'Wash Post' Web Map Links All Campaign Coverage

By: Joe Strupp Taking Web site aggregation to a new level, The Washington Post today launched an online map that essentially brings together all aspects of its presidential campaign coverage into one place.

"TimeSpace Election" promises to allow online users access to all of the political coverage referenced via geography, subject matter, or date of publication. Stories, photos and graphics are available with regular updates through election night.

An announcement claims the new Web tool "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."

The Web offering is found at:
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,? Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, said in a statement. ?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.?

For example, typing in the name Palin brings up 26 items about the Republican vice presidential nominee, including several stories and photos. Each is placed on the map near the location it occurred.

One item is a set of photos from a Palin visit to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, placed in the exact location on the map. Another is a story in today's Post about Palin and John McCain saying Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens should resign following his conviction on felony charges, which is placed on the map for Washington, D.C., where it is datelined.

"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," a Post release stated. "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."