From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Monday, July 27th 2009 at 10:47

NPR'S NEW WEB

Have you seen NPR's new Web site yet? It has changed (more than you may notice on the surface) and here's why:

The network has realized (and rightly so) that people go online for news...not program promotion. An article in the New York Times describes the new site, with quotes from NPR's President and CEO Vivian Schiller, who concedes "We are a news content organization, not just a radio organization."

The article details how the Web site will now make it easier for users to find stories and READ them, rather than just having quickie leads to setup the audio report. NPR previously had been doing this, to some extent, on major stories and that's what we at AZPM are going to do in the not-too-distant (undefined) future.

Admittedly, our front page at AZPM.org does not really serve any purpose other than promotion at this point, even though it may not originally have been intended that way. Sure, you can launch to other pages on our site from there, but why not just go to that site directly? For example, you'll often hear us on the radio side say "Go to AZPM.org and click on radio." It's the best we have at this point, but when we make our changes, expect something similar to NPR. You'll be able to go to our main page and get actual news, rather than just links to other pages.

Accomplishing this task presents another challenge, which we in the Online/New Media Department are trying to overcome. I have the distinction of working both online and as a radio producer, but those lines are being blurred and it's a challenge to convince others that we are not just a TV and radio organization anymore.

We deliver content and it's presented in many platforms, with online being the most immediate. That means we all need to prioritize our time, write full versions of stories (not just intro to soundbites and video clips) and realize what we're now calling "Old Media" is pretty much dead. I'm not sure when you last sat down to watch a half-hour newscast, but I really couldn't tell you the last time I did. I still get all the elements I want...just at my schedule...and I only watch what I want and mentally discard the stuff I don't want. That's why YouTube is so popular these days and old-school network ratings are WAY down. Sure, today's broadcasting is becoming "narrowcasting," but that's what "New Media" is all about. We offer you the broad spectrum of stuff and you pull from it what you want. However, we actually need to have something from which you can pull.

Keep monitoring our sites, as they will change. I'm just not sure when. In the meantime, critique NPR and let us know what you think. Maybe we can learn from it, before we base our model on the new site.

Editors note: AP Stylebook dictates "Web site," rather than "website." It looks weird to me, but that's what I'm using now.

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