Summaries12.28.2009 | Sylvia Park
The media landscape has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. During a time when many print publications and newspapers are experiencing tremendous challenges, Google announced it will offer publishers a new approach to presenting news online – through one single URL. The project, which is called Living Stories, was developed in partnership with The New York Times and The Washington Post as ’an experiment in presenting news, one designed specifically for the online environment.
This new tool will provide complete coverage of an on-going story in one URL. It will allow users to quickly navigate between news articles, opinion pieces and features without long waits for pages to load. According to The New York Times, Google has recently taken steps to ’project an image of itself as a friend to the industry. If Google deems this project to be a success, publishers interested in the project will be able to leverage it on their respective Web sites. They could also sell advertisements on those pages.
This new service could be a great tool for journalists looking for background information about certain companies, products or services. It will also be beneficial to companies looking to quickly get an update on breaking news and news surrounding their organizations. According to Josh Cohen, business product manager for Google News, having all the materials appear on a single page will help the page rank higher in Internet searches. Additionally, readers will be able to read an entire article without navigating away from the subject page, saving them time and hassle of managing multiple tabs and Web pages.
As public relations professionals continue to partner with journalists on stories, it will be interesting to see if tools such as the Living Stories project will be able to revive the publishing industry and keep online publications afloat.
Tags: Google, Josh Cohen, Living Stories, New York Times, Washington Post
