August 18, 2008
D.C. Examiner Launches New Web Site
Ever been frustrated trying to locate the local news stories on the Examiner web site? OK, maybe that's just us, since it's our job to read them. But if you had ever tried it, you would have discovered that you have to first go to the "News" section, and then make sure to select "Local News" in the drop down menu, as opposed to the tauntingly named "District of Columbia" section, which contained national politics stories. So we were sure glad to get the word from the Examiner newsroom this morning that they've launched a brand new site, dcexaminer.com, which puts the local Examiner news stories right on the home page. The top menu bar has been simplified and made larger, and so far we've found the whole thing considerably easier to navigate.
The design isn't much to get excited about -- presumably they'll fill that empty gray and white space with ads at some point soon, and the red headlines look a little funny. It also might have been nice if Philip Anschutz had allowed the other Examiner web sites to look at least slightly different from their sister papers. Still, they've removed a ton of clutter (like those silly Google Maps that pointed out where exactly Washington, DC is on a map of the United States) and made an attempt to make the D.C. version of the Examiner look like it's focused on D.C.
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the only thing i use the examiner for is their really good sudoku puzzles; so good for them (?)
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I kind of like the examiner, they gave Jonetta Rose Barras a column and you have to love that.
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Barras is ok, but I like Harry Jaffe more. Barras tends to be a little too hyperbolic.
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That new duvet cover will certainly draw attention away from the dookie stains on the mattress. Dead media just loves wrapping stale pieces of cake in colorful gauze and calling it "edgy." I suppose this is what passes for user-friendly and pertinent in semi-literate societies.
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Nice of them to tell everyone -- every time I went to the old website, it just came back as "problem loading". They couldn't even redirect?
So, redesign the site to improve readability - and then change the URL and don't tell anyone. That is a great strategy for driving traffic to your site.
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Jaffe is usually complaining about who dareth not return his phone calls.
The Examiner generally is more focused on an attention-grabbing headline, rather than the underlying story. There's been plenty of occasions where the headline doesn't match the actual story.
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this is kickass the old site sucked. but now we cant leave crazy comments on articles anymore. poo!
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Stinkeye: The comment link is now an orange bar on top of the Examiner articles. Knock yourself out.