By: Jay DeFoore The Star Tribune print edition and
StarTribune.com both unveiled redesigns Wednesday, in what officials said is an "ambitious reinvention" meant to give readers a more streamlined offering in an increasingly crowded media environment.
Anders Gyllenhaal, Star Tribune editor and senior vice president for news, said in a statement that one of the major goals of the redesign is to better integrate the newspaper and the Web site so that each complements the strengths of the other.
On first glance, photos on the site's homepage seem to be given short shrift, and users may balk at the small typeface. But to its credit, the site appears to be instituting several best practices on internal article pages. A popular story on an alleged sex cruise with Minnesota Vikings players included a "Related content" sidebar with links to video from local TV station KSTP (which incidentally didn't work in my browser), audio clips of official statements (which worked), an e-mail link soliciting reader's views (though no indication how they would be used or where they'd appear), and related articles.
The article pages also prominently feature most read and most e-mailed stories, which are becoming common and, to this reviewer at least, welcome additions to news Web sites.
The Star Tribune staff has set up a
blog where readers can post comments on the redesign, and so far reaction has been largely what one would expect: some hate it, others love it.
Much like the Tribune's Baltimore Sun did after its
recent redesign, McClatchey's StarTribune.com has also
posted extensive video clips with editors and executives explaining the redesign.
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