CQ Politics: Build Your Own Presidential Race

The interactive presidential map on CQPolitics.com allows users to project their own scenarios of the election outcome. For example, clicking on the swing state of Colorado shows that, all other things being held equal, even if it went red Obama would still hold a lead over McCain.

This multimedia type could not work in any other medium. A TV station or newspaper could provide a colorful map of any given poll results for election outcomes, but neither would have the option of personalizing the outcome of each state to see potential results.

CQ Politics also gives a historical timeline of presidential elections since 1968, showing which state went to which candidate and further breaking it down by electoral votes per state when clicked on. Another "purple" map gives the average percentage-point margin of victory in each state for the past five elections, and yet another shows the national breakdown based on the site's own race ratings.

The nature of interactivity in online journalism allows for such enhancements that would not otherwise be possible in print, radio or broadcast journalism.

New York Times' Presidential Polls

The New York Times Web site has a tool which allows a user to look at the most recent data from 14 national polls -- including USAToday/Gallup and Pew -- and 10 state polls about the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The Times charts the data, showing how the polls have changed over time. Users can scroll their mouse over a point in the graph and more information: the date of the poll, the exact percentages and the margin of error appear.

This kind of chart couldn't be achieved in any other medium because it is completely interactive -- the user in in control of what he or she wants to look at and click on. It also centralizes the major presidential polls in one place, providing ease of use in addition to interactivity.