Been meaning to post a link here about this, but will get around to it now, especially since Jon beat me to it (he points out a great headline on their site: “League Of Women Voters against Toxic Discharge“). Bend.com has debuted a new site design that looks about 1000 times better than it did before. The site design is still in its infancy with their home-grown CMS as it still has some issues like some oddball SQL and link bugs I found around the site. I’m sure are being worked out, however (they’ve already squashed one bug I ran into yesterday with story links not working).
But a good design is useless without good content. Since Barney’s departure, the content there — other than the professionally-written press releases that were mostly written by large PR firms — has been less than stellar.
Observe…
When you first see the tall, lithe figure stride into the Sunrise Lodge at Mt. Bachelor; long blonde hair flowing and dark glasses on her high sculptured cheekbones, you might think there just may be a model shoot or maybe even a movie being shot up at the mountain.
Boy, does that read like a teeny-bopper magazine to anybody else?
How about this one — a nice hard news story about a meth bust:
There had been evidence that he was selling methamphetamine fast and furiously.
This is from (yes, a bad headline) “Another one bites the meth dust.” I’m sure “fast and furiously” wasn’t on the official press release from the police department. That’s the kind of story you just stick to the facts, and don’t sugar coat it.
I’m sure the content will only get better as these kinds of things are said, but Barney, let me be one to say that we miss you! Hurry up and get the Z21 site up and running.
Comments
Thanks a bunch.
Sounds more to me like someone who’s used to writing porn.
HAHA…I wouldn’t have gone that far, Wyrd.
Samantha, thanks for reading my blog. A few points:
1) You’ll never be able to fill Barney’s shoes. Nobody could. It’s not your fault.
2) If you’re having problems with people critiquing your work (which is getting better, by the way — those examples were from a while ago), you shouldn’t have agreed to take a job on a site that’s not only fairly popular, but gives readers the option to give feedback (whether good or bad) right there on the site. It comes with the territory, and I gave Barney as much crap as I gave you (you’re welcome to ask him). If you’re going to be thin skinned, you’re going to have a hard time around here where EVERYBODY hates ALL media, and is always going to find something wrong with what you write. Learn to live with it, and you’ll do fine.
3) I don’t say this as somebody who doesn’t know anything. I like to think I didn’t waste my college years and beyond studying journalism, writing, and the ‘net.
Snagging Barney was a very good move on KTVZ’s part. He’s a very fine journalist, and I don’t think there is any other journalist in town who has worked this town as long as he has. He knows this place inside & out.
I agree with you, Jake. Without Barney, bend.com really doesn’t have much going for it.
I’m shocked. Shocked I say.
On the top and the right and the bottom are google ads.
They couldn’t figure out how to put google ads on the left too?
Talk about overkill…
They have google ads on the left side on some pages, Rob (the article pages?). Or at least they did yesterday.
Samantha: Adding to Jake’s pointers; in journalism you never hear the positive. Your work (unfortunately) will, in general, only get recognized if it needs improvement or has something wrong with it. It’s just something you have to get used to. In the mean time, keep your head up. 😉
“fast and furiously” putting the bling-bling into Bend.com.
Samantha…
A real peice of work. Grow some skin baby
Samantha you need to keep up with the tanning and Irc.
Barney a great journalist? Isn’t this the guy that would add his own opinion to the news? Like that the owners who tore down the Crane Shed were just “protecting their rights as property owners”? Good riddance.