Tag : newspaper

Isaac and I have been discussing how users consume media and news which has raised some interesting questions around online publishing. Specifically: how we construct content templates, how that content looks when it’s in place, art direction at a micro level and how we can create richer, more engaging and, importantly, more ‘useful’ reading experiences online.

Over the last 4-5 years there has been a gradual convergence in how most newspaper sites construct their article pages. Based on a grid system, they employ a wide central column for the body copy and a number of other columns, usually on the right of the screen, for related information, links to other stories, MPUs, tools, etc. We should know, we’ve designed a number of sites for media owners, as well as countless blogs that conform to these conventions.

Have you ever been reading your daily morning commute newspaper and stumbled across a great article and thought “I must share that with my friend X”. After getting to work, after partaking in your morning coffee, you browse through that papers online edition as you know with today’s more-convergent news operations everything is re-published online. Then you can twitter,del.icio.us or email that link off. But it’s impossible to find and the newspaper’s online search can’t find it because lets face-it their search is terrible. You give in and return to Techcrunch.