WashingtonPost.com – Raising the Bar

Arguably among the most ambitious newspapers with respect to online development, The Washington Post has been experimenting with new web technologies and is encouraging its readers to engage with the paper’s content in creative ways.

First, the Post Remix.

As the “Official Post Mash-up Center,” Post Remix has two goals:

• To spotlight the work of outside Web developers who’ve made cool and interesting projects (“mashups”) using Post content.
• To provide information about washingtonpost.com’s various data offerings (APIs and RSS feeds).

This initiative clearly illustrates the Post’s willingness to try new things and be open to alternative modes of presenting news and information. WashingtonPost.com’s Adrian Holvaty explains that they are undertaking this kind of project, “Because we want to foster innovation, and because we want to see your ideas about new ways of displaying news and information on the Web.”

Second, “Bookmark to del.icio.us”

The Washington Post is among a small number of publications which have incorporated a “Bookmark to del.icio.us” button at the bottom of every article. This feature allows readers to tag and organize the pieces they find interesting, making it easier to reference these links again at a later point. Because this feature enables readers to actively engage and interact with the content, publishers are really doing themselves a favor.

Third, Technorati-powered links.

Every Washington Post story features a box labeled “Who’s Blogging,” which lists all of the blogs that are discussing that topic and actively linking to the article. These boxes also include a list of the most blogged about articles – both on Washingtonpost.com and on the web as a whole.

The Post’s own robust collection of blogs has earned it second place in the “Best Blogging Newspapers in the U.S.” rankings, a list compiled by Jay Rosen and his journalism students at NYU.

[Disclosure: I have a relative who is an executive at the Washington Post Company.]