Archive for March 24th, 2010



The Wire: Innovative, Interactive News

March 24th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Okay, it looks confusing but it’s very cool and oh so innovative.

Amid news that the TV news industry is dying a slow death comes The Wire, an interactive news website affiliated with WCCO-TV that lets users track, comment on, and contribute to developing stories.

While it’s pretty simple at the heart, there is A LOT going on at this site.

There is a searchable three-day timeline with pop-up boxes for news, events and comments from both WCCO-TV newsroom staff and users. Users can click on an entry for more information, including text, photos, video or behind-the-scenes notes from reporters. Then they can add comments or share them with their social networks.

The Wire lets users watch in real time as news stories unfold. Whenever information comes in on a story the station adds a new post, so users can scroll back and forth to see what happened when.

The timeline also includes tweets from WCCO staff and from other local news sources, including competing television stations.

The Wire also has potential for added revenue with brand integration.

WCCO plans to allow organizations and business to buy a spot on the site’s timeline which, according to the TV station, will be the online equivalent of product placement on the air.

This is ingenius to say the least. Perhaps The Wire’s only downfall is its use at the local TV level.

In my opinion it needs a bigger platform, something at a national level.

Let’s hope that people do use it, and that it can turn a profit.

The Wire could very well be the lifeline that saves TV news.

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