A New York Times interactive team introduced a flash-based interactive in mid-December 2007 called Naming Names (see photo), which gave a visual representation of which other candidates each U.S. presidential candidate talked about during the debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

Another Times’ application features a map tracking the location and frequency of a candidate’s campaign stops.

According to Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering, “the mainstream media is often chided for not being hip with the latest in design technology.” The Times’ applications, however, would suggest that is a one-sided conclusion.

Naming Names and the other Times’ interactives, designed by and large in very short time windows, are examples of the potential for fast-paced innovation in journalism, The recent incarnation of the Publish2 Election News Network in Tennessee offered another lightening fast instance of quick creativity that led to an interesting journalism project. 

Sources: User Interface Engineering, CyberJournalist.net