On the surface, it would seem like great news for a beleaguered industry: Wednesday's "Obama Wins" newspaper editions sold out their runs. Here in Portland, The Oregonian sold every copy and could have sold more. Likewise for the Washington Post. Copies of the New York Times edition are already on eBay earning $150 bids. But, as Ken Sands opines on Poynter, it's quite likely that "the print edition is more of a souvenir than ever before in a presidential election."
More than ever before, public turned to newer media. Mediaweek reported record tune-in across the major networks for TV and Cable coverage of the election.
The online story was even more dramatic. According to Akami, Internet News use reached its highest one-day total ever. CNN.com was among the many online networks setting one-day records. Lost Remote captured the web site home pages of a number of major online news sources, and the diversity of content and links helps explain why audiences flocked to the internet for continuing coverage and user-directed depth. Twitter also reported a 43% bump in traffic.
Perhaps the most interesting development was the anecdotal but undeniable increase in importance of mobile as an information delivery platform. At party headquarters here in Oregon, many in attendance had their faces glued to their phone screen.
In an era where the audience can read the New York Times in their hand, moments after a new President is elected, while attending an election celebration, the traditional newspaper seems like a souvenir. That's only bad news if your image as a journalist is tied to a specific 'platform', like 'print'. After all, someone has to write those stories that appear minutes later on the internet and mobile phones.
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