MyMediaFeed

The 2008 presidential election saw a surge in popular websites specializing in coverage of the campaigns.  Many of those websites, it is now being reported, will be expanded immediately to cover all kinds of political, business, and cultural events.  The hope is that America’s interest in politics has been rejuvenated, and that growing demand will mean success for many of the start ups.  The transition is not unheard of, as the Huffington Post made the same leap after the 2006 election.  With sites like FiveThirtyEight.com being so accurate in their coverage, their ability to go mainstream makes for an interesting conversation.  An pre-election interview with Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight may be seen below:

Discussion Questions:

1.  How are new sites like those listed above different from those sources of political news we’ve always had?  What makes them more attractive?

2.  Are Americans really more interested in political matters than they were before the election?  What evidence supports this rationale for expanding these websites?

3.  What impact will these sites have on other news sources?  Will they spell the end of certain sites?  Will they strengthen other sources?