ABC News Digital is undergoing the final alterations to its wardrobe of Royal Wedding coverage, which will include an exclusive digital-only show with Yahoo!, a Twitter feed, coverage on Facebook, and an enhanced video eBook.
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ABC News senior vice president of digital Paul Slavin sent the following email to his staff commending them on their efforts in covering Friday’s earthquake in Japan and Pacific tsunami, noting that the site streamed more video Friday than on any other day in its history:
Although the tragedy in Japan is still unfolding, we are proud to report that Friday, March 11, was the largest single-day consumption of video in the history of ABCNews.com.
Divisionwide coverage contributed to nearly 4 million video starts on the site, exceeding notable events including the 2009 inauguration, the 2008 election, and Michael Jackson’s memorial, among others.
Also of note, ABC News Digital ranked No. 8 in Nielsen in February, marking the 22nd consecutive month we have been in the top 10 news websites in the country. Our average rank over that period has been No. 8, and prior to that, we were consistently 14th.
With continued excellence in breaking news coverage, consistent technical improvements, and redoubling our commitment to essentials such as SEO, we are confident that the future will bring even more success.
Former ABCNews.com vice president Jonathan Dube joined Aol as senior VP and general manager of Aol News & Information, where he will oversee the Internet giant’s Aol News, Aol Tech, Aol Finance, and Aol Sports groups.
Dube accepted a buyout when ABC News implemented a reorganization in June. Prior to ABCNews.com, he served as senior digital media executive for Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s news division and managing producer at msnbc.com.
Dube told paidContent he chose Aol because CEO Tim Armstrong‘s vision “is right in line with my personal passions” of transforming media through technology, adding, “I’ve been incredibly impressed by Tim’s vision for Aol and by his and (Aol Media & Studios president) David Eun‘s commitment to building the media network of the future. I’ve also met with a lot of people at Aol — executives and journalists — and been blown away with the quality of people they have been hiring. I can honestly say in my career I’ve never encountered an organization with such an amazing combination of both digital talent and journalism talent.”
ABCNews.com will have a new managing editor after the midterm elections Nov. 2: Laiea Smith, who has been with ABC News for more than 10 years, most recently as a senior producer for World News Weekend and special events.
She will lead day-to-day editorial efforts and help to further integration with other ABC News platforms. Smith reports to ABCNews.com executive producer Ed O’Keefe.
Smith has also served as a senior producer for ABC News Now and overseen the third hour of Good Morning America, and she has worked as a field producer in Amman, Jordan, and Baghdad after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
She has also worked on the coverage of stories including the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the 2008 presidential election, and the deaths of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Michael Jackson.
Three weeks following its fifth anniversary, ABC News political blog Political Punch, written by senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, introduced a weekly Webcast, which Tapper said “will set the table for the week ahead in politics and launch an honest and witty discussion on the stories making news in Washington.”
The Webcast, also called Political Punch, will offer interviews and recurring features such as DC Ticker, an analysis of who is trending up and down in our nation’s capital, with contributions from Mother Jones Washington bureau chief and Politics Daily columnist David Corn; and Truth-O-Meter, in which PolitiFact editor Bill Adair “will set the record straight each week.”
Animated sketches by Tapper will also be featured.
