The Cincinnati Enquirer In Autumn

This morning - unlike most days - I happened to point my trusty web browser at the homepage for the Cincinnati Enquirer, our local newspaper that, like many old-guard publications, is struggling to transform itself and stay relevant in the new media world. The display that issued forth from my computer screen is so disorganized and unattractive that I couldn't help but take a screen capture:



Where to begin? Expected news items such as headlines and the traffic report are jumbled together with advertising, featurettes, user functionality (such as web feeds) and a long list of indeterminate content like forums and special pseudo-advertising sections (Cars.com). There are several navigational toolbars with links grouped together at random. Information is splayed everywhere with no governing principles of organization or design sense.

What message does this hideous jumble send to the user? Because the user with this type of media is always grandma. Designers cater to the least Internet-savvy first - on the assumption that if they are well-served then everyone else can figure it out. And the message to the user seems to be sheer contempt or indifference. They have been shoveled a big heap of confusing information. My guess is that most enquirer.com viewers click down one level to their destination (sports, the weather report) - and never "go sideways" to other content areas because the navigation is so jumbled and asinine.

And while I'm hardly offended by advertising, you notice that many national sites afford their advertisers a sense of dignity by separating it cleanly but prominently from the other content, implicitly sending the message that "we are proud to advertise these goods and services" - not "here's a few banner ads we jammed in wherever possible" or "hey user, this content is sponsored by a commercial interest with an obvious interest in brand promotion, feel free to click through with a certain sense of unease". Either sell or inform - you're entirely encouraged to do both tasks well. But don't bungle them together.

The could be a place, I tell myself half-heartedly, for local papers in the grand scheme of things once things shake out. But people do not have the time for information delivery that isn't tailored efficiently to their needs - and this homepage fails the test with flying colors. It makes me wonder how much longer these types of publications can possibly stagger along.

Tags: Cincinnati Enquirer, Tom Callinan