Most media outlets are doing a bang-up job of moving online for the storm–the Progress is putting the whole paper online for the duration. #
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
-
Archive for Sideblog »
Keep it online, DP! Formatted like a real paper, people might even pay to read it!
I’m coming to believe paywalls may be feasible for local papers. Making the newspaper free increases online readership, but it kills subscriptions. That is what the NYT flubbed in the TimesSelect so-called disaster. It had hundreds of thousands of people paying $49/year and then panicked just because online readership declined. Of course it did! Meanwhile, the top reason people drop their paper subscriptions is because the online version is free. Former top editors at NYT are saying this, but you know, biz psychology is often pathological… I’m not saying Rupert Murdoch can pull it off, but giving up is ridiculous…
Too bad it took this to make that conversion, but I sincerely hope they keep it up, and that advertisers help them make it a way to make it worthwhile on the business side of the paper. (Can we still call it a paper when it ends up completely online?)
Marijean,
The ePaper has been available for several months now as a paid option. We offered it free of charge over the weekend in anticipation of delivery problems due to the storm.
Colfer,
I think our ePaper is a great product especially for people outside of our normal delivery area.
I am still not sold on the idea of a direct print design transplant to the web. Reading habits vary quite a bit between online and print versions.
See here for the latest eye tracking info from Poynter.
There are bright spots on the horizon. eReaders such as the Kindle are going to have a profound effect in the coming years as will other internet enabled mobile devices.
The new Times Skimmer is an interesting concept that I hope gets studied in depth.