Recycling

It's the morning of Election Day, and I'm reminded of yet another advantage that online news has over dead-tree news.

Back in the day, citizens who woke up on Election Day without a clue who they were going to vote for (because they hadn't paid much attention to the columns and columns of top-quality news and analysis provided them over a period of many months by our professional journalists) had no alternative but to rush to the recycling bin or the yellowing stack of old papers in the garage to find some information on which to base a reasonably intelligent vote.

Not anymore.

This morning, listed among the most-read stories on Pilot Online -- usually the freshest, most recent news from today's paper or overnight breaking stories -- are several stories first published weeks ago, way back in October.

They are "Profile: Who is Timothy M. Kaine?," "Profile: Who is Jerry W. Kilgore?," and "Profile: Who is H. Russell Potts?"

There has also been considerable traffic to profiles of lieutenant governor and attorney general candidates.

Obviously, it's not just about getting information to people who need it; it's about getting information to people who need it at the precise moment they need it most.