Web Analytics can save our democracy.

ABC's This Week has begun providing third-party fact checking in partnership with Politifact.com. Here's how it works: a guest is interviewed live on Sunday and during the next week, This Week posts the fact-checking of the guests statements to its website.

Bob Garfield interviewed This Week host John Tapper on last week's episode of NPR's On The Media. Garfield inquired about This Week's website traffic – did Tapper know if there was a rise in traffic with viewers visiting the site to review the fact-checking. And Tapper's response was a bit disheartening. "I don't. And I will be looking into it. We've only been doing it for about four weeks."

HEY JOHN TAPPER, DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

Web analytics could support the fact-checking initiative in a huge way.

1) Demonstrate success or failure for the experiment. If viewers are visiting the site - it shines a light the hunger for the information. Information that at this time, only ABC's This Week is providing. BOOM! Niche content! If not, evaluate if this mechanism is the best way to surface this valuable information. If traffic has risen – what can be done to improve those numbers? And again, evaluate if the web is the right channel for the information.

2) Look at the demographics. Let's track the site's visitors and take a look the potentially wider (and perhaps more attractive?) demographic. I'm talking The Daily Show with Jon Stewart demographic. If the average Sunday morning talk show visitor skews older - could the fact checking device lure younger viewers to This Week?

Analyzing the success or failure of idea of accountability is going to help This Week better understand what resonates with viewers – with citizens.

Comments

[Jane Darwin]

LOL. Makes sense! I wonder if he has read this post. I would definitely love to hear his reactions on this.

Jane Darwin
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