Our Drug of Choice

Last week, The Washington Post’s The Fix released the 2009 Fix List of the best state-based political reporters in the country.

In Colorado, top honors go to Lynn Bartels of The Denver Post and Adam Schrager of 9News. The Fix is written inside the Beltway for readers across the country who are fueled by national politics. So it’s no surprise that when aggregating a top-line political news overview, their list highlights Colorado’s top-rated TV news station and only major daily newspaper. That’s a 30,000-foot view from the nation’s capitol for an audience of busy politicos who just want a quick fix.

But when it comes to the 5,280-foot view of targeted public persuasion, we have a vast array of other ideas as well. When crafting a broader communications strategy, we look closely at the target audience, their information-gathering habits and who influences them.

For all the Denver Post/9News devotees out there, we also know people who rarely pick up a daily newspaper but wouldn’t miss their weekly Westword or El Semanario. We can point to folks who almost never turn on the TV, yet are addicted to ColoradoPols.com and EdNewsColorado.org. Others only have time and attention for Colorado Parent magazine and the elementary school newsletter.

And then there are those folks who get their news from the shiny new toy in social media, Twitter. We’ve recognized Twitter’s rising profile and are always on the watch for tools and tactics that help leverage its popularity to affect social and political change. We’ve recently discovered Follow My Government, a slice-it-and-dice-it compiling of government officials’ Twitter contacts, broken down by government body, political party or state. One click allows you to mass follow the entire segment.

While the suppliers and dealers may be different depending on the message, public persuasion is always our drug of choice.