Technologies for Final Week of 2008 Presidential Election

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2008

Searchable Timeline and Interactive Map Let Readers Track Minute-by-Minute Coverage Happening in Real-Time Across the Nation

Special Post Feed to Aggregate Users' Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr Feeds

WASHINGTON -- washingtonpost.com, an award-winning news and information Web site, today launches TimeSpace Election, a presidential election map and timeline that uses cutting-edge technology to bring all of the site's coverage, including partner content from the Associated Press and Reuters, onto one, easy-to-navigate page. Each piece is tagged for location, keywords and the time it is published, giving readers a variety of ways to search for news. http://specials.washingtonpost.com/timespace/election/

"Breaking from the traditional look and feel of a Web page, TimeSpace gives users the power to quickly find the news that matters most to them," said Jim Brady, Executive Editor of washingtonpost.com. "The page gives readers a wide variety of ways to drill down their search to find just about anything they're interested in--all of our video content on the candidates, news analysis around an event--anything."

The map presents the full scope of washingtonpost.com election content, including articles, polling analysis blog posts, videos, photos, audio files, and reporters' Twitter feeds, plus coverage from our news service partners. Reporting from particular areas around the country is collected into clusters around hot-spots on the map. By clicking a cluster, readers can scroll through article excerpts, view pictures and video without leaving the page.

Using the timeline, readers can filter news appearing on the map by date. By highlighting specific days or even minutes on the timeline, the map adjusts to show only the coverage posted during that period. This feature lets users quickly search for things like the most updated exit poll results or reporting on a specific campaign event. The timeline also graphically represents the amount of news posted at any given time, with peaks around major political news events.

Users can further refine their news results by typing keywords or terms into a search box. Typing a candidate name pulls up all washingtonpost.com coverage referencing the candidate. The number of news results is instantly displayed in clusters around hot-spots across the map for readers to open and browse.

A separate election page gives users opportunities to share their own coverage and be a part of the discussion. Users will be able to contribute their personal election updates from Twitter and Facebook, in addition to YouTube videos and Flickr photos, to a washingtonpost.com user-generated feed created by socialmedian.com. The feed will also be made available as a widget for users to embed on any site. Users can learn how to register and share their feeds by visiting the following link:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/just-posted/2008/10/your_view_of_ the_election.html (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About washingtonpost.com

washingtonpost.com is an award-winning news and information destination that delivers world-class reporting and innovative multimedia content, creating a truly interactive news experience. Using the latest technology and tools, washingtonpost.com encourages participation and content customization across all platforms, allowing readers to engage with washingtonpost.com anytime, anywhere. Winner of four consecutive Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence for Non-Broadcast Affiliated Web site, washingtonpost.com is owned by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. (NYSE:WPO)