CBSNews.com Teaming Up with Digg for 2008 Campaign Coverage

Most Popular Digg Stories to Appear on Network’s Site; CBSNews.com to Add ‘Digg This’ Buttons

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2008 4:12:00 PM

CBSNews.com and popular social-content aggregator Digg are teaming up for 2008 presidential campaign coverage.

The deal will see some of Digg’s most highly rated 2008 campaign stories appear on CBSNews.com. In addition, CBSNews.com will add “Digg This!” buttons to its stories and videos, making it easier for users to digg their content. Users of Digg either “digg” or “bury” a news story, with the most popular ones, or the ones with the most diggs, rising to the top of the pack.

According to CBS News, the deal is meant to open up CBSNews.com to content that might not otherwise appear on the site, while expanding its own online-content distribution to one of the Web’s most popular social news sites.

"This is part of our strategic plan to open CBSNews.com to diverse news, analysis and voices from across the Web," said Michael Sims, vice president of editorial content for CBSNews.com, in a statement. "It marks the first time we’ve featured content from a leading social news Web site on CBSNews.com. This integration not only empowers our users, but also greatly increases the content available to them. We are simultaneously exposing our content to the greater Digg community to help encourage more discovery and sharing."

When it comes to political stories, Digg users have been much more likely to give perceived long-shot candidates equal time and weight. Candidates such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), largely ignored by many mainstream news outlets, routinely make the front pages of Digg’s political and U.S. news sections.