newspaper website? possibility?

[Esk247]

can't help thinking i'm either missing a trick or barking up the wrong tree.

i've had several people bang on about how awful the local newspaper is and that they are misquoting like crazy to make the story more 'appealing' as well as totally missing out stories and that there website is naff.

now...is it really that tricky to create a local news website that has user submitted news stories e.g. everything is printed aslong as it's not illegal ofcourse.

it means people could get front page news via the website more easily than via the local paper..they have to send a reporter out first and take some piccies etc etc blah blah.

much point in going further with this idea??? or should i put it back on the shelf?

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

I can't help but feel you would end up in a similar boat of awful content with user submitted stories. Facts would be enhanced, made up, or complicated, as the articles aren't written by journalists.

My other thought is where are you going to get the news stories from. The average joe in the street isn't going to be going around interviewing people.

And I'm not sure how many people would be interested in reading the news from my house today that the cat stretched and fell off the couch, amusing as it was.

[Esk247]

I can't help but feel you would end up in a similar boat of awful content with user submitted stories. Facts would be enhanced, made up, or complicated, as the articles aren't written by journalists.

My other thought is where are you going to get the news stories from. The average joe in the street isn't going to be going around interviewing people.

And I'm not sure how many people would be interested in reading the news from my house today that the cat stretched and fell off the couch, amusing as it was.

although you could twitter (or tweet) the cat story :)

hmmm interesting points raised!

[PR Wales]

Hey Esk;

This is actually right in my niche. News/magazine websites are the way forward. I could bore you with tonnes of facts & stats with how some of the biggest names in the printed media are looking toward moving a lot of their business online, but I wont. :D

As far as I'm concerned its a great idea, but..(there's always one right?)

Actually getting people to post stories is really tough, but getting them to post regularly is even harder, which leaves you with a lot of work to fill up all those news modules most newspaper sites have.

But if that doesn't put you off, check out a couple of templates from some of the Joomla stables;

Two that really stand out are called "Terran Tribune" from Rocket Themes, and "Magazine Plazza" from Template Plazza, (google search will bring them right too you).

That will give you an idea of whats possible and the best part is they're super-easy to work with, once (if) you have a working copy of Joomla, which is an open-source Content Management System (CMS). Which to be honest, is the type of software you're going to need to run a content rich news site.

If you like current affairs I would say go for it.

Shout up if you need any more on Joomla, and do check out those templates. They'll knock you out.

Good luck :)

Ian

[Esk247]

well i design websites..so the actual website isn't a problem..i just don't know if i should waste a week setting it up!

i've got enough people locally that want people to hear there concerns but i don't know if it will be sustainable and i also don't know about generating revenue through advertising. i don't need to earn a wage through it but i'm not going to do it for free either. i want to cover my costs and make a little bit of profit.

i can undercut the competition ten fold but i was thinking blog style articles...we pick the best ones and promote to the home page or run the story ourselves with someone going to take pictures etc.

i only have one major competitor on the news front and 2 competitors on the advertising front.

[tony84]

It sounds like a good idea, however as mentioned im not sure how many writers you would get.