In this screencast I illustrate some of the issues with the current navigation on Jacksonville.com AND propose a solution. While it’s not a particularly polished design, I think there is a solid information architecture, it’s user friendly and it scales if you need to add more menu options.
Before we get started let’s recap the situation with The Florida Times-Union and parent company Morris Publishing. On May 29th Morris Publishing received a fourth extension on a $10 Million dollar interest payment. The next and maybe final deadline is June 12th, just two days away.
I’ve heard time and again from various people that “the Times-Union will be fine” and “just because Morris goes bankrupt, doesn’t mean the Times-Union will”. That’s fine, but the paper has yet to detail the specifics behind these statements. I’d like to know what everyone at Jacksonville.com seems to know.
Recently Jim Currow, Times-Union Publisher, spoke at the Meniak Club of Jacksonville and was heard saying:
I agree. I know journalists are capable of telling the story better, reassuring the public of it’s continued operation if or when Morris goes bankrupt. They have yet to do this.
most of the newspapers published by bankrupt companies are actually turning operating profits. What’s killing their parent corporations are huge debt burdens.
From what I hear, this seems to be the case for the TU. What better time to innovate and make drastic changes than when you have nothing to lose? No one will fault you for failing if you try, but they will point a finger if you sit there and do nothing. So let’s look at some new models.
Reduce Daily to Weekly
Don’t cut print all together, you’ll kill one of your only good sources of revenue, but you know that. Reduce daily printing to weekly or bi-weekly. Getting out of the vicious daily publication cycle could provide more time to write in-depth stories or cultivate online content and relationships.
By producing a limited number of premium-priced, niche publications on only the days when it is profitable to do so, publishers can begin to focus more of their attention and resources on creating the wide array of tightly targeted Internet and mobile products that represent the future for their franchises. – Facing up to life after print for newspapers
Redesign the Website, Again
I know. Jacksonville.com just redesigned a few months ago. While they’ve made huge strides in functionality and interactivity, the design still leaves much to be desired. Design can influence people to stay in your site longer and explore.
Compare the way the New York Times or CNN looks to Jacksonville.com. The NYT is comforting and relaxing, interesting and compelling. There is something off about Jacksonville.com, the design is no tightly tuned.
Small things can be done to tune the current design. It will require a talented graphic designer and a time investment, but the time will be well spent. Until then, thank goodness for Google Reader.
If you’re not writing about local news, your paper’s readers are probably getting what you do from somewhere else. Get over it. CNN and ESPN are not new, and nytimes.com wasn’t far behind. Write local. There are plenty of cooks and painters and poets in your neighborhood. Go out and meet them.
I’m not saying drop everything and start doing what I do at Urban Jacksonville, but hyperlocal fills a gap in what media outlets are choosing to cover, or more accurately choosing not to cover. The Times-Union is already aggregating select hyperlocal news sources in the city, they should take the next step and launch a hyperlocal team. Or maybe, I’ll beat them to the punch.
When it comes to dollars from hyperlocal content, the money is in the advertising. As we get better geo-location tools, serving ads on a block by block neighborhood will be more valuable than ever. Start building niche audiences now so when the tools arrive you’re ready.
I’ve seen the value in hyper-targeted, local advertising. I think my readers will agree the ads on my site are better than ads anywhere else in the city. Why? They feel like content, not advertising.
Moving reading off the web and onto a wireless device makes it possible for newspapers to create exclusive content that would provide incremental revenue.
The newspaper doesn’t scale with a hit, or it can’t make incremental revenue off more popular articles
Here are some comments from me friend Andrew Connell on the Kindle and his new reading habits. While AC does not fit the profile of your average Times-Union customer, he is an emerging market the TU could reach out to and engage. And guess what, there’s thousands more behind him.
I know many folks, including myself, who would start subscribing to the TU if they offered it in a Kindle format. Kindle is quickly catching on… you almost always see them in biz class when you fly. 9 of the last 10 flights i’ve taken people have asked about mine.
Many folks are canceling print subscriptions and electing for the Kindle version because it’s cheaper and more convenient. I cancelled my WSJ subscription and get it on my Kindle every day now. When I travel, I’ll usually buy a USA Today and an occassional NYT as well… all via the Kindle.
While journalist are re-establishing local beats and focusing on producing hyperlocal content, you can use something like Spot.us to fund in-depth stories and investigative reports with community funded reporting.
Producing investigative stories requires large amounts of time and resources to get the story right. If the community could decide what stories they wanted the paper to report on and finance those stories it seems like a win-win. While some at the Times-Union may not like asking for money, I think desperate times call for innovative measures.
