Capturing mindshare

The New Republic today published an internal memo from Politico on what makes a story a Politico story. From the memo:

Stories need to be both interesting and illuminating--we don’t have the luxury of running stories folks won’t click on or spend several minutes with in the paper.

a) Would this be a “most e-mailed” story?

b) Would I read this story if I hadn’t written it?

c) Would my mother read this story?

d) Will a blogger be inspired to post on this story?

-snip-

If your friends or source are buzzing about something related in any way to public affairs, don’t ask yourself WHETHER it’s a Politico story. Ask yourself HOW you can make it a Politico story, to capture built-in traffic and mindshare.

A sort of side note: Politico recently expanded its print edition to five days a week. Why? Because print is where the publication makes most of its money.