Comments on: Anyone want to help design the Birmingham Post website?

By: something I said : Art On The Front Page

something I said : Art On The Front Page — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:09:23 +0000

[...] you are a local reader you are likely to have read Joanna Geary’s pieces about redesigning the Birmingham Post website. There’s been an enthusiastic response [...]

By: Focalplane

Focalplane — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:38:44 +0000

I’ve followed icBirmingham for years – back when we lived in Texas forward to today 150 miles from “home”. But I’ve never liked the site, it’s just that the local news is carried and that’s what I want to read!

I don’t mind ads – after all they pay for the content just like in the printed version. A similar percentage of space devoted to ads as in the broadsheet would be fine.

I like the “Your View” section in the Telegraph, as well as the ability to comment freely on articles. In fact I always go to the Letters page in the Telegraph before I read the editorials! I bet I am not alone in that. You often get a better feel for the nation’s mood reading the letters than you do the editorials.

I really don’t think the BBC’s sites are very useful, so don’t use them as a blueprint – IMO anyway.

Blogging is something that is embraced by the Guardian and the Telegraph, i.e. left or right wing, the blogs work.

Good luck with the project. BTW I really enjoyed your front page piece on Curzon Street Station this Monday (was that yesterday, I suppose it was).

By: Pete Ashton’s Blog » I Speech Now?

Pete Ashton’s Blog » I Speech Now? — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:06:32 +0000

[...] bunch of concepts and other developments in the Birmingham online world (such as the forthcoming new Post site) should add to the conversation, or at least provide tools and material for it to take [...]

By: Trust, blogging and journalism « Joanna Geary

Trust, blogging and journalism « Joanna Geary — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:49:44 +0000

[...] picking up on “Anyone want to help design the Birmingham Post website?“, journalism.co.uk obviously felt that I was a credible enough source. They wrote a story [...]

By: Paul Bradshaw

Paul Bradshaw — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:57:09 +0000

Congratulations on getting picked – it shows that they have their heads screwed on in terms of knowing where to look.
I’ve probably waffled far too much about the 21st century newsroom, but I think the one word I would mention is tagging – Everything Is Miscellaneous is a great overview of it, skip to the last chapter if you need to.

By: A big “thank you” « Joanna Geary

A big “thank you” « Joanna Geary — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:47:57 +0000

[...] A big “thank you” Published November 26, 2007 Uncategorized Tags: Birmingham Post, Daily Post, Daily Record, Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Post, Trinity Mirror, website …to all of you who have commented on the post about the new Birmingham Post website. [...]

By: Scott Jones

Scott Jones — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:58:49 +0000

I think you should have some local information on all the pubs,bars & clubs and indeed all the shops in and around Birmingham.

By: Daz Wright

Daz Wright — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:20:43 +0000

Hello,

This sounds like a really good opportunity to make something that Birmingham really needs. A single site that brings together news about Birmingham on the Internet.

My biggest concern with the current ICBirmingham site is that it appears to be an afterthought rather than concerted vehicle for delivering news. Stories from the paper sometimes take a day or two to make it to the site if they appear at all. The search function just doesn’t seem to work on any level.

I think the front page realy needs simplifying. It has way too much stuff on it (34 items of navigation on the right hand side) yet the news doesn’t exactly leap out. Much less attention to selling us services like dating and horoscopes will make people revisit giving you the opportunity to increase ad revenue.

The BBC West Midlands site isn’t great for news and the Stirrer suffers from shocking design problems and a somewhat random editorial approach. There is a gap here and you should seize this opportunity.

Birmingham has got some very good community sites and quite a few people that have been doing this for a number of years. Learn from them and don’t try and do this in isolation.

Oh. and thanks for asking us.

By: Press Gazette Blogs - Fleet Street 2.0 » What should the new Birmingham Post site look like?

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:24:31 +0000

[...] working on the redesign of the Birmingham Post web site. Over on her personal blog, she is seeking readers’ advice on what the new site should include ahead of a meeting scheduled for [...]

By: Newspapers should play to their strengths « Groves Media

Newspapers should play to their strengths « Groves Media — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:10:38 +0000

[...] Geary’s blog is already throwing up some interesting points about what the new-look site needs to incorporate to [...]