WebProNews

The washingtonpost.com has launched the "Issue Coverage Tracker," a new application that compares the amount of press coverage between candidates and the major issues of the 2008 presidential race.

The application is available for free for distribution to any user's Web site. It features an interactive display designed for participation, offers a look at election news and allows users to customize by candidate or by issue.

Users can select a candidate and view issues related to that candidate, choose an issue and view where a candidate stands on the issue, expand or limit the coverage timetable, and customize the application to default to a particular candidate.

"As a leader in political news, it was important for us to offer an innovative program that would allow our users to easily understand what's being discussed by the field of '08 presidential candidates. And we made it portable so users can take it with them to their blogs or social networking sites," said Jim Brady, Executive Editor, washingtonpost.com.

"This tool makes it really easy to get a quick look or dive in deep thanks to our partner Daylife, who built a comprehensive service that yields up-to-the-minute results."

The Washington Post says it has plans to launch an "Election Tracker", which pulls information from washingtonpost.com events, financial and news databases.