In one of the most transparent website design copy jobs I have ever seen, the Herald-Sun stole basically the entire frontpage format of the online version of the New York Times this week, and as far as I can tell, does not give the NYT any credit as the inspiration for the visual upgrade.
Open the two websites in two browser windows to compare:
At the top left in light blue, the NYT lists: Jobs, Real Estate, Autos, All Classifieds
At the top left, in light blue, the Herald Sun lists: Jobs, Real Estate, Cars, Classifieds, Obituaries
The NYT has a Most Popular feature with three tabbed rankings for stories that are either Emailed, Blogged, or Searched. The Herald-Sun has a Most Popular feature but its tabs are Recommended, Commented, and Viewed.
The NYT encourages people to Log In at the upper right. The Herald-Sun encourages us to Sign In at the same location.
Both sites feature subheadings with two right-facing hard brackets, such as OPINION >> (NYT) or AREA NEWS BRIEFS >>. (Herald-Sun)
Both use a BLACK heading for major sections in the far left column and GREY text for subitems.
Both have a four-column layout with a picture under the masthead in the third column, with the date underneath. The NYT, finally showing evidence of its considerably larger budget, also adds the day of the week and the time the site was last updated.
Visually, the I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-NYT design IS an upgrade over the previous Herald-Sun setup. Not having to register to read articles is also welcome, since even when you registered, their cookie system did not always work.
Still, in an industry in which plagiarism is one of the most serious offenses, was it too much to expect them to admit they borrowed this design?
Issues:
Comments
Eagle-eyed
Eagle-eyed, Patrick!Considering the degree to which the H-S's editorial policies diverge from the NYT's, this is a bizarre bit of mimicry. Can it be possible that they hired a web-designer and are unaware of the -- shall we say -- lack of originality here?
No RSS
It looks like they haven't activated RSS feeds yet. That seems like a pretty big oversight. I'd sure like to see their stories show up when I check the local news tomorrow morning. And the old RSS links are broken. But no big deal if they don't get fixed.
Uncanny
Pretty funny, especially given that they use the exact same font in the masthead!At this point, I use the RSS feeds (or Twitter) to access most local news sources. No RSS = no read.
Beyond Uncanny
n/t
What's the e-word for rag?
The Herald-Sun deserves first ballot entry into the Rag Hall of Fame.
If only it was more than skin deep
It seems that all above agree that the Herald could borrow improvements
in other areas. I'm with Priscilla that editorial is one of them. The
CH Herald had a long history of quality editors with Mark Schultz and
Neal Offen. The new guy seems to aspire to be a small town Glenn Beck
(and has found common cause with Carrboro's small town version of Sarah
Palin). Today's editorial, perhaps his first ever to write positively
of Carrboro, relied on "the rumor mill" as a source. Pretty shoddy. As I pointed out in a recent LTE, it may be unprecedented that Carrboro's attorney had to write a five page memorandum to correct a Herald editorial's "significant inaccuracies."
Yes - Schultz & Offen were excellent editors
So many people gnash their teeth over the poor newspapers getting unfairly superceded by web-based sources, but it really comes down to quality and usefulness of content.Out here in White Cross, the Fiesta Grill restaurant does a fantastic business and has become well-known across the Triangle. The same building was used by a series of restaurants and the conventional wisdom was that White Cross could not support a restaurant. Turns out the secret was simply serving good food.
Good food, yes
But like newspapers, it also requires good managerial leadership. It appears to me that the Grill has good management and sound leadership.
Are you saying that you see
Are you saying that you see signs of good managment at the Herald?
Surely you jest!
How did you get that impression? After 15 years, we have stopped our subscription. That no manager/leader seems to care helps to make the case.
New N&O website format in beta testing
http://pubsys2.newsobserver.com/