There are three kinds of news reader: one who strictly reads the paper, one who retrieves their news online only, and one who utilizes both to get the biggest picture.
Every morning I wake up, grab my coffee and read the paper. As a last-ditch effort to get the rest of the news, I quickly scan Orlando Sentinel's Web site to fill in any gaps caused by reading the print edition.
Today's front page of the paper addresses Friday's presidential debate and economic crises. The Sentinel Web site, though, is still focused on the local Casey Anthony case.
By combining the Sentinel's two mediums, I get a great balance of local news and politics, but there are those times when I want to read an article that I read in the paper online. This becomes an issue.
In order for newspaper articles to be easily accessible on the internet, companies utilize search engine optimization, SEO, to provide key words in the headline that are relevant to the article's topic. So when I go online to read todays print article dubbed "It's debatable" I find the same article online under the headline "Campaign 2008: Will McCain and Obama face off Friday?" And I can't type in the print headline to retrieve its online counterpart.
The Sentinel does a good job at pointing print readers to the web via bugs, but once readers get there it's a free-for-all on finding specific information linked to the print article.
By combining print and online resources,I become a more of a well-rounded reader, balancing the presidential campaign news from print and local news (ie Casey Anthony) from online, but the home page doesn't link up directly to its print twin.
Perhaps the front page image the Sentinel offers on their left sidebar should offer links to the print editions articles online.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Do not pass go; do not collect $700 billion
Every four years, the presidential debate turns into a he said, she said game, often drowning out the issues to point blame.
Over the past few weeks, coverage of the Casey-Caley Case has been wiped out by Obama and McCain. Today's Orlando Sentinel article addresses Friday's debate and whether or not it will take place because of the economy's bailout.
McCain wants to become a bipartisan group to solve this financial problem. He wants to basically stop his campaign to work with his rival, but Obama insists on multitasking. He wants to continue with his campaign. McCain wants to postpone Friday's debate, and Obama vows to be there even if he is the only one who shows up.
This recent development that I would classify as a cat fight leaves me laughing. "McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement," the Orlando Sentinel wrote about the rivals' attempt to come together to solve this $700 billion crisis. So, the two are trying to work together, but McCain gets the upper hand by beating his apparent accomplice to the punch. This really just doesn't make sense. I feel like this drama came straight from high school and it makes me hesitant to choose either one as our country's new leader.
Perhaps a more direct revelation that politics is just a game where words are picked apart and placed where the most waves will be made is the lipstick statement issued out by Obama: "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." It was assumed Obama spoke of McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, and McCain was quick to slap "sexist" all over that remark. The 12-word insult made Orlando Sentinel's front page.
It's hard to say whether this blame game is created by media hype or by the presidential candidates, but sometimes it's hard to find the news in this presidential campaign.
Over the past few weeks, coverage of the Casey-Caley Case has been wiped out by Obama and McCain. Today's Orlando Sentinel article addresses Friday's debate and whether or not it will take place because of the economy's bailout.
McCain wants to become a bipartisan group to solve this financial problem. He wants to basically stop his campaign to work with his rival, but Obama insists on multitasking. He wants to continue with his campaign. McCain wants to postpone Friday's debate, and Obama vows to be there even if he is the only one who shows up.
This recent development that I would classify as a cat fight leaves me laughing. "McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement," the Orlando Sentinel wrote about the rivals' attempt to come together to solve this $700 billion crisis. So, the two are trying to work together, but McCain gets the upper hand by beating his apparent accomplice to the punch. This really just doesn't make sense. I feel like this drama came straight from high school and it makes me hesitant to choose either one as our country's new leader.
Perhaps a more direct revelation that politics is just a game where words are picked apart and placed where the most waves will be made is the lipstick statement issued out by Obama: "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." It was assumed Obama spoke of McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, and McCain was quick to slap "sexist" all over that remark. The 12-word insult made Orlando Sentinel's front page.
It's hard to say whether this blame game is created by media hype or by the presidential candidates, but sometimes it's hard to find the news in this presidential campaign.
Chevy's dry, not the levy.
Bill Heard Chevorlet in Sanford shut down abruptly on Wednesday, leaving mechanics to sip beers in their empty bays.
The downward spiral is due to high gas prices and a shortage of gas-friendly cars, among other things, leaving 2,700 workers wondering whether or not they will even get their last paycheck.
