If you have an Android phone, I hope you will take a moment to download CharlotteObserver.com’s new application (app), designed to give you full advantage of your phone’s features.
The app is free. I have it on my phone and can say from personal experience that it dramatically improves your ability to navigate the site.
You move easily from top breaking news to sports, entertainment, business news, opinion and even movie show times.
Photos look great, too. They have their own place in the navigation bar, making it easy to go straight to slide shows. (To activate a slide show, touch the photo. Then use your finger to slide from frame to frame). I just went through more than 30 photos of the Panthers’ Steve Smith and Cam Newton tossing footballs and horsing around with kids at Smith’s football camp.
To get the app, go the Market on your Android phone and search for Charlotte Observer. Check that the app says McClatchy Newspapers to make sure you are downloading the correct app. View the details.
The phone can also be a great way to keep up with news throughout the day, regardless of where you are. In fact, it’s how I learned Saturday about that nasty line of thunderstorms about to sweep through the region.
A growing number of you also are keeping tabs on CharlotteObserver.com by phone. Compared to January, traffic to the site through phones through the first half of June is up almost 50 percent, with over 700,000 page views.
For those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch, we also have a free iPhone news app. Just go to the iPhone market and search for Charlotte Observer.
And if you use a Blackberry or other Web-enabled phone, you can view our news updates by directing your smart phone browser to CharlotteObserver.com.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Android users, your app is here
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Alliance to bring you more local news
More news is good news. And that is what we have for you now, through a new feature on CharlotteObserver.com.
It’s called the Charlotte News Alliance (CNA). This is a network of 16 local websites, and growing, that have partnered with The Charlotte Observer to offer you the region’s most comprehensive look at local news.
You can find summaries and links to the best of these stories in the lower half of the home page on CharlotteObserver.com. A number of these stories will also appear on the printed pages of the Observer. In turn, some Observer stories will appear on the partner sites.
Some CNA sites are operated by journalists, some by civic-minded citizens. But all are opening doors to a tier of news coverage that is uniquely “hyper-local.”
By that, we mean news that can be as local as your own neighborhood or your own particular topic of interest.
For example, BallantyneScoop.com is a hyper-local site based in south Charlotte’s Ballantyne community, while QcityMetro.com is a news and information site focused on African-American life across Charlotte.
Through this alliance, we believe we are building on the strengths of all of the partners. How?
CharlotteObserver.com is the most visited local news site in both Carolinas, attracting 2.4 million viewers a month from around the world. But our region is vast and still growing, making it very challenging to deliver everyone the most intensely local news possible.
This, however, is the primary mission of hyper-local sites. They can deliver readers a more narrowly targeted area or topic. Their challenge often is building enough audience to generate revenue needed to operate their sites. Their affiliation with CharlotteObserver.com adds to that audience.
Working together makes us all stronger. It also provides you richer choices of content in one convenient place.
We began assembling this alliance more than a year ago, initially as the Charlotte News Network . Our preliminary work was aided by a grant from J-Lab: The Institute of Interactive Journalism at American University in Washington, D.C.
Among our partners are several startups, including HoodieCharlotte.com, which covers uptown Charlotte and four surrounding neighborhoods. We also have the websites of established media, including La Noticia and Mi Gente, both Spanish-language newspapers.
If you know of a local website that would be a good fit for this alliance, email a link and description to the Observer’s innovations editor, Jen Rothacker. You can see examples from all the partners, as well as other details, at the Charlotte News Alliance page.
Reach Rick Thames at rthames@charlotteobserver.com, twitter.com/rthames and www.facebook.com/rthames.obs. Phone: 704-358-5001.
The Charlotte News Alliance
Ballantyne Scoop: Community website based in Ballantyne.
Carolina Public Press:
The Catawba River District: News about nature, learning, recreation and community development along the Catawba River.
Charlotte Viewpoint: A web-based magazine of essays, reviews, fiction, poetry, photography and video produced by citizens.
CLT Blog: A community website with users submitting Charlotte news, video, photos, links and blogs.
The Gatton Report: Investigative reports from the Mooresville/South Iredell area.
Hoodie Charlotte: Covers five center city neighborhoods – Dilworth, Myers Park, Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth and Center City – with news, features and photos.
The Johnsonian: Winthrop University’s student newspaper.
La Noticia: Website for the city’s largest Latino newspaper.
Mi Gente: Online report from this weekly Latino newspaper.
Monroe Scoop: Community website based in Monroe and Union County.
Niner Online: UNC Charlotte’s student newspaper.
Qcitymetro: News, commentary and events about Charlotte’s African-American community.
Tega Cay Talk: News, events, people, places, and “The Good Life,” in and around Tega Cay.
Villa Heights: Community website serving Villa Heights and surrounding neighborhoods.
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