Election on The Net

The Web on the Candidates

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The New York Times’ Katherine Seelye profiles two online ventures — one new-ish, the other yet to be launched — that are trying to change the way politics is covered. One is Off The Bus, which is already making good use of distributed journalism techniques, drawing on the help of dozens of volunteers to produce multi-faceted stories. The other is Scoop08, a soon-to-be-released site that will cover the election with the help of over 300 student journalists. Its advisory board includes folks like Frank Rich of the New York Times, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, and even Joe Lieberman. Both projects are brimming with idealism; let’s hope it stays that way.