The headline on the front page of the Orlando Sentinel was captivating, but the rest of the article left me with questions.
After reading the article, I know the company sank. I know why, too. But I'm not sure what is financially going on. Did the company declare bankruptcy? Will it be up and running again?
The article does elaborate that local automobile vendors can shove Bill Heard under their wing, running it apart from GM, but it is unclear if that is the legitimate plan.
The short article is missing something: backstory. GM has been struggling for years so a description on the company Bill Heard operates under is necessary to get the point across.
The Orlando Sentinel article forced me to dive into a sea of GM crises. What I found out was just as astonishing as Bill Heard's abrupt closure. GM is in cahoots with Egypt, according to CBSNews.com. The all-American brand has been outsourcing their products to save their company from bankruptcy.
In America, Chevrolet plans to release the electric Volt in 2010. This Saturn-like protege gets 40 miles per charge and has the equivalent to 240 horsepower, competing with Toyota's Prius.
The GM debacle gives insight as to why Bill Heard sunk. Without other GM information, readers lose touch with the bigger, non-local picture.
Although most of this information is specific and threatens to bring the topic to an unclear point, some inkling of GM's recent actions should have been addressed in the article to provide a clearer vision of our local situation.
The downward spiral is due to high gas prices and a shortage of gas-friendly cars, among other things, leaving 2,700 workers wondering whether or not they will even get their last paycheck.
The headline on the front page of the Orlando Sentinel was captivating, but the rest of the article left me with questions.
After reading the article, I know the company sank. I know why, too. But I'm not sure what is financially going on. Did the company declare bankruptcy? Will it be up and running again?
The article does elaborate that local automobile vendors can shove Bill Heard under their wing, running it apart from GM, but it is unclear if that is the legitimate plan.
The short article is missing something: backstory. GM has been struggling for years so a description on the company Bill Heard operates under is necessary to get the point across.
The Orlando Sentinel article forced me to dive into a sea of GM crises. What I found out was just as astonishing as Bill Heard's abrupt closure. GM is in cahoots with Egypt, according to CBSNews.com. The all-American brand has been outsourcing their products to save their company from bankruptcy.
In America, Chevrolet plans to release the electric Volt in 2010. This Saturn-like protege gets 40 miles per charge and has the equivalent to 240 horsepower, competing with Toyota's Prius.
The GM debacle gives insight as to why Bill Heard sunk. Without other GM information, readers lose touch with the bigger, non-local picture.
Although most of this information is specific and threatens to bring the topic to an unclear point, some inkling of GM's recent actions should have been addressed in the article to provide a clearer vision of our local situation.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
$700 billion for WHAT?
With all of this stock market crash news resonating, I must admit I feel pretty dumb. I'm a 21-year-old college student who doesn't know jack about the stock market. And reading the Orlando Sentinel really doesn't help me on this one. In a story on the government's bailout an Orlando Sentinel writer wrote:
"The deficit for this budget year, which ends on Sept. 30, is expected to rise to $407 billion, a figure that is more than double the $161.5 billion imbalance for 2007, reflecting what the economic slowdown and this year's $168 billion economic stimulus program are already doing to the government's books." (blogger added bold)
Alone, this single sentence isn't so bad, but try attaching it to an article that includes other overwhelming numbers, such as the trusty $700 billion article topic. And even if the sentence does make sense, five numbers in one sentence pretty much guarantees that somebody, somewhere is confused.
So I went elsewhere for my news. I went to the New York Times. It was published a day later than the Orlando Sentinel, but maybe it just needed extra polishing before publication...
or not.
The article's lede left me sifting for something solid to hold onto:
"WASHINGTON — Bipartisan support appeared to be emerging Sunday among American lawmakers to approve quickly a vast bailout of financial institutions in the United States. The Bush administration has proposed granting unfettered authority for the Treasury Department to buy up to $700 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets from private firms as part of a program that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said 'has to work.'"
The whopper of a 2-sentence, 62-word lede left my heading spinning. The scary thing is, I found myself asking where this article's editor was. Are words such as "vast" and "distressed" really necessary where they are in this lede? And I hope we have "American" lawmakers! It's true that there is some degree of "bipartisan support" happening here, but it's not lede-worthy; this article doesn't deal with the presidential debate.
Ok. That lede is just too wordy. I certainly do not want to read the rest of the article, but I still really want to know what's going on.
