Visually,the new TheStar.com, the web presence of the Toronto Star, appears much cleaner than its predecessor, and more in keeping with current design norms.
In an era where transparency is on the rise as a way to build credibility with readers, you can't find the link to the public editor until you drill into the Opinion section. That link is strange, because it just takes you to a generated list of columns (14 between June 17 and Dec. 2).
Nestled above those columns is another link: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/publiced@thestar.ca. On the Star site, it's in very tiny type (Question: Do they mean it to be an email link?)
Now, where does that link take you, you might ask? I'll tell you: Back to the opinion page!
On my monitor (set at 1,152 by 864 pixels) and with my browser (IE 6.0; yeah, I'm a dinosaur), that URL doesn't even work as a jump link. Nor can I see the box ad for the public editor, which includes a link to the Bureau of Public Accuracy and some sundry other content, on the first screen.
You have to click on the Bureau of Public Accuracy link to find out how to contact the Star, but on the public editor page, there's no contact info whatsoever. Weird. Why wouldn't the link be to the Bureau of Public Accuracy, then the public editor? Questions, questions ... .
The corrections link is at the bottom of story pages. However, what about feedback and the "news as conversation" model?
Globeandmail.com has effectively turned every story into a blog post. It regularly does online chats with its personalities (gee, where did they get the idea? :) ). The CBC has started doing the same thing.
But for TheStar.com, it remains a one-way conversation -- except on the story page announcing the redesign. Darned if I can get the HaloScan comments box to launch in either IE or Firefox, however.
Here are some of the highlights TheStar.com touts:
- A wider design to take advantage of today's higher resolution computer screens
- Larger images, and more images
- An in-page multimedia player to present video, photos and podcasts (How Web 2.0! - BD)
- Improved navigation
- Improved search
All good things, I suppose, but how will the website impact on the actual journalistic mission of the news organization, and how will it help knock down walls between the journalists and their audience?