Wow, a 45-word lead in a Sun news story Thursday, followed by an even longer second paragraph. It's a long way from the 20-word max edict that city editors in the 70s and 80s enforced, with beneficial "tight and bright" tabloid reading results. Lengthy leads are cumbersome, lazy and lack creativity. And where are the editors?
What's happening at the Ottawa Sun? It has lost two promising young photographers and an assistant city editor in recent weeks. The exodus is beginning to sound like a replay of early 2007, when TSF was posting almost weekly layoffs and voluntary departures at all of the Suns.
The new torontosun.com just isn't grabbing us as a 24-hour as-it-happens online newspaper. Lack of staff, most likely, leading to periodic block uploads rather than urgent, Bulletin-type postings. So that initial A+ we gave torontosun.com gets knocked down to a B- until they become more competitive in the online news department.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun's new E-edition is making improvements in its first week. It has added thumbnail page tabs for easy access to different sections, plus a links menu. Still getting used to the zoom features for the pages. If all else fails, read the Quick User Guide at the bottom of the home page.
Mike Strobel's column about a son's search for a long lost mother in Hungary highlights the global village potential of an online newspaper. It just seems like yesterday when exposure for a GTA newspaper column was confined to the province of Ontario.
What's happening at the Ottawa Sun? It has lost two promising young photographers and an assistant city editor in recent weeks. The exodus is beginning to sound like a replay of early 2007, when TSF was posting almost weekly layoffs and voluntary departures at all of the Suns.
The new torontosun.com just isn't grabbing us as a 24-hour as-it-happens online newspaper. Lack of staff, most likely, leading to periodic block uploads rather than urgent, Bulletin-type postings. So that initial A+ we gave torontosun.com gets knocked down to a B- until they become more competitive in the online news department.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun's new E-edition is making improvements in its first week. It has added thumbnail page tabs for easy access to different sections, plus a links menu. Still getting used to the zoom features for the pages. If all else fails, read the Quick User Guide at the bottom of the home page.
Mike Strobel's column about a son's search for a long lost mother in Hungary highlights the global village potential of an online newspaper. It just seems like yesterday when exposure for a GTA newspaper column was confined to the province of Ontario.
Not sure how you can point to improvements in the e-edition and then fail to mention that it still lacks a Sports section and on Friday, an Entertainment section.
ReplyDeleteThose are two fairly significant parts of the Sun.
That they are omitted and no effort has been made to include them speaks volumes of the Sun's typical half-assed approach to things.