Team Featuring React Labs Technology Wins Journalism Award

BETHESDA, Md., March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- React Labs' real-time smartphone polling application helped a team of journalists win a 2013 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism, company officials announce today. 

The team, comprising NewsChannel8, Politico, and ABC7/WJLA-TV, utilized React Labs' mobile polling application during its coverage of the 2012 presidential debates.

"ABC7/React Labs Instant Reaction was a major part of our team's entry," said Justin Karp, Digital Operations Manager at WJLA.  "It clearly engaged our viewers and it definitely enhanced our coverage."

Developed by University of Maryland Professor Philip Resnik, the polling technology allows participants to register their moment-by-moment reactions to what candidates are saying during a debate using button taps to indicate when they agree or disagree, and when they think candidates are spinning answers or dodging the question. It also supports pre- and post-debate surveys (e.g. demographics, partisanship, issue priorities) as well as questions during the event (e.g. Which candidate best addressed your concerns about healthcare?).

The Cronkite Award announcement praised the journalism team for "its use of new technology".

"I am delighted we could play a role supporting such excellent election coverage," said Resnik, founder of React Labs. "The NewsChannel8/Politico/WJLA team has my warmest congratulations."  

Resnik holds joint appointments at Maryland in the Department of Linguistics and at the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).

The 2013 Cronkite Award, given by USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, recognizes distinguished work produced during the 2011-2012 election cycle.

About React Labs
React Labs LLC, based in Bethesda, Maryland, offers the industry's most innovative and flexible technology platform for collecting moment-by-moment reactions on a large scale using mobile devices. Originating in research at the University of Maryland by founder Philip Resnik, Ph.D., the technology was developed in collaboration with user experience and political science experts and has been used in large-scale research, political coverage, and studies of advertising effectiveness. For more information, see reactlabs.org or email [email protected].

SOURCE React Labs