Play Along At Home: Where Is This Newspaper Website From?

from the the-web-is-global,-remember dept

Earlier this year we wrote about newspapers that put up websites that don't indicate the location they're based in. Thanks to various news search engines, it's increasingly common that you may end up on the website of a "local" newspaper that is anything but local to you -- but where you have no clue what "local" is. Even worse, they often include generic descriptions of places ("the valley," "the river," "the north side") which mean absolutely nothing to you. E-Media Tidbits is griping about another such site where even the webcam shot of "downtown" showing the local weather is perfectly ambiguous. So, we'll let everyone play along at home: just how many clicks does it take you to figure out what's "local" for The Truth Online.

40 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    pimmetje, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 2:51pm

    1 click

    Elkhart Office
    P.O. Box 487
    Elkhart, IN 46515-0487

    Goshen Office
    622 W. Lincoln Ave.
    Goshen, IN 46526

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Number of Clicks

    identicon
    Matt H., Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 2:54pm

    Just one. If you click on the Contact Newsroom link at the bottom of the homepage you will find that they are located in Indiana (Elkhart & Goshen)

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 2:54pm

    all of half a second:
    http://www.nappanee.org/
    So it looks like an area of IN including these three areas

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    icon
    Mike (profile), Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:02pm

    It *can* be done in one click, but the question is where do you click? For a lot of people, it's not at all clear.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    easy

    identicon
    Eddie, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:08pm

    Based on the lead story, the paper must be from the area of Nappanee. The community section would lead you to believe that local is Elkhart county.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    Riley, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:09pm

    You mean most people don't think about scrolling all the way to the bottom and clicking a link in the fine print to see what their news is about? :)

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    Elkhart, IN

    identicon
    Andy, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:18pm

    One click by following the "forecast" link.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    Andy, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:20pm

    We were just playing along from home. Not excusing their lack of context.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    Place - Less web

    identicon
    R. A, Halperin, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:36pm

    Click on the sports page , usually local sports gives away the location of the news site ~~ R.A.H.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Happy user, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:43pm

    Why should anyone NEED TO click at all? I believe the point that Mike was trying to make here, was that NEWS websites should present all five of the "W's" when posting NEWS stories.

    who, what, when, why and _WHERE_

    Without KNOWING all five of those "W's", the news is quite useless.

    Thanks Mike, I was wondering when someone would say something about this -- its a problem that I find all too often on the internet. A long news story may take me a few minutes to read through, and without all of the [W's] information, I feel as though I had just wasted my time.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  

    er...only one

    identicon
    the truth is out there, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:45pm

    scroll down...click on contact us: newsroom
    scroll down: postal address Elkhart, Illinois.

    Na na na na naaaaaaa

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    No Clicks On a Guess but one clcik to verify

    identicon
    Wes, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:46pm

    I say an article on Elkart and thought it might be Elkart, Indiana. After scrolling to the bottom and clicking the Newspaper Delivery button I discovered I was right. All it takes is a little scanning and thought. But it would be nice to have something on the front page saying what community it served.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    the truth is out there

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 3:48pm

    oops.... I meant Indiana

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  

    no clicks

    identicon
    kinga, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 4:20pm

    Zero Clicks

    "And for Nappanee Fire Chief Tom Anglin"

    Nappanee; final answer.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  

    Re: no clicks

    identicon
    John, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 4:58pm

    And where the F is Nappanee?

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  

    Re: no clicks

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 5:10pm

    North of Indianapolis, East of Chicago, West of Akron, and South of Lansing--Northwest of Fort Wayne. Oh yeah; and a hop, skip, and a jump from Notre Dame's hometown of Southbend.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  

    How Many Clicks?

    identicon
    Teajai Kimsey, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 5:36pm

    Well, I have to admit that "The Truth" is an example of poor web identification and moderate user friendliness.

    It only took me 3 clicks to find Elkhart Indiana, I found it after looking for the "about" and then finding the "delivery" information link. They might get more subscribers if their readers could find out how to get the news delivered. Go figure!


    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  

    Where is this newspaper from

    identicon
    Tracy, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 6:44pm

    Indiana

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Bryon, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 7:06pm

    Another thing that's really annoying is online magazine articles that are written without the date. You do a google on a certain subject, find an article, but you have no idea as to it's relevence because there is no date! Argh!!

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  20.  

