Media Washington Post

Behind WaPo Web Numbers: Sarah Palin

Posted by Erik Wemple on Oct. 24, 2008, at 11:02 am

Washingtonpost.com is among the many sites that've made a traffic killing off of the presidential race. September brought the second consecutive month of record-breaking traffic, with nearly 13 million unique users, up from just over 11 million in August.

Thank you, Sarah.

According to washingtonpost.com Editor Liz Spayd, 10 of the top 30 stories in September were about Palin. Spayd wouldn't specify which of the Post's many Palin stories drove all the hits. Though the paper's dot-com operation claims that it's tamping down some of its secrecy with respect to traffic information, it'll go only so far. When asked whether those popular stories consisted of all the enterprise pieces the paper did or its opinion fare, Spayd responded that it was a mix of both.

Spayd said that other politics stuff was cooking as well--like the Trail, the Fix, and PostPartisan, a series of "quick takes" by the paper's editorial boarders.

All of which queues up a question that many national news outlets are now facing: What on earth is the Post going to do when the race is over? Let Spayd take it away via e-mail: "Our traffic boost, no question, is powered by politics, but we've seen growth in other areas as well. It's apt to taper off after the election, but we're already gearing up for a new White House and administration, with new blogs and web ventures in the works. Stay tuned."

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Comments

1. Dave October 24th, 2008
   1:33 pm
   #1

   Another site that made a killing off of gratuitous Palin-related posts? This one.

2. Wenalway October 24th, 2008
   6:16 pm
   #2

   Sarah Palin should be removed from the GOP ticket. Every day she stays is another day of proof that the party has lost its way. Sarah Palin should be removed from the ticket.

3. baycommuter October 25th, 2008
   12:07 am
   #3

   This is a site for journalists wenalway, try to act like a professional instead of a partisan.

4. Wenalway October 25th, 2008
   8:32 pm
   #4

   That was a funny post, baycommuter. Some of the most partisan, ignorant folks are journalists. They bring their agendas to their jobs on a daily basis. No one prevents them from doing so.

5. Peggy October 25th, 2008
   9:13 pm
   #5

   I wonder if Sarah Palin has actually had any say in what she has been saying all this time?

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