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paulbradshaw
How interactive are UK business news websites?

April 7th, 2008 by paulbradshaw

That’s the question Birmingham Post reporter Joanna Geary has been asking herself, and has come up with the following rather lovely graphic:

Clickon the image for a larger, more readable version - you’ll see she’s looking for availability of email contacts, use of things like maps, blogs, bookmarking, video (is that interactive? Or multimedia?), email newsletters, mobile alerts, RSS, podcasts, chats, forums - and Twitter: “I know it’s not yet a mass communication device but I think it’s a good indicator of those who are thinking about the development of the market”

Here’s her findings:

“There’s an indication that regional news is a little behind the nationals when it comes to interactive features - but some regionals, such as The Post and LDP Business are catching up.

“I think there a few limitations with the categories that are provided and naming individual elements of interactivity does not necessarily give you a strong insight into the experience of the user (e.g. there’s no point having video if no one can figure out how to get to it).”

She’s asking:

  • “how is your experience of a news site improved, or indeed made worse, by interactive tools?
  • “if there are tools that you think this study is missing.
  • “Also, are there any similar studies out there?”
Written by Paul Bradshaw - Visit Website

8 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Great stuff! Would be very interesting to extend the rating to other news sites (that are not business-related and/or not from the UK). This could become the Global News Interactivity Index :-)

  2. Hi Nico,

    I know there were a number of studies done in 2006. The Bivings Report also replicated the study for the US in 2007.

    I don’t know if others have been completed more recently. It would be good to find out and to compare!

  1. evo - May 5th, 2008

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