    One Click -- Copyright

    identicon
    Andy, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 7:52pm

    One simple click on the "Copyright" link at the bottom of the page.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  21.  

    bothers me too...

    identicon
    justin, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 9:19pm

    1 click
    Weather
    Elkhart, IN

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  22.  

    How many clicks till I knew it was from Elkart Ind

    identicon
    Daaltje, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 9:31pm

    The question was How many clicks till I knew it was from Elkart Indiana? ZERO.

    Haha, it was on the front page said Indiana and Elkart County. I clicked on Hometown Game story just to be sure and saw the header ELKART-

    You guys maybe just cant see the trees for the forest.

    LOL.. there are plenty of trees here in Washington.

    ps I have had to use an old mostly spammed email. It is not safe email is it? (hidden addy) So I had to use protection. :)

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  23.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Robert C Ward, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 9:38pm

    Two licks brought me to the following:Send mail to:
    Elkhart Office
    P.O. Box 487
    Elkhart, IN 46515-0487

    Goshen Office
    622 W. Lincoln Ave.
    Goshen, IN 46526

    Was this a trick question?

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  24.  

    13th Line of HTML

    identicon
    Tabooyah, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 10:45pm

    META NAME="description" CONTENT="The leading information source in Elkhart county providing news, sports, entertaiment and local information."

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  25.  

    Where is this url?

    identicon
    Pat, Nov 2nd, 2005 @ 11:40pm

    1 click - elckhart - Indiana

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  26.  

    How many clicks?

    identicon
    Mark, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 1:00am

    Click "subscribe", if the word "Elkhary" doesn't give it away, then Google the phone number.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  27.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 5:25am

    One click, "Contact" links are always great :)

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  28.  

    etruth.com

    identicon
    Chris, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 6:25am

    Its Elkhart, Indiana if no one has said yet

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  29.  

    just 1 click

    identicon
    ahoy, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 7:00am

    Under "contact" --- however maybe I am disqualified since I do this sort of thing every day with these local online papers as a journalist.

    Send mail to:

    Elkhart Office

    P.O. Box 487

    Elkhart, IN 46515-0487

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  30.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 7:00am

    Elkhart Office

    P.O. Box 487

    Elkhart, IN 46515-0487

    Goshen Office

    622 W. Lincoln Ave.

    Goshen, IN 46526

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  31.  

    um...

    identicon
    B, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 7:10am

    I didn't have to click at all...

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  32.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Leo Zelevinsky, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 7:55am

    1 click - weather forecast :) - as I expected it gave the area it was giving the forecast for.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  33.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Chris H, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 8:31am

    I just want to be redundant like everyone else and post saying that I found out where the newspaper is from.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  34.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Me, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 10:44am

    1 by forcast
    2 by job search
    2 by house for sale

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  35.  

    Point

    identicon
    Mthorn, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 12:04pm

    You guys are missing the point. It should have taken 0 clicks. Elkhart county means nothing to me because I don't live in Indiana. The header of the page should say "eTruth, Elkhart, Indiana". You shouldn't have to scan the whole article to determine relevancy.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  36.  

    Re: Point

    identicon
    treo, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 12:19pm

    Well, as true as it is, why would you be on such a small news site, and not on one that you know is local to you... I know off hand of 4 or more local news sites for me, chances are you know the sites that are local to you

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  37.  

    1 click

    identicon
    walrus37, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 1:53pm

    1 click -- to the support/newspaper delivery page. Elkhart/Goshen Indiana.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  38.  

    agreed

    identicon
    doubledoh, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 1:55pm

    Alot of people are missing the point. If you go to http://www.latimes.com the city and state of the paper (despite it's fame) is in the title of the page...that's how it should be for ALL newspapers with online versions. I shouldn't have to try to deduce the locale by reading stories or clicking links...it should be obvious with a glance. Even The rather huge Mercury News (http://www.mercurynews.com) which covers "Bay Area" news forgets that someone else in the world that doesn't know or live near "the bay area" might not have any idea what bay they are talking about. The idea that professional journalists are so vague and non-specific kind of makes me wonder how professional they are after all.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  39.  

    Re: How many clicks till I knew it was from Elkart

    identicon
    Tom, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 7:19pm

    wow...are you crazy, high, or all of teh above?

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  40.  

    one click

    identicon
    arbyn, Nov 3rd, 2005 @ 9:31pm

    Just clicked om weather link and saw current conditions in elkhart, indiana.

    reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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