Los 18 pasos para construir un sitio de noticias

Víctor Hugo dijo en alguna oportunidad "Al púlpito y al manuscrito, a la palabra hablada y a la palabra escrita les alarmaba la palabra impresa". Eso es lo que ocurre fundamentalmente con la mayor parte de los editores de medios tradicionales, que prefieren que se hunda el barco tocando las mejores canciones de su repertorio, que gastar calorías en buscar nuevas salidas. Por supuesto, no todos. John Temple, editor-presidente- publisher del extinto The Rocky Mountain News (que hoy sólo está disponible en la web) dijo que los editores de medios deberían pasar una temporada trabajando en un medio digital, para entender cómo son las cosas y cómo lucen las audiencias. Hoy la información circula por las redes sociales y se alojan en ella, mutan y el breaking news vía Twitter está golpeando el monopolio de los sitios de noticias. Pero aún así muchos editores (incluso los que ya hace rato están asomados a la web) no logran palpar la esencia de la web. Como hablar desde afuera siempre es fácil, acá se recomiendan 18 consideraciones para un sitio de noticias.

1.-Without using search, find continuing, in-context coverage of a long-running local story.

2.-Similarly (again, without using search), find a comprehensive package of information (even a collection of past stories) about a significant local icon or personality.

3.-Locate all the coverage and information on the site about a specific local town.

4.-Starting on a story page (not the home page) quickly find other key information, e.g. the day's top headlines or most-read stories. (Remember, the vast number of readers don't enter your site from the home page, though print-focused newsies obsess about home pages.)

5.-Find a list of the best local restaurants, or ratings and reviews of a particular kind of cuisine, preferably by locality (extra credit: user reviews). BTW: This is why Yelp is really hurting newspapers.

6.-Find a local movie listing, or better yet, a local theater listing and review (extra credit: user reviews).

7.- Find something a family can do for fun this weekend.

8.- Find any location mentioned on the site on a map—wait, no, you're not allowed to leave the site. No MapQuest or Google maps!

9.-Using the site's search function, search for a term you know appeared in the newspaper in the past 24 hours.

10.-Subscribe to your site's mobile alert function (you have one, right?) and see if it's truly useful. While you're at it, be sure to look at your site regularly on its iPhone or mobile version (you have one, right). Is it updated as frequently as the main site?

11.-Find something in the paper's archives.

12.-How easy is it to e-mail a story, or print it out, or view it on a single page?

13.-Find a way to quickly contact a specific reporter, or an editor, or anybody at the paper.

14.-an ad you know is on the site. (This drives advertisers nuts, incidentally.)

15.-How easy is it to place a classified ad online—or to buy any kind of ad?

16.-How easy is it to manage your print subscription online?

17.-Using the site's search function, search for just about anything in the list above.

18.-Now, try the same searches from Google.