[LINK] A replacement for the newspaper

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Tue Jul 9 09:29:45 AEST 2013


At 8:39 +1000 9/7/13, Dr Bob Jansen wrote:
>I have been searching for a replacement for my morning newspaper, 
>since the Sydney Morning Herald introduced its paywall like the 
>other newspapers.

Snap.

Although my motive wasn't the paywall.  (Their bundled price is 
currently a fraction lower than I've been paying for years through my 
newsagent).

My concern is that not only the presentation, but also the content, 
has been greatly dumbed down, particularly since the switch from 
broadsheet to tabloid format.


>A couple of days ago, I installed the ABC iPad app. This is a 
>credible replacement with sections, like newspaper, for local, 
>national, international, just in, etc. The articles are well 
>written, informative, just the right length and depth and leave me 
>feeling that I've scoured the news, just like the SMH or the Fin 
>Review. And access is free! What more can one want?
>An interesting development that must be a threat to the newspapers.

I evaluated the ABC site too:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/

(I'm old, and prefer paper at the breakfast table, but I can cop the 
large desk-screen or portable screen if I have to).

I reckon the web-interface is just as badly-designed as those of 
Fairfax and (when I last looked at it a year back) The Australian:

-   no choices of interface, just one option.  (Whatever happened to the
     alternative 'skins' notion, and mass customisation??)

-   a photo on every story, most of which simply waste space (right now,
     images of Rudd, Abbott and bin Laden.  This is information??).
     That applies not only to the home-page but also to some of the
     tabs, such as Opinion and each of the State segments.  Currently,
     thank heavens, National is text-only, mobile-style;  but that may
     be an aberration / interim-only.  (Why not let the user choose??)

-   some of the images loop, which is a serious pain for people like me
     who suffer what I call taxis (inability to stop one's eye following
     movement);  but at least it's not rapid reverse-blink like the
     ridiculous ads that stuff up so many sites

-   the National tab is hidden (I suspect there wasn't one a month ago,
     but if there was, then I failed to find it)

-   'National' is at risk of being over-run with 'politics as sport'
     reports, when what a proportion of readers want is for all that
     rubbish to be under its own tab, and not in the way of real news

-   only National offers a chrono tail-back of stories.  So if you
     fall behind, you've missed it and can't catch up again.  Ah, I
     now see a dull-grey 'All <segment> Stories> button, and that
     sends you to what I was looking for

On the plus side, I agree that the quality is still there (until 
Prime Minister Abbott rips up the ABC's budget, perhaps).  So I'm 
increasingly switching my reading to the ABC.

I trialled Crikey, and they have a couple of excellent writers, esp. 
Bernard Keane;  but they're not a news-channel, and that's a higher 
priority for many of us than Opinion pieces.


Related question:  will we shortly see what the marketing strategists 
call 'channel conflict', i.e. will the wholesale news groups like AP, 
AFP and AAP begin to market their stories directly to readers?  If 
their revenue-streams from retail-publishers are drying up, they may 
have to make a move.  I for one would consider subscribing to such a 
site.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



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