I find myself stumbling into the arms of The Wall Street Journal. They took a much better approach to this: Q and A. The lede addresses me directly by acknowledging the "esoteric" jargon of the stock market. At least I'm not alone here.
The structure of the article is risky; the paper risks belittling the reader. But the questions were well-informed. The answers were relatable.
Finally! The stock market journey comes to a close, and I feel a little less ignorant to our country's financial crisis. I just hope I don't have to pull $700 billion out of my pocket!
"The deficit for this budget year, which ends on Sept. 30, is expected to rise to $407 billion, a figure that is more than double the $161.5 billion imbalance for 2007, reflecting what the economic slowdown and this year's $168 billion economic stimulus program are already doing to the government's books." (blogger added bold)
Alone, this single sentence isn't so bad, but try attaching it to an article that includes other overwhelming numbers, such as the trusty $700 billion article topic. And even if the sentence does make sense, five numbers in one sentence pretty much guarantees that somebody, somewhere is confused.
So I went elsewhere for my news. I went to the New York Times. It was published a day later than the Orlando Sentinel, but maybe it just needed extra polishing before publication...
or not.
The article's lede left me sifting for something solid to hold onto:
"WASHINGTON — Bipartisan support appeared to be emerging Sunday among American lawmakers to approve quickly a vast bailout of financial institutions in the United States. The Bush administration has proposed granting unfettered authority for the Treasury Department to buy up to $700 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets from private firms as part of a program that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said 'has to work.'"
The whopper of a 2-sentence, 62-word lede left my heading spinning. The scary thing is, I found myself asking where this article's editor was. Are words such as "vast" and "distressed" really necessary where they are in this lede? And I hope we have "American" lawmakers! It's true that there is some degree of "bipartisan support" happening here, but it's not lede-worthy; this article doesn't deal with the presidential debate.
Ok. That lede is just too wordy. I certainly do not want to read the rest of the article, but I still really want to know what's going on.
I find myself stumbling into the arms of The Wall Street Journal. They took a much better approach to this: Q and A. The lede addresses me directly by acknowledging the "esoteric" jargon of the stock market. At least I'm not alone here.
The structure of the article is risky; the paper risks belittling the reader. But the questions were well-informed. The answers were relatable.
Finally! The stock market journey comes to a close, and I feel a little less ignorant to our country's financial crisis. I just hope I don't have to pull $700 billion out of my pocket!
Readers should pay for online news
In order to create revenue, some newspapers set the bar by putting a fee to their online work; however, this novel concept is fairly green, and it will require a complete overhaul of the newspaper industry.
Subscription-based web content would catapault the newspaper industry towards a brighter future. As of right now, paid content is generally opinion articles and artistry sections. This is absolutely a step in the right direction for an industry with a declining paper circulation. Companies are identifying the constituents that separate themselves from the rest of the pack: writers. Right now, online subscribers pay to hear the voice of a writer through their columns and other opinion-based media.
The Wall Street Journal dishes out online subscription fees for portions of the Web site with over 1 million subscribers. The New York Times did implement some subscription-based data, but digressed back to free content on Sept. 19.
Papers often don't offer paid online services because it effects the number of page views they receive. When an article shows up on a search engine and users click, they may be barred from the article because they haven't paid.
Which is more important: money or page views?
The New York Times claims its page views are the most important because they create a venue for advertisements, yielding monetary gain. The Times had 227,000 paying subscribers and collected over $10 million a year from them. Had they just enticed more paid subscribers, their problem would have been solved. There would have been more money and less annoying advertisements. It's a win-win situation.
Newspaper companies will have to change their whole mentality for this to work. Online is not like print; revenue needs to be collected from a different source other than advertising.
Papers should go with a full-on paid approach. Everything except what is on the front page of the day's paper should cost readers money. To keep the money flowing, newspaper companies should work on obtaining exclusive information and utilize the Web to the fullest extent. The Orlando Sentinel's coverage of the Casey Anthony case is a good example. If articles used visual and interactive concepts to help learn about the day's news, I'd certainly pay for it.
Subscription-based web content would catapault the newspaper industry towards a brighter future. As of right now, paid content is generally opinion articles and artistry sections. This is absolutely a step in the right direction for an industry with a declining paper circulation. Companies are identifying the constituents that separate themselves from the rest of the pack: writers. Right now, online subscribers pay to hear the voice of a writer through their columns and other opinion-based media.
