“From a visual, functional and navigation standpoint, the new website is leading edge,” says News24 editor Jannie Momberg. “Still focused on breaking news stories, the website is now more of a destination for South Africans to interact and engage with the stories of the day. From submitting their own images, articles and opinions to rating articles, users can involve themselves in the news and enjoy more in-depth features.”
For example, MyNews24, the user-generated section of News24, will receive greater prominence on the new site. Already an established community of news enthusiasts where comments and opinions can be shared, users are now be able to rate articles and other citizen journalists as part of a ‘leader board' of leading writers to track each others' ranking.
The new website is designed to be more accessible to users and showcase a wider range of content, including international breaking news from Al Jazeera English, Inside News24, a new feature offering more in-depth analysis of current issues and ‘News you should know' a roundup feature of the top stories over the past 24 hours.
“We've put on a few digital kilos, so to speak, and widened our pages to feature more news and different layouts as the news agenda changes,” adds Momberg. “This also means more flexibility to incorporate different kinds of ads and other commercial elements.”
“To enrich the user experience, we've also improved our semantic tagging,” continues Momberg. “This effectively categorises each News24 article and provides more context, allowing users to better find, share and utilise what they read. From a publishing perspective, it allows us to provide a richer, more customised experience as we can index content to deliver related stories, photos, maps or other multimedia.”
“Going forward, look for more lifestyle content to be integrated on News24 from across our leading network of sites, including Food24, Wheels24, Health24, Women24, Parent24, and GoTravel24.”
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