CMA wrap-up 3: web critiques
October 28th, 2007 by BryanI did the web critiques at the convention along with Rob Pongsajapan, former web editor for the Indiana Daily Student and now a web programmer for Georgetown University. The folks who signed up for critiques were:
kaleo.org
flathatnews.com
temple-news.com
hcworldnews.com
thenortherner.com
ruwhim.com
graphic.peperdine.edu
chimes.biola.edu
thebakerorange.com
We gave each group a handout of questions and things to consider. That handout is below the fold. Feel free to use it to help improve your site.
One of the things I noticed about the folks who signed up for web critiques is that most of them were already ahead of the game. Their editors were already able to post to the Web. They did video. Sure there were areas for improvement, but most of them were already ahead of the game. The folks I met were listening intently, ready to improve their presence on the web. The one thing I wish was different: not enough web editors on-hand at the convention. Would have loved to have talked to more of those folks. Maybe in the future.
Use of medium
- How are you innovating?
- Why should I look at your site if I’ve read the paper?
Architecture
- Navigation (are there too many links in the nav bar?)
Design
- Cohesiveness
- Attention to detail (layout mistakes, misspellings, etc.)
- How easy/difficult is it to read text on the site?
- Does a coherent visual hierarchy exist?
- Signal to noise ratio (ads, section names, etc.)
Content
- Maps
- Video
- Links
Process
- How are regular reporters contributing to the website? Links?
- Getting everyone involved.
- At what point are writers thinking about the web in the story planning?
- How many editors have access to the website and know how to post content? Would they have to call the web editor in order to post something?
- Do you ask “what’s the best way to tell the story?” Would this story benefit from maps, video, etc.? How are reporters contributing? At what point does the question get asked.
Checklist from CICM
- Have you got your news org. online?
- Do you have a content management system?
- Have you posted any videos online?
- Have you included any audio soundbites in a story?
- Have you done a photo slideshow?
- Have you put up an audio slideshow (perhaps using Soundslides)?
- Have you done a map?
- Have you used weblogs on your site?
- Have you uploaded source documents (PDFs, excel spreadsheets, etc.) to accompany a big story?
- Have you used social media (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube) to market your stories?
- Have you tracked what others are saying about you via Technorati or Google Blogsearch?
- Have you used the web site to post breaking news online FIRST?
- Have you moved the online editor out of the back office and into a position of authority?
- Have you allowed comments on your stories?
- Have you encouraged writers to write for the Web and include hyperlinks in their stories?
- Have you tried something experimental?
October 28th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Hey that was you? Not sure if you remember me … I’m the managing editor for Mason’s Web edition, Broadside Online. Thanks again for the help and I hope to talk to you later about cms options and other staffing difficulties.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Ah so you did our web review (temple-news.com).
I look forward to seeing what you said.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:51 am
I got to attend this year as our newspaper online editor. But when you say “not enough web editors on-hand at the convention. Would have loved to have talked to more of those folks. Maybe in the future.”, I say Not enough web classes to take! I tried to attend as many classes as I could to see new ideas and ways to improve, but I felt the website classes lacked substance.
Where was the love for the better CMS like Joomla! I heard more people displeased with College Publisher then I could count.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Zach, Joomla is better in some ways, but still difficult for many newspaper’s to handle, IMHO. The new CMS college publisher is coming out with looks like it’s a couple of steps beyond Joomla, although it isn’t free.
And FWIW, you can search the archives for my stance on open-source software and options for hosting your own site.
Sorry I didn’t run into you during the convention.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I do agree with you that maybe college publisher is easier for newspapers to use, but I don’t agree it is a couple of steps beyond Joomla. It’s just you need to know what you are doing, and the lists of addons to enhance a website are endless. Maybe thats why College Publisher may have the upper hand, but with out awareness of other options at CMA, then everyone gets in their head CP is the only thing they have at their disposal.
I am sorry I missed your web critiques too, I don’t remember seeing it in the class listings. I look forward to seeing you there next year.
Now if only I can get the paper editors to do more web based stuff!
October 30th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Zach,
I’m not talking about the current system, but the new system, which has heavy AJAX integration, easy-to-use ways to change the front page, etc. I’m serious. I’ve used Joomla in the past, as well as Drupal and some other content management systems. Polopoly is a serious step up from Joomla - at least the last version I used, which was about 9 months ago.