The whole user generation thing isn’t a great business plan for a newspaper company when users can slam your new product on the day of its launch.

Yesterday Media General split the Times-Dispatch.com from InRich.com, and dozens of comment on the Times-Dispatch’s ridicules the layout and usability. Before Thursday, if you typed in www.timesdispatch.com, you would get bounced to InRich.com, which seemed mostly like an online newspaper with a few bells and whistles (including some video).

Richmonders don't seem to be buying the new site.

“I am actually blow away by how bad this site is,” writes “Eddie”. “First of all just to post this comment I had to register, check my email, find the article again, log in, and then post. This site is now a GIANT ad with tiny bits of news in between.  Is it not supposed to be the other way around? I am a website developer for a living and I think this site is just awful.  You guys make it hard to read the news.”

What are the head honchos thinking?

It’s unclear why the company has three local websites now. The Times-Dispatch.com has a slideshow with news, some akwardly placed ads, and a weather map. I can’t find some of the stories from the paper online, including ones from the front page. 

And don’t forget that Media General bought Richmond.com last month, for the trifecta of confusing.

InRich still exists, but now has more lists of stories and some new button-ish features. Just below the masthead, InRich displays five buttons: horoscopes, forums, TV listings, traffic cameras, and restaurants. Does the company think more people are interested in horoscopes than the news? That would be the equivalent of putting horoscopes on the front page.

Obviously these are tough times in the newspaper business. But can someone explain the strategy to me? I live and breathe this stuff all day and I can’t see this ending happily for the company, or the employees. My one guess is that they think they can sell three times as many ads with three websites.

But a launch isn’t very effective when it presents such a mediocre product. And it’s not even new. This Times-Dispatch.com layout is one the company has used for smaller papers around Virginia for a while. I’d guess a year, although I’m not positive. And it’s one I’ve never liked. The stories don’t pull up cleanly, and it already seems antiquated – like looking at arrivals and departures TVs at the airport. You do it, but you don’t enjoy it.

From a story that posted online on Thursday, General Manager Michael Fibison said that the “TimesDispatch.com’s mission is to carve out a franchise online based on breaking and continuous news throughout the day. TimesDispatch.com will serve the audience who already reads the newspaper in the morning and who wants to check in throughout the day to find out what has developed on the big stories and what’s happened that is new.”

How many times a day do they think people will check this? How many times a day do they project will make the website a solid money-maker?

Please share your opinion of the new Times-Dispatch with us, and maybe we can learn some and put them to good use when we re-launch our site in early 2009.

For readers who are interested in the business of media, Mike Ward wrote a great backpage column in Style Weekly about the workings of Richmond.com before it was sold to Media General.

“Looking back at the Richmond.com experiment, it endured fleeting success and ultimate failure for a few reasons ..

Because most of our business decision makers hadn’t taken journalism ethics 101, there was no wall between editorial and advertising. We chose our battles, axing a negative review here, writing a story to satisfy a sponsor there.

It was easy to rationalize because we were all broke. Once while writing a news story on home heating assistance, I realized that my income qualified me for the program. That said, without Richmond.com, we wouldn’t have an opportunity to get paid for what we loved to do …"

Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (9)

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What he fails to disclose is...
written by Aaron B., November 21, 2008

Mr. Kremer is a former employee of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Perhaps he is using his new position to take a stab at his former employer? While his comments are valid, the fact that the author responsible for writing this article is anything but objective calls into question his motive for writing such a piece. Is he more concerned with the community knowing about the outpouring of concern over this new website, or with slamming his former employer?

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It doesn't matter. Everyone knows...
written by Parker, November 21, 2008

that the Times Disgrace is a dying dinosaur that isn't taken seriously anymore. Most people that I've talked to have the same views as what is stated above and I applaud Kremer for this. It's curious why Media General chose to spread itself thin (and make the sites even more clunky and hard to use) instead of joining the InRich, Times-Dispatch, and the newly aquired Richmond.com (RIP) sites into one mega-hub for the city that is intuitive, informative, interesting and user friendly. Who makes the decisions around there? They need their meds checked.

