White House prepares interactive State of the Union speech
New features include live online streaming of charts, graphs during speech
- By Alice Lipowicz
- Jan 24, 2011
White House officials today promised viewers an enhanced and interactive online State of the Union address.
President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress on Jan. 25 will be presented in a live video feed along with new features that include visual aids, charts, statistics and other enhancements at the WhiteHouse.gov website.
“You’ve never seen a State of the Union address like this before,” Macon Phillips, new media director for the White House, wrote today on the White House Blog. “We are putting the finishing touches on a new feature for WhiteHouse.gov that will offer an enhanced viewer experience.”
Related stories:Obama gives Whitehouse.gov an interactive spin
White House contributes to open-source project
Members of the public are invited to view the speech at
WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU Web page and to access the new features by using the “Enhanced” tab on the page. They also can submit e-mail addresses to receive updates about the speech and presentation.
Immediately after the speech, the WhiteHouse.gov video feed will present policy experts who will answer questions submitted via the Web as well as by a live audience at the White House.
In the annual State of the Union address, the president typically speaks about the condition of the nation and lays out an agenda for the year. The speech begins at 9 p.m. EST Jan. 25.
About the Author
Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week.