The Day The Newspapers Shut Down Their Sites

Ah, man, I didn't mean it at all in that way. Trust me. We just lost nine at our shop — outsourcing the work to a sister paper. Two of them are my bestest friends at my shop. I was just thinking as a bean counting manager for a moment. And now I am ashamed.

 

If newspapers treated the Web the way they should threat the Web, the transition to Web design wouldn't be that difficult.

 

I'm already doing it once a week. But these days there is absolutely no formula for making yourself safe. Even the "well-rounded" folks who can step in and competently fill any desk/design/Web position on a given night are being let go. Even the so-called "faces of the paper" are being let go.

There's no rhyme or reason anymore.

 

I agree with that. We just lost award-winning designers, an intern, two managers, the web editor, all without thinking it through. And we're in danger of losing a sports reporter who can shoot (me) and another award-winning feature writer/columnist.

 

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Yes, web advertising on a whole, not just newspapers, has not been as successful as many originally thought.

 

Don't even get me started. I see so many poorly executed newspaper Web sites. It's no wonder it's hard to keep readers coming back and to sell more ads.

Attention to detail is, at worst, not a priority, and at best, almost impossible because of a staffing inequity or the inability to easily convert stories from one system to another. Sloppy mistakes and other problems that would not have been tolerated in print are shrugged off with a "Well, we can't do anything about that" or "We have to solve the big problems first before we can deal with the small details."

Sites that turn em dashes into question marks. Sites that turn bullets into the letter "n." Columns that end with the writer's perfect ending being adjoined to his or her contact information in an awkward, tone-killing last graf where there is no difference between the font of the text and the font of the contact info. Time stamps that mark only when a story first appears, not its most recent update, so a fresh take at first glance can seem six hours old.

These problems and others are issues that won't go away until they're made a priority, and until they're made a priority, the obvious lack of attention to detail is going to continue to plague newspaper Web sites. If design and detail didn't matter, then a lot of people wasted a lot of time and money tweaking Page One and redesigning their papers for nothing.

It matters, as you so correctly stated.

 

Hearst launches e-reader

 

I hate to say it, but a lot is riding on this gadget.

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With newspapers closing their doors, why not try one of these "dark" theories on a paper whose fate has already been decided?

 

I'll be damned. The Economist had something about this last week - how the Kindle and such devices could be the answer the newspaper industry is looking for.

 

Sorry for what? Your poor reading comprehension?

Again, I hope Newsday makes a ton of subscription revenue and blazes a trail for the rest of us. Believe me, if they show us how it's done, I'll jump right on board.

 

You hedged a tiny bit, so what? That's not what you've been pushing for the most part. Don't weasel around it now, Swisscheeseboy.

 

I haven't "hedged" on anything, Frank. If you'd focus more on reading what's actually been written and less on spouting your condescending bullshit, you'd know what I've been pushing, as opposed to what you imagine I've been pushing.

I'm all about driving online revenue in any viable way, shape or form. The subscription model is not currently viable and failed for the vast majority of newspaper websites that attempted it; I'm not even sure why this painfully obvious fact would be up for debate. But show me one place where I said I'd oppose the subscription model even if it were proven to work. One fucking place, Frank.