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full disclosure
written by Editor, November 21, 2008

Editor note: I did work there. But the paper is a large local employer and local business, and as such when it launches a new product, it is news for BizSense to report.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should add that everyone at BizSense wants the Times-Dispatch to thrive, and to find an online business model as soon as possible. We think we are all better off with more media, not less.

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So sad...
written by Existential Punk, November 21, 2008

but the redesign SUCKS. It is confusing to navigate and difficult to read. Visually it is boring. i hate the RTD print edition but read the online version to catch up on local news since i am not always able to watch local news. Now i do not have a local online source. Did i say already that THIS SUCKS!??!!!

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Times-Dispatch
written by Blackwood Buzz, November 22, 2008

As an RTD employee, we are well aware of the bottom line. There is NO growth in print, as the Media General dinosaurs have finally admitted. Growth exists only Online. Michael Fibison is our online general manager. This does not mean that he has any idea what an online news site should look like, nor how it should be user-friendly. Traditionally -- and I ask you to go to the websites for the LA Times, New York Times, the Daily Press, the Virginian-Pilot -- pick ANY decent paper -- and it will be a BAD website. Newspapers, at least 15 years after the attack of the Web on traditional media, still have no idea how to make a working website that will actually attract and maintain an audience.

They are uniformly bad, and will remain so...until they get away from the traditional format of headline after headline...and even more importantly, if they ever and finally get away from the concept that their editors know what the readers want...or NEED... to read.

The online audience reads what they WANT to read, and will never allow any institution to tell them any damn thing.

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TD Website == Bad
written by Ronnie Dobbs, November 24, 2008

I've always thought of the TD website as bad. It looks no better now than it ever has. It really doesn't matter to me how objective (or not)Kremer is. He's spot on w/ his bagging on the Times site. They need to hire someone who know what the funk they're doing that's for sure...I kinda feel bad for any developers (non-decision makers) who work for the company. They're stuck in a lousy position of having to work on that site and have it on their resume. Kinda sad...

Cheers and Marry Whatever you Celebrate...

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It's about targeting
written by cib258, November 25, 2008

Why inRich.com and Times-Dispatch.com and RichmondChic and all of the other web sites...? The idea of one web site serving the news needs of everyone in the area isn't working. Therefore, newspapers are trying to target different audiences with different web products.

Mr. Kremer should have noted that--it's exactly what he's doing (and doing well) with RichmondBizSense.com. The only difference is that Media General is trying to do broader, harder-to-reach and define demographics--young marrieds, urban professionals, parents, educated singles, etc.

The newspapers have to do this with their current product print products in place, which are, BTW, making money, albeit not as much money as they were. And now they are saddled with the loopy investors, Harbinger Capital Partners, who are unloading MEG at fire sale prices after knocking down the door only a few months ago to demand several seats on the board of directors--that is a tough way to run a business.

The targeting is a good idea. Newspapers need to go after rich targets.

The other idea I would offer is to take a look at what is working right now for another stressed media industry--the music biz. And what is working for the old labels is finding bright talents and developing them. Talented managers use talented people, especially if you're in the media biz.

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...
written by towlig, December 18, 2008

looks like they are working on some of there issues, which is just one small step in the right direction

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Others do not suck!
written by Existential Punk, December 18, 2008

Mr. or Ms. RTD Employee,

i do read the websites for the LA Times, New York Times, SF Chronicle, Washington Post and they do NOT suck in their content and layout! What planet are you living on these days?

You said, "Michael Fibison is our online general manager. This does not mean that he has any idea what an online news site should look like, nor how it should be user-friendly." Then your boss is an idiot and should get educated or get out of the business. It is his job to find out what an on-line site looks like and how it should be user-friendly. If he personally does not know then he had better find the people who do know.

The RTD site was ok before you went and fudgewd it up.

RTD sucks as i said earlier!

Happy Holidays!

EP

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