The terrorist attacks brought out the best in online news sites. Immediate, interactive and wielding a mighty wollop of multimedia, these sites proved that while some may debate the future of online news, when disaster strikes, readers flock to our sites to make sense of their world.
While some print publishers focused on the heroic task of reporting, editing, designing and publishing print Extras, online editors were faced with a similar but more dynamic problem. They needed to launch what amounted to an Extra immediately and build it in such a way that it could expand and contract throughout the day as more news, graphics, multimedia and resources came available.
Bandwidth only added to the problem. Many of the premier-brand Web sites were so slammed with eager online readers that they were inaccessible. Readers were bounced to error pages or watched their browser windows hang. Some sites hurriedly rebuilt their homepage and story templates to shed non-essential graphics and gizmos to present online readers with a Spartan but fast and functional site. Some sites did admirably; others simply looked cobbled together.
This scramble is a common occurrence in online workshops. It's an adrenaline-pumping, satisfying and almost completely avoidable waste of time.
Big news happens. Yet we consistently act surprised by it.
And while much of it is utterly unpredictable, a lot of it is not.
The suddenness of the terrorist attacks has segued into a long-term history that will play out over the next weeks and months. There likely will be more spikes in this story, when news is instantaneous and newsrooms scramble to quickly present these stories and images in a way that helps our readers connect and understand.
Here is a list of things our online newsrooms can do now so that when these next spikes occur, we can spend more time practicing journalism.
Low-graphics mode: This time, be prepared. Create a low-graphics version of your front page, pertinent section fronts and story templates. Right now. Have it on standby the way you keep a spare tire in the trunk. Consider headline organization and count, maximum graphic size, multimedia and interactivity integration, and "other news" presentation. Time you invest now in building elegant and utilitarian page architecture can be spent focusing on content and graphics to help your readers understand the next crisis, rather than spending time waiting for your page to load.
Staffing: Some news sites didn't have the wire story posted online for three hours after the second plane struck the World Trade Center because their online staff hadn't come to the office yet, and no one else knew how to update the site. Create emergency staff plans now. If you have only one online content editor, what are your contingencies? Who else on staff should you educate on how to update your site - if only to get you through those first critical minutes of a breaking story?
Real-time local news: Review with your newsroom editor expectations and protocols for real-time local news on your site. Many sites did an admirable job posting the latest wire copy but didn't post local reaction, closings and other of-interest stories until later that night, long after local TV broadcasters aired the story. How can you get local news faster?
Wires: Some sites reported breakages in Associated Press feeds to their sites, so now is the time to review how stable your wire feeds are and whether the providers are working to make sure future breaks don't occur. Now is also a good time to review how your company - not just your newspaper - handles national/international news. Some companies centralize wire desks for their Web sites so local editors can focus on local coverage; other companies depend on site editors in every market to select, edit, package and post wire stories. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Now's a good time to review what makes sense for your company.
Multimedia: Make arrangements now or review current agreements for use of video clips on your site, whether from the Associated Press, MSNBC, local network affiliates or vendors such as VideoAxs. Review the multimedia you're currently offering and see how you could package it better.
Bandwidth: Review your bandwidth needs and negotiate larger bandwidth. SignOnSanDiego.com's Chris Jennewein, for example, reported that his site adjusted its burstable bandwidth from 10 megabits to 100 megabits to make sure the site loaded smoothly.
Interactivity: Readers immediately wanted to talk about the terrorist attacks, and many news sites did an admirable job using online forums to present the scope of reader reactions. Two powerful examples are:
Analyze your interactivity software and how well you integrated it into your overall coverage. Make sure your print editors know what kind of resource you have on your site for touching readers - and letting them touch you.
Advertising: Talk to your advertising department to answer any questions about how you handled Sept. 11, 2001, and what your plan is for the next time. Let them know your criteria for going ad-free. (If you haven't drafted criteria, now's a chance to do that.)
Marketing: Meet with your marketing/promotions department to discuss how you handled the event online, what resources you posted and how you could better use the newspaper to reinforce the value, immediacy and interactivity of the site. Talk about how to better guide print readers to the site and how your site can help guide people to tomorrow's newspaper.
Readers: Use this time to review your site server logs and other traffic measures to determine what readers truly valued and what they overlooked. Where should you have focused more attention? Where were your efforts wasted? What did their e-mail feedback say? What could you do better next time? Your readers may have already told you.
Rusty Coats is director of new media for MORI Research of Minneapolis. He formerly was online editor for www.startribune.com, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune's website.
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