LIN Television is jumping into the heated 2008 election season with local political websites in each of the company’s 17 markets. Each site has localized political information, polls, blogs, video and such.
“It is our mission to be the local source for information, both on-air and online. Our viewers can find national content on many websites but our sites are unique in that they provide local, regional and national information from one trusted source,” said Robb Richter, LIN’s Vice President Internet.
Not only has LIN launched the local political websites for its own stations, but has also registered the corresponding web URLs for all 50 states and major US DMAs so it can offer the online template to stations in other markets. For example, LIN’s Indianapolis stations are tied in with both Indianapolitics.tv and Indianapolispolitics.tv.
TVBR observation: Who was it who said “all politics is local”? In case you’ve forgotten, it was the late US House Speaker Tip O’Neill. No matter what the global or national issue, what really matters is how it affects you as an individual, directly or indirectly. LIN is certainly taking a logical course by trying to bring its political websites right down to the hometown or home state level.
