4 Examples of Online News Done Right

Post by David Pierce. Find me on Twitter.

I guarantee, someone’s going to yell at me after this post goes up, telling me how I’m adding to the demise of the newspaper, the promotion of news aggregators, and all manner of other terrorist, un-patriotic things.

The reality, though, is that the news reading business is alive and well. Newspapers are struggling to make money off the eyeballs of the enormous readership that’s flocking to the Web to get their news.

The way I see it, news has to do a few things online to be successful. First and foremost, news has to adapt to the Web reading model – reading quickly, without patience for filler. We demand our news now, without barriers or difficulty. If it takes more than one try to find what I’m looking for, I’m going to quit.

News sites also need to be social – there’s such a wealth of information out there, that newspapers need to take advantage of; rather than try and specialize in everything, do what you’re good at and link to the rest. Link out, link around, but supply me with enough original content (and smart links) that I’m going to start with your site.

Not everyone’s doing this right, or at all, but some are. The ones that are, are making money – and people are even proving they’ll pay for it. Here are four great places to read the news online (including one I actually paid for):

The Daily Beast

The Daily Beast is my first and often last stop for news, for three reasons. One, it’s a gorgeous, easy to navigate site. Two, it’s got the “Cheat Sheet,” with a list of all the important stories and issues listed on one page. If I’ve only got two minutes to read news (which is about how long my attention span is anyway), I can see at a glance exactly what it is I need to know about.

Third, and my favorite, is the Big Fat Story page. This page details the big story of the day, the one thing everyone’s talking. It then links to a number of different articles, perspectives and opinions about the same story, so you can understand the whole issue and debate. The Daily Beast makes it easy to figure out what you need to know, and lets you find anything else you want.

The Huffington Post

Politics aside, The Huffington Post is just a great website. There’s a huge section of news and opinion, along with an incredibly talented team of bloggers on the site talking about the issues of the day. It’s an admittedly left-leaning site, but it’s got a ton of useful information, and links out to the best of what’s being talked about, all the while combining it with increasing and impressive original reporting.

But the biggest improvement from HuffPo over traditional newspaper sites is the comments. Through Facebook Connect and other means, the HuffPo people have created a massive, thriving community of people weighing in on articles, fact-checking them, and creating a public debate that is sorely lacking in the mass media.

New York Times Reader

The Times Reader is the newspaper, only on your computer. And available offline in a gorgeous Adobe AIR application that reads like the newspaper, has all the credibility and information that the Times offers, but with a more readable flavor. I personally despise the NYT website, and find it almost impossible to navigate and read. The Times Reader is the perfect medium, offering up-to-the-minute news in an easily-readable format that’ll satisfy even the most hardcore newspaper fan. It does cost ($14.95/month, or free for subscribers), but it’s worth every penny.

Newsmap

A little different than the others, the Newsmap offers nothing other than a graphical interface of what’s breaking on the news scene. Hot stories are bigger, new stories are more brightly colored, and everything’s coded by how much it’s being read and talked about – it’s an awesome social look at the news world. I love any app that shows me what I need to know in five seconds, and Newsmap’s great at that.

I’m not saying Newsmap’s interface is perfect, but the idea is right on – tell me what’s going on, make it easy to figure out what other people care about, and send me to the source. No go-between pages or ads, just send me after what I’m trying to find.

News should be easy to find, easy to scan, and should scale with my attention – I’ll get something in ten seconds, but a whole lot more in ten hours. It should be familiar, without any goofy interfaces that don’t make sense with how I want to read. It should be attractive, simple, and immediately useful. Anyone who pulls that off won’t have a problem making money from online news.

Where do you read your news, online or off?

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