We've come a long way since the '90s AOL chat rooms, now Washington Post is running discussions all day. It's essentially a moderated chat room, with expert hosts on sports, music, economics, politics, etc.
Great way to offer people a direct connection to the news and journalists, check out the one running right now on the Superbowl music line up.
You can find all of the daily discussions on the left sidebar of the Post's homepage.