Renovations continue on local television news websites ..... Flash features, which had been in the works - locally - for some time, were recently unveiled at www.newswest9.com , and there may be more changes coming in terms of layout .....
This brings NewsWest 9's layout closer to the pattern set last year - again, locally - by www.cbs7.com , although CBS 7's site - IMHO, at least - is more restrained, less eye-catching in its colors and graphics .....
Also moving in that direction is Big 2's website permianbasin360.com .....
What do YOU think?
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2 comments:
The linked sites aren't bad. And, for instance the CBS7 site is a definite improvement over the previous version that I remember.
And yet, when I look at any of them, they immediately look "local". Not in the good sense of intimate, local news, rather the appearance of a "local" design budget.
Compare any of these to the new beta version of CNN, http://beta.cnn.com
Don't exactly present themselves as being in the same class.
This kind of annoys me, because in many respects the web is a great leveler. Good design doesn't necessarily require a million dollar budget. The sites could be better, but for whatever reason... they are not.
Whenever starting a new project, it seems clients immediately want to compare their site to other local sites and competitors. I try to encourage them to think bigger. From the beginning try to create something competitive on the national or international level.
If your goal is only to meet the same "design standard" set by other local companies... how are you going to stand out?
I think Stephan Dill, web editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican, does a great job. That is a print publication, however.
For local news, having something happening at the crux of the interactions, if possible, is where the key is if you can manage it. I didn't see much for interaction or community-generated information.
In Santa Fe Dill saw that when fires broke out several years ago, the most reliable and newest information came from citizens. He has always been open to tapping that.
I studied that particular paper in my new media studies.
(Media Studies grad school but maybe none of this is relevant to you...)
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