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Do-over

Submitted by yelvington on March 7, 2013 - 11:10am

Continuing the "free AND paid" theme: Do Savannah, our weekly arts and entertainment section, just had a do-over. Effective today it's redesigned and expanded to 40 pages of expert coverage of arts, music, community, movies and food.

Print distribution continues to include all of the Savannah Morning News circulation, but we're adding more than 80 locations where you can pick up a free copy. We're also reworking the website and preparing a Do-specific mobile app, with more to come.

Mobile apps and vendors

Submitted by yelvington on March 6, 2013 - 11:50am

St. Patrick's Day app from Shoutem

Spotted app from Filemobile

I'm big on open standards. I use open-source software almost exclusively. I'm an advocate of HTML5 and responsive layout. And I'm not all that happy with vendors. I'm of the download-and-build persuasion.

Free and in print

Submitted by yelvington on February 25, 2013 - 12:43pm

Everybody's talking about paid and digital. But Sunday before last, we launched a product that's free, and in print.

Prototype page

Why? Because print still has an important role to play. Because it makes economic sense. And (there's a lesson in this for digital advocates) because one size does not fit all.

Why there's no news on our mobile homepage

Submitted by yelvington on February 11, 2013 - 10:46am

We recently relaunched our mobile website at SavannahNow.com without a bit of news on the homepage. Web design tools have come a long way since the days of table-driven layout and smartphones have more processing power than yesterday's desktops, so why did we do this? For simplicity's sake.

Pressing on

Submitted by yelvington on January 9, 2013 - 4:09pm

In my new job in Savannah, I'm responsible for print as well as digital audience. It's been awhile since I last dealt with print -- I've been working on the digital side since 1994. A lot has changed since then. Today Sean Ruth, our production chief, gave me a look at this:

NYT creates a throwback -- in a good way

Submitted by yelvington on December 28, 2012 - 9:31pm

The New York Times has been getting a lot of net.love for its beautiful project Snow Fall:
The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.

There is no business model for killing print

Submitted by yelvington on October 18, 2012 - 8:31pm

I wish I could find it -- someone quipped earlier today in my Twitter stream that "there is no business model" for killing print. That's right.

Reaping a temporary windfall

Submitted by yelvington on October 16, 2012 - 12:59pm

I'm cleaning out my office in prep for a move to Savannah, and finding stuff, as usual.

In the pile: A folder labeled "charging for content." And inside, printouts headlined "Web sites going free-to-fee," "Media General to charge for newspaper web sites; CEO calls free access 'dumb'," "Turning surfers into subscribers" and "If you post it, will they pay?"

The dates? 2000 and 2001.

Moving on ... to Savannah

Submitted by yelvington on October 1, 2012 - 10:33am

This is exciting on both personal and professional levels: After more than a decade at Morris Communications' corporate headquarters in Augusta, Ga., I'm moving on to a new challenge as vice president of audience for the Savannah-Bluffton media portfolio.

Social media bad for newspapers? Waah

Submitted by yelvington on September 23, 2012 - 11:57am

I don't know whether to be appalled or just amused at the reported quote from AP's Liz Sidoti that social media is a "time suck" threatening young journalists' understanding of reporting basics.

I didn't hear it myself; I think that comment came while I was across the street from the Seigenthaler Center, in the parking lot dealing with Vanderbilt police about vandalism and burglary of my truck (which is another story).