Launching the new year with a major electronic initiative, The
Dispatch will unveil a smartly redesigned Web site Friday which
will complement beefed-up local electronic news coverage and
feature a variety of interactive tools to enhance readers’
lifestyle.
Launching the new year with a major electronic initiative, The Dispatch will unveil a smartly redesigned Web site Friday which will complement beefed-up local electronic news coverage and feature a variety of interactive tools to enhance readers’ lifestyle.
In concert with the e-edition changes, the newspaper’s print editions will begin a new publishing cycle beginning next week, moving to a twice-a-week schedule. The Dispatch print edition will be published on Tuesdays and Fridays.
“The business is changing and it’s no secret that newspaper print advertising and readership is undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis,” said Dispatch Publisher Steve Staloch. “While not abandoning print, advertisers are searching for new and innovative ways to market their products and services.”
The Web site, www.gilroydispatch.com, will be updated daily with local breaking news, and a number of new electronic features will become a part of the newspaper’s publishing landscape.
The new additions for readers will include:
– GilroyTV.com: Gilroy’s own TV channel, a video-based Web site featuring lifestyle vignettes, will be largely local content and serve as a social networking forum for the community to share their experiences with each other and the world wide Web audience. In addition to news-department produced offerings, A YouTube type portal will be added to allow for individual video submissions. The social portal will allow the community to view and submit video.
– The Kaango classified system housed at gilroydispatch.com will make selling a car, posting a help wanted ad, looking for an apartment for rent or finding a new pet easy and interactive. Placing a classified ad online will automatically route it into the print edition. Readers can post and edit their own ads. An alternative to Craigslist and eBay’s Kijiji, Kaango allows users to customize and display their ads throughout the Kaango network, which includes over 100 newspapers. Individual car ads will have the added “sizzle” of accompanying photographs and, as a bonus, ads will be free if the car is priced 10 percent below Kelley Blue Book and sells within the first two weeks.
– A partnership with Pictopia debuts Jan. 17. Whether it’s your daughter in a field hockey game for Gilroy High School or a neighbor singing in the choir, readers will be able to select from hundreds of photos in the newspaper’s photo galleries at www.gilroydispatch.com and order photos on coffee mugs and T-shirts. Although dozens of photos of a particular event are shot, only a few are featured in the paper’s printed editions. In sharing substantial photos from the electronic archives, the Dispatch will provide many more opportunities for readers to choose photos.
– Whoboughtwhat.com was launched in May 2007 and will continue to give readers the opportunity to keep a finger on the pulse of the local real estate market and find out about recent sales and sales history. Simple answers to questions like, “Who bought the house down the street?” are answered and more complex information such as weekly South Valley home sales updates is available. The Web site collects data from public records and provides a comprehensive listing of local home sale transactions. Daily news stories inform readers about who is buying and selling property in their neighborhood. Whoboughtwhat.com serves as a research tool for home buyers and sellers.
– DiningDealsCA.com will offer discounted gift certificates to many of the area’s most popular restaurants. Dispatch readers and diners can save money by buying a savings certificate online at the paper’s Web site, printing the confirmation and presenting it at their participating local favorite eatery. Another new feature, BooRah, provides a forum for locals to “boo” restaurants that have bombed and “rah” exemplary eateries.
“As you will see, (the new Web site) includes a significant menu of new features,” Staloch said. “Although diverse in many ways, the lifestyles of our readers have one thing in common – a need for information that is credible, timely, allows for