CNN has planned an online experience that complements rather than reproduces the televised broadcast of the presidential debates, according to Alex Wellen, Deputy Political Director of CNNPolitics.com. As more and more viewers are watching the broadcast with their laptops close at hand, real-time reactions from CNN analysts, the People Meter, and scorecards have become an important soundboard for the candidates’ statements.
The Political Ticker, where CNN contributors live blog the debates, received 9.4 million page views during the last debate, Wellen told Andy in an interview at the TimeWarner Politics 08 Summit yesterday.
“[S]omeone says something– Senator Obama says something, Senator McCain says something– and then people can reliably go to CNN.com, and find out whether those statements are true and what that information is,” he says. “There really is this kind of robust overall experience that we haven’t seen other networks reproduce.”
—Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer
