When I was a newspaper reporter, my peers and I referred to ourselves as “Inked-Stained Wretches.” It was our way of celebrating the broadsheet. The printed product that we all wrote for. From an early age, I wanted to be a newspaperman. I was the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper; news editor and [...]
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Tag Archives: Boston.com
So What’s the Plan?
April 9, 2009
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The Boston Business Journal reports today that the New Times Co. has asked for more than $10 million in concessions from the Boston Globe’s Newspaper Guild in order to avoid closing in less than 30 days. According to the BBJ: “Additional cuts sought by the Times (NYSE: NYT), which is threatening to shutter the broadsheet [...]
Read moreGeneration Y Shuns the Boston Globe
April 6, 2009
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I just completed a completely unscientific poll about the Boston Globe to some of my under the age of 36 colleagues (using Facebook as the communications medium). I reached out to 12 people – a mix of men and women. They ranged in age from 24 to 36. All of them college educated, living in [...]
Read moreBoston Globe Rescue Plan
April 6, 2009
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This morning, when I dug my Boston Globe out of the shrubs, I was expecting additional details on the New York Times Co. threat to close down the newspaper in 30 days if it didn’t receive $20 million in concessions from the company’s 13 unions (as reported on Saturday). But there wasn’t a stitch of [...]
Read moreSave the Dying Boston Globe
April 4, 2009
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In an extraordinary front page story today, the Boston Globe announced it was on the brink of closing down. “The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut The Boston Globe unless the newspaper’s unions swiftly agree to $20 million in concessions, union leaders said yesterday,” according to the article. The article says that the [...]
Read moreImproving Boston.com: Suggestion #5 – Engaging with Readers, Really
February 5, 2009
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Here’s the big secret of newspapers: they really hate feedback, unless it is positive. Call an editor to complain about the accuracy of the story and you’ll soon discover what I mean. Newspapers have become islands of self-importance. Editors and reporters think that they are smarter than everyone else and bristle at suggestions on how [...]
Read moreImproving Boston.com: Suggestion #4 – Execute a Real Blogging Strategy
February 3, 2009
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The Boston.com homepage features topic tabs running along the top of the page that contain shortcuts to Business, Sports, and Jobs. What it doesn’t have is a shortcut to the Globe’s own staff produced blogs. Keep in mind this is Boston DOT COM. The Boston Globe’s online property and yet its own blogs are mysteriously [...]
Read moreImproving Boston.com: Suggestion #3 – Build a Site that Encourages Browsing
February 2, 2009
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We’ll add once again that the Boston Globe is our newspaper of choice. Our goal in using its web site — Boston.com — as an example in this series is not to criticize Boston.com specifically, but to discuss how newspaper web sites in general can improve. The series starts here. Right now Boston.com focuses on [...]
Read moreImproving Boston.com: Suggestion #2 – Enable Customization
January 30, 2009
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Boston.com and other newspaper sites should consider Google as a model, specifically iGoogle. iGoogle is a personalized, Web-based desktop that is customized for each user — complete with tabs (or folders). Users can load widgets and RSS feeds, as well, as pick your own themes and color schemes to create a completely personalized page. This [...]
Read moreImproving Boston.com: Suggestion #1 – Clean up the Clutter
January 29, 2009
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Before we dive in, I want to reiterate that our goal is not to pick on Boston.com. We are big fans of the Boston Globe at HighTalk (and loyal subscribers). The goal is to use Boston.com as an example that all newspaper web sites can follow. So with that said, let’s talk about clutter. Boston.com [...]
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HighTalk by George F. Snell III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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