The Wall Street Journal dishes out online subscription fees for portions of the Web site with over 1 million subscribers. The New York Times did implement some subscription-based data, but digressed back to free content on Sept. 19.
Papers often don't offer paid online services because it effects the number of page views they receive. When an article shows up on a search engine and users click, they may be barred from the article because they haven't paid.
Which is more important: money or page views?
The New York Times claims its page views are the most important because they create a venue for advertisements, yielding monetary gain. The Times had 227,000 paying subscribers and collected over $10 million a year from them. Had they just enticed more paid subscribers, their problem would have been solved. There would have been more money and less annoying advertisements. It's a win-win situation.
Newspaper companies will have to change their whole mentality for this to work. Online is not like print; revenue needs to be collected from a different source other than advertising.
Papers should go with a full-on paid approach. Everything except what is on the front page of the day's paper should cost readers money. To keep the money flowing, newspaper companies should work on obtaining exclusive information and utilize the Web to the fullest extent. The Orlando Sentinel's coverage of the Casey Anthony case is a good example. If articles used visual and interactive concepts to help learn about the day's news, I'd certainly pay for it.
Bragg's Miracle
The Orlando Sentinel donned an awesome lede on Thursday. It was so compelling that I was hooked simply by hearing it paraphrased. I had to know more about this guy:
"In one day, three hearts passed in and out of Randy Bragg's chest."
This witty 13-word lede is concise and, most importantly, creatively captivating. It's an incredible story topic regardless, but a news-style lead would not have forced me to run home to find the entire story.
The lede precedes Bragg's heart transplant surgery story. Doctors from Shands at the University of Florida replaced the 49-year-old's heart but it wouldn't beat. That first heart only came after months of waiting, but a second heart came from Tennessee. Doctors implanted the second heart and this time it worked. These days, after a year of recovery, Bragg can be found at the gym four days a week.
The story itself was written and organized well. It stayed focused and followed a logical pattern.
The photo adjacent to the story captures this event with ease. It's simplicity is what yields its success. Bragg reveals his transplant scar, a constant reminder of the miracle.
"In one day, three hearts passed in and out of Randy Bragg's chest."
This witty 13-word lede is concise and, most importantly, creatively captivating. It's an incredible story topic regardless, but a news-style lead would not have forced me to run home to find the entire story.
The lede precedes Bragg's heart transplant surgery story. Doctors from Shands at the University of Florida replaced the 49-year-old's heart but it wouldn't beat. That first heart only came after months of waiting, but a second heart came from Tennessee. Doctors implanted the second heart and this time it worked. These days, after a year of recovery, Bragg can be found at the gym four days a week.
The story itself was written and organized well. It stayed focused and followed a logical pattern.
The photo adjacent to the story captures this event with ease. It's simplicity is what yields its success. Bragg reveals his transplant scar, a constant reminder of the miracle.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Charlie Crist, Gas and the Orlando Sentinel
The aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas left travelers' pockets a little lighter on Saturday, but Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says Ike hasn't affected Florida's gas prices.
Today's Orlando Sentinel attempts to give explanation for the gas situation, but it relies on gas prices. This is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that there is no gas. I travelled to 4 gas stations Saturday in search of a pump offering regular gas. Prices have been on the rise for years, so their continuing rise wasn't as shocking as the yellow plastic bags covering so many gas pumps.
Everything in the article was relevant; it's just not in the best inverted pyramid.
The front-page article of the Sentinel waits until the jump -- and the end of the article -- to let the reader know why there is no gas. The verdict: gas is so expensive gas stations themselves aren't purchasing gas. Readers have to sift through what Gov. Charlie Crist said (Florida has not run out of gas), how much gas was in Tallahassee, and price gauging before getting to the heart of the matter.
Even the refer just below the fold conveys the $5.49 price tag for gas in Tallahassee when Suncoast Energys' gas on Semoran Blvd. is the same price, according to OrlandoGasPrices.com .
The article also releases information on the Texas oil refineries being shut down. The article says it can take days to get the refinieries up and running again, but the reporter should have found out how many days. People read this article to find out how it affects them and for how long. It's going to be somewhere around 9 days, according to Forbes.
Although Gov. Charlie Crist is an important political figure, sometimes the news is the news regardless of what he says. Crist spoke to inform Floridians why the gas is expensive, but the fact is it's gone. Perhaps that's important.
