How students are Tumbling campaign coverage for WaPo

The Washington Post has teamed up with 12 students from swing states to "capture perspectives of young voters". The journalism trainees are "keeping track of campaign issues" on "The 12" Tumblr blog, which is integrated into the Washington Post website.

The group Tumblr launched earlier this month and is compiled by "student journalists in 12 battleground states documenting the 2012 presidential election and capturing perspectives of young voters," according to a description on the blog.

Readers can click on the tag for each state featured to select to read updates from that area. Followers of the blog are also invited to submit story tips.

Announcing the launch of the Tumblr blog, the Washington Post said the student journalists would explore issues that are not widely reported.

"Using content aggregated from student media outlets and local news sources, the 12 will be a site that leverages Tumblr’s curation tools to feature election news that matters most to voters in battleground states and identify campaign issues that have yet to bubble up to the national conscience."

The group said it would "focus on coverage that most affects young voters, who turned out in record numbers to propel Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008. But it’s unclear whether the under-30 crowd will do the same in 2012."

Steven Ginsberg, national politics editor of the title, said at the time of the blog's launch that "The 12 is a way for the Washington Post to spotlight student journalism across the country and share unique analysis, observations and photos that might not have been documented otherwise".

Details of the 12 students and their Twitter handles can be found at this link.

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