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Compare the online websites of two of SA’s major newspapers

Compare the online websites of two of SA’s major newspapers. www.mg.co.za www.capetimes.co.za. What makes good online news website?. New stories - how often updated Features – multimedia, audio/video streaming, archives Original reporting vs aggregation

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Compare the online websites of two of SA’s major newspapers

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  1. Compare the online websites of two of SA’s major newspapers • www.mg.co.za • www.capetimes.co.za

  2. What makes good online news website? • New stories - how often updated • Features – multimedia, audio/video streaming, archives • Original reporting vs aggregation • Interactivity – email, comments, opinions, blogs • Newsletters, news alerts, blogs • Usable format, easy navigation

  3. M&G: About us • The Mail & Guardian Online was the first internet-based news publication in Africa. • Launched in early 1994, it is one of South Africa's and Africa's major news publishers and is reputed internationally for its quality content. • It is one of the country's top three biggest news sites, and continues to grow. The M&G Online has received numerous accolades and awards, including three Bookmarks awards in 2010 and 2011, one of which was a gold award for its Nelson Mandela tribute site. It received three Webby Honourable mentions in 2008 for its Thought Leader platform and News in Photos site. In 2001, the site was voted one of the world's top 175 websites by Forbes.com.

  4. M&G Linked sites The M&G Online runs numerous sites including: • Mail & Guardian Online: The flagship news site • Thought Leader: Blogs, opinion, analysis • M&G Jobs: Find a job • Amabhungane: The centre for investigative journalism. • M&G Mobile: Seven mobile sites, accessed on your mobile browser at m.mg.co.za • The M&G Online is owned by M&G Media, which publishes the M&G newspaper and is 87.5% owned by Newtrust Company Botswana Limited, owned by Zimbabwean publisher and entrepreneur Trevor Ncube. The London-based Guardian Newspapers Limited holds 10% of the company and minority shareholders make up the rest. The M&G Online works closely with the newspaper, but has its own dedicated editorial staff to produce breaking news, analysis, multimedia and more on a daily basis. Chris Roper is editor of the M&G Online.

  5. M&G Quick tour • M&G online website • 10 categories along the top: • each has sub-sections • each use slightly different design elements, photos, sections eg market indicators • some same eg. most popular, most commented/read tabs • all headlines are clickable, can view first sentence • Can quickly scan all stories - +/- 20 pp • Scroll down

  6. Right hand ‘admin’ bar • Sign up to twitter feeds – about 5-6 diff, FB, rss feed, youtube online video channel • subscription • Pic of latest front page of print edition • Client media releases • sample of 20 000-odd who have liked on FB • Dating - one profile highlighted • adverts and sponsored links

  7. Features • Original reporting and aggregated news (SAPA) • Comments • Star rating system – share this thread on Twitter or FB, subscribe via email or RSS Special reports: • Selebi saga, Rhino- horn poaching, arms deal Zapiro • Searchable - by topic or people A-Z, also newer/old bar Thoughtleader Multimedia Top categories • Jobs, property, tenders, dating and login/register

  8. Multimedia page • Editors pick / most viewed • New posts virtually daily • M&G Online video channel on Youtube – 284 videos • Youtube videos, photo galleries, vo • Young jack-of-all-trades journalists – reporter, producer, editor • Violent clashes, Ponte – Nicholas Bauer • - secrecy sleuth, Boipatong, centre stage urban beats

  9. Thoughtleader • www.thoughtleader.co.za • independent, linked website • recent posts, sports leader, tech leader • searchable by subject, blogger A-Z • Thought Leader is an editorial group blog of quality commentary and analysis. Its aim is to provide a platform for thought-provoking opinion from Mail & Guardian journalists and columnists as well as other writers, commentators, intellectuals and opinion makers across various industries and political spectrums. Thought Leader is not only a platform for some of the country’s established writers and personalities but is home to some of the country’s up-and-coming writers.

  10. Contributions: • Encourage contributions and “conversations” • Please keep our editorial guidelines in mind when writing your contribution. • Remember, this is not a letter to the newspaper. Don’t just react; try to debate and motivate your views. • Keep it to under 800 words. • Include your full name as well as a short paragraph on who you are and why you wrote your contribution. • 12 point contributor guidelines and 12 point comment guidelines

  11. Story tip-offs Know something we don't? • Even the Mail & Guardian's best investigative reporters don't know everything. There are always more skeletons in closets, murky business deals, terrible secrets and hidden wrong-doings to uncover. • But remember, we don't only report on crooked politicians or business moguls with their fingers in the till. The Mail & Guardian Online focuses on daily breaking news in South Africa and from around the world, serious and sometimes not so serious, running the gamut from general news to business, sport, arts and leisure.

  12. Reader engagement • Main interactive elements – comments, Thoughtleader or tip-offs • Can subscribe to online, ipad, kindle or online editions, but • no newsletter • no polls • no twitter feeds • No breaking news

  13. Take Action • Send a letter to the newspaper. • Suggest a news story to the newspaper. • Submit a feature or comment piece to the newspaper. • Submit a listing for the arts and entertainment pages. • Advertise or get a rate card for the newspaper. • Submit a classified ad for the newspaper. • Submit a listing. • Report a technical problem on the website, such as a broken link. • Advertise or get a rate card for the website. • Other issues • Complain to the ombudsman about an article, the website or the newspaper. • Apply for an internship at the M&G newspaper or the M&G Online. • Read the history of the newspaper and the website.

  14. Cape Times

  15. IOL hosted www.capetimes.co.za redirects to www.iol.co.za/capetimes All featured news stories are: • Original (as opposed to wires) • Regional (Cape) news Searchable • Across all iol titles or subject matter, keywords, author • Search function directs away from capetimes.co.za to iol site

  16. About IOL • Welcome to Independent Online, a premium South African online news brand. • Our stable of sites also provides specialist entertainment, motoring, business and personal finance options, along with a host of lifestyle offerings • Across those products, our editorial team, situated in various centres in South Africa, works day and night to update our sites, with a special focus on breaking news flashes from Independent newsrooms and from the world's top wire services. • IOL also produces leading search and listings products for Property, Jobs and Motoring. • IOL is part of Independent News & Media (INM), which also produces 30 national and regional newspapers, including most of the South Africa's best-known titles. In a variety of newspaper websites, IOL brings you the pick of everything that's published in those papers, including their entire classified advertising databases. • Internationally, INM owns newspapers and radio stations in Europe, New Zealand and Australia, and content from that network is also available on IOL.

  17. Categories • News, Sport, Opinion, Business, Multimedia ... • Also: Shark debate (1 post!) • Arts , PALAZZOLO FILES (in caps) • Breaking news ticker tape • Clickable stories • Thumbnail pic and headline • Can read story and comment • Multimedia – only 6 posts

  18. Admin • Right panel – tweets from CapeTimesSA • Like on FB – just over 2000 likes • Dating, Ads, Business directory, Services • Offers 7-day free trial to e-edition “With Cape Times E-Edition, you can read Cape Times online in its true printed format from anywhere in the world. The E-Edition is enhanced with the latest digital tools, including RSS feeds, social networking, blogging and much more.”

  19. Business category....

  20. Iol pages • Property • Classified • Motoring • Iolmobile • Ioltravel • Fun stuff: • Poll • Horoscope • New ideas • TV highlights

  21. Building a community • Can sign up for iol newsletter • Bookmark or share on social media But • Not many comments • Dead space • Random features

  22. Bookmark or share

  23. Improvements? • Community reporting • Encourage citizen contributions • Unique coverage – regional stories • USP for the brand • Subscribers? • M&G twitter feed?

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