Archive for August, 2007
CNN understands how users read text better than print people do
Well sort of. One of the features many people may have noticed with the relaunch of CNN.com earlier this year is that CNN offers succinct bullet points above articles about the key points of the story. Most people skim stories anyway, so why not give them the ultimate way to skim an article? Maybe they [...]
Give users a reason to stay on your site
One of the biggest problems facing newspaper Web sites is the inability to keep readers on their site for more than a story or two. It’s simply a matter of Web design, and most sites are very poorly put together and print focused. Most papers give you a story with maybe a photo or two [...]
del.icio.us links added to The Journalism Iconoclast
Some of you have noticed that there are now del.icio.us links at the top of the right column of this blog. This links will be of interesting and current topics in online journalism and/or Web development. They will be updated continuously as the day goes along. Many of the topics won’t be discussed in depth [...]
Covering politics enters the 21st century
The St. Petersberg Times and Congressional Quarterly just launched PolitiFact, and it covers politics in a way that no other format can. It’s really a good example of online journalism because it does something that you can’t do well in other formats. Merely taking concepts you have learned from print or broadcast journalism and sticking [...]
Stop asking for user information
I was just visiting Cleveland.com to check out some information about the Browns, and my blood pressure has just risen. The site, as always, asked for my information — location, age and sex. I’ve typed it in countless times over the past 10 years or whatever. Every time I login on a new computer or empty my [...]
Build a digital résumé and make yourself stand out
Journalism is an incredibly competitive market place, and you need to do all you can to stand out. The standard résumé is not the best way for a young journalist to stand out. The New York Times just published an article about how low grades in college can hurt a person’s job search. If all [...]
Always back up your Web site
Some of you may have noticed yesterday that The Journalism Iconoclast looked different — a lot different — for a little while. I upgraded to 2.2.2, and it broke the JI theme. Instead, users were greeted with the default WordPress theme, which can be kind of jarring if you aren’t expecting it. I did not [...]
J-school students are really conservative
Let’s put to rest this whole journalists are liberal thing. Just read this article about Medill’s new dean and you’ll understand. The students at Northwestern are in an upheaval because their new dean John Lavine is changing the curriculum to meet the changing demands of journalism. I mean he even is bringing in fancy stuff like [...]
You need swagger to succeed on the Web
To be the best, you have to want to be the best. A site that has always typified that swagger is my high school’s Web site. It has the audacity to want to be the best in the world, and it has succeeded for years. When I was a junior in high school, it was [...]
The LA Times goes back to the past
If you ever wondered why the LA Times is having so much trouble online or why its product is fading so quickly, look no further than the editorial board. In a shocking editorial the Times wrote, “many publishers consider the Internet, and Google in particular, a greater threat to their livelihoods than Osama bin Laden.” [...]