Question #4
By now you should have had the chance to see the new design of the Star Tribune print and online editions. The editors believe these new designs "represent the most complete and most useful versions ever" of the newspaper and web site. Take a look at the online presentation that explains the decisions behind some of these changes to the design and content. Think about how you felt reading the paper or navigating the Web site. Are the changes effective? Perhaps select an aspect of the newly newspaper or web site that really works for you and explain what you like about it. Then select an aspect that doesn't work for you and explain why. Or, consider the copy editors. How do you think the changes may have affected them?
posted by Kate at 9:25 PM
3 Comments:
I like the new Star Tribune. The light blue coloring is a great addition and is much easier on the eyes than the traditional dark green. I also like the new magazine style type of font. It makes the content seem less sophisticated and more inviting to read. The expanded international coverage with a Minnesota twist is also a great addition. It makes world news seem more applicable to our lives here in Minnesota. I also like the new website. Most newspaper websites are cluttered and hard to navigate, but the Star Tribune has made things a lot simpler. The removal of the cluttered side bar was a great move. There really isn't anything I don't like about the new Star Tribune. The main reason people don't like it is because people are afraid of change. Over time these same people will become accustomed to the Star Tribune's new look. I have also heard people complaining about the Star Tribune being dumbed down for readers, but I don't see it. The content is basically the same, except for a few new sections and the removal of the Variety section. The content is just disguised in a fun looking font.
3:46 PM, October 16, 2005
I like the new look. It's cleaner to look at. My personal favorite is how the day is so big in the headline. It's partially funny, and well i dont know why but i appreciate having the day label so in my face.
I think newspaper people are a little old school, and it's a bit disconcerting to see a modern style, but this redesign will be like a change in a team's jerseys, eventually they're gonna reintroduce the retro look, but for now this is a breath of fresh air.
In terms of the online tour, the only thing i liked was the story summary for anything that takes over a minute to read. Otherwise, all i saw was a greater focus on lifestyle and entertainment and weather. seriously. the weather was fine. It is not a newspaper's job to report on clothing trends and tv favorites. If people are not responding to how you are presenting real news, I find it insulting that a newspaper would abandon the real news in favor of fluff news, instead of perhaps rethinking their approach to telling the important stories. Just because people "dont have time" or "dont care" doesnt mean that papers should abandon their real jobs. I hate letting readers off the hook i guess.
11:49 AM, October 17, 2005
Perhaps the most interesting part of the redesign isn't the design at all. Reading through the website's explanation of the Star Trib's changes makes it clear that story presentation played a larger role in the redesign. While the look of the paper and website changed, the way they handle stories did, as well. And this is, at least to me, much more interesting than how it looks. The Star Tribune's website noted they would now include non-continued stories. For some articles, readers will not have to make the dreaded flip to A10, or whatever the continuation page is. This is a huge and handy shift. While there's value in forcing readers to turn pages in order to bring them into the paper's guts, the Strib is acknowledging that instead of making the turn most readers stop at the break. They are giving readers information in the quickest, easiest, most digestable way. Another example of this is the inclusion of story summaries. If a story will take more than a minute to read, it will have a summary bar at the top. Also, the Star Tribune will include more "charticles" and graphs that tell the story, rather than simply text-based articles. They'll include maps or graphs with chunks of information, rather than the usual line after line of information.
My other favorite part of the changes is the emphasis on the human component of news. In one section of the website explanation, the Strib promised to give readers stories that aren't necessarily "earth-shattering," but that "reveal something about modern life."
Before reading about these changes to story presentation, I was pretty apathetic about the redesign. But now, I'm geniunely intrigues. I think we'll see these kinds of changes continue and spread to other papers.The Star Tribune has learned an important news lesson: it's all about presentation.
1:58 PM, October 17, 2005
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