Comments on: In Ann Arbor, designing a news site that doesn’t look like a news site

By: First impressions of AnnArbor.com, Part 2 (Web edition) : ErikGable.com

First impressions of AnnArbor.com, Part 2 (Web edition) : ErikGable.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:21:41 +0000

[...] more closely resembles a blog, with news presented as more of a reverse-chronological stream. As Ben Cohen at the Nieman Lab notes, “[t]he main limitation of such a format are obvious: namely, that a big story can be washed [...]

By: Patricio

Patricio — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:13:01 +0000

Interesting article… I would have like to know more about the platform and technology behind the site. Would you share that?

By: ann arbor real estate

ann arbor real estate — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:42:30 +0000

I try to do whatever I can to encourage people and to make what they write awesome, and to look for people who are experts with things to say who never ever thought of themselves as journalists but who have something to contribute to the community conversation.

By: AnnArbor.com’s big scoop getting buried quick » Nieman Journalism Lab

AnnArbor.com’s big scoop getting buried quick » Nieman Journalism Lab — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:53:44 +0000

[...] written several posts recently about AnnArbor.com, the online replacement for the closed Ann Arbor News. It’s got [...]

By: In Ann Arbor, designing a news site that doesn’t look like a news site « Predicate, LLC | Editorial + Content Strategy

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:08:49 +0000

[...] via In Ann Arbor, designing a news site that doesn’t look like a news site » Nieman Journalism Lab. [...]

By: Community voices at AnnArbor.com | Save the Media

Community voices at AnnArbor.com | Save the Media — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:41:24 +0000

[...] first thing you notice at AnnArbor.com, as has been noted before on this blog, is it looks nothing like a news site or what we expect a news site to look [...]

By: Community voices in Ann Arbor: a glimpse of local journalism’s future? » Nieman Journalism Lab

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:02:13 +0000

[...] first thing you notice at AnnArbor.com, as has been noted before at the Lab, is it looks nothing like a news site — or what we expect a news site to look [...]

By: Online News Design » Blog Archive » Time or hiearchy: what matters most for news sites?

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:46:48 +0000

[...] Nieman Journalim Lab post says that the AnnArbor.com website, which was launched following the closure of Ann Arbor [...]

By: Purple Rose

Purple Rose — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:32:10 +0000

The site completely disappoints in so many ways:

*No prioritization of news stories, and the home page is not news
*Poor tagging
*Neighborhood pages are a JOKE–they don’t accurately pull in the neighborhoods at all, they pull in real estate company blogs for other parts of town.
*Even though obituaries are one of the most read pages; and even though they say they want comments to improve–the places to put in comments or to read the obituaries are tucked away.
*The reporters are good but there are so few of them for the amount of work, and I can’t figure out why all of the stories are so short
*And I agree, so little use of the visual space
Why is the print so big? Why are there so few photos? Why is it so hard to tell who wrote the articles?
They need a *curator* or a *librarian* or two, or three, or four
*Why don’t they look at sites that really work for the users????

By: links for 2009-08-06 « Glenna DeRoy

links for 2009-08-06 « Glenna DeRoy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:07:41 +0000

[...] In Ann Arbor, designing a news site that doesn’t look like a news site » Nieman Journalism Lab (tags: onlinejournalism web visuals technology) [...]

By: No name, please

No name, please — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:37:21 +0000

I’m mystified by the lack of hierarchy on the web page, and shocked by what can only be seen as an open hostility to visual story-telling on the site. There simply don’t seem to be any professional-caliber photographs or videos anywhere on the site.

By: Michael Andersen

Michael Andersen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:31:39 +0000

Thanks, Robert. I’m totally with you on points 1-4, but I don’t really understand 5: the paper already has an RSS feed. If you’re not using Twitter for its unique functions, why use Twitter at all?

Okay, I’m overstating things slightly for the sake of provocation; I assume you use Twitter more than you use an RSS reader, and that’s totally valid. I suppose news outlets who want to offer more than their headlines on Twitter should probably use multiple Twitter accounts for different purposes. Any thoughts on that solution?

By: The Ann Arbor news site has adopted a bl… « Paul M. Watson

The Ann Arbor news site has adopted a bl… « Paul M. Watson — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:03:55 +0000

[...] 2:03 pm on July 31, 2009 Permalink | Reply Tags: media (50), web (537) The Ann Arbor news site has adopted a blog-like river of news style. Effective and in tune with our short, modern attention [...]

By: Robert Caplis

Robert Caplis — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:54:37 +0000

To Michael Anderson:

Good comments. I agree with you about people’s yearning less for information and more for prioritization of information.

People like a good curator and editor to highlight what’s absolutely essential, quirky, or appealing.

By: Robert Caplis

Robert Caplis — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:52:33 +0000

As an Ann Arbor resident, I wish the site would make a few adjustments and borrow what works from online leaders like BBC and Salon:

1) identify a lead or “cover” story of importance for the day

2) use a concise, accurate headline format that explains the story (like the BBC online, which uses only 4-6 words in a headline and each word is critical for understanding the story)

3) include a brief description after each headline about the story (like Salon.com does in its “river”) – so I know what I’m about to read.

4) add categories to each story so you know if its news, political, sports, arts and entertainment, opinion, lifestyle, health, etc.

5) Actually use their Twitter account to deliver headlines instead of retweets and opinions.