Today's Orlando Sentinel attempts to give explanation for the gas situation, but it relies on gas prices. This is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that there is no gas. I travelled to 4 gas stations Saturday in search of a pump offering regular gas. Prices have been on the rise for years, so their continuing rise wasn't as shocking as the yellow plastic bags covering so many gas pumps.
Everything in the article was relevant; it's just not in the best inverted pyramid.
The front-page article of the Sentinel waits until the jump -- and the end of the article -- to let the reader know why there is no gas. The verdict: gas is so expensive gas stations themselves aren't purchasing gas. Readers have to sift through what Gov. Charlie Crist said (Florida has not run out of gas), how much gas was in Tallahassee, and price gauging before getting to the heart of the matter.
Even the refer just below the fold conveys the $5.49 price tag for gas in Tallahassee when Suncoast Energys' gas on Semoran Blvd. is the same price, according to OrlandoGasPrices.com .
The article also releases information on the Texas oil refineries being shut down. The article says it can take days to get the refinieries up and running again, but the reporter should have found out how many days. People read this article to find out how it affects them and for how long. It's going to be somewhere around 9 days, according to Forbes.
Although Gov. Charlie Crist is an important political figure, sometimes the news is the news regardless of what he says. Crist spoke to inform Floridians why the gas is expensive, but the fact is it's gone. Perhaps that's important.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Orlando Sentinel's redesign
The Orlando Sentinel hit the stands on June 22 with a new design. The redesign lends itself to a fast-paced Orlando citizen who no longer has time to sit down with their coffee and paper; it's got more color, more pictures and an entirely new structure.
"Our community is fast moving, very modern. It's changing and growing," Sentinel Editor Charlotte Hall told the Wall Street Journal. "We need to have a paper that feels like that, too."
There is a new feature that I am not so excited about: the advertising. I'm baffled by the huge AT&T advertisement slapped right over the flag. When I first saw the paper wrapped up in a huge ad, I had doubts that it could be the Orlando Sentinel. Without the ad covering it up, the design is very intelligible.
The release of the new Sentinel uses color similar to the USA Today. Each section has its own general color scheme allowing for easier browsing. The risky use of red on the front page seems to do its job for me; behind that ad is a beautiful, colorful, tasteful newspaper.
When it comes down to it, though, the most important thing about a newspaper is what it says. Someone at the Sentinel got it right when they chose the new approach to the A section. Today's paper is littered with reefers and bugs above the fold, some of which are larger than the nameplate itself. There is even a comic on the first page! Between the news, comics, and reefers above the fold, the Orlando Sentinel reaches out to a broader audience. There is something for everyone above the fold in this redesign, which is smart for a newspaper looking to attract more readership.
The Orlando Sentinel, owned by Tribune Co., is not the only one to go through a total overhaul. Tribune set all of its papers to be redesigned in order to overhaul its drooping sales including the Sun Sentinel, Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune.
*Although it has been a few months since its release, I have been dying to have a venue to discuss this over. *
"Our community is fast moving, very modern. It's changing and growing," Sentinel Editor Charlotte Hall told the Wall Street Journal. "We need to have a paper that feels like that, too."
There is a new feature that I am not so excited about: the advertising. I'm baffled by the huge AT&T advertisement slapped right over the flag. When I first saw the paper wrapped up in a huge ad, I had doubts that it could be the Orlando Sentinel. Without the ad covering it up, the design is very intelligible.
The release of the new Sentinel uses color similar to the USA Today. Each section has its own general color scheme allowing for easier browsing. The risky use of red on the front page seems to do its job for me; behind that ad is a beautiful, colorful, tasteful newspaper.
When it comes down to it, though, the most important thing about a newspaper is what it says. Someone at the Sentinel got it right when they chose the new approach to the A section. Today's paper is littered with reefers and bugs above the fold, some of which are larger than the nameplate itself. There is even a comic on the first page! Between the news, comics, and reefers above the fold, the Orlando Sentinel reaches out to a broader audience. There is something for everyone above the fold in this redesign, which is smart for a newspaper looking to attract more readership.
The Orlando Sentinel, owned by Tribune Co., is not the only one to go through a total overhaul. Tribune set all of its papers to be redesigned in order to overhaul its drooping sales including the Sun Sentinel, Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune.
*Although it has been a few months since its release, I have been dying to have a venue to discuss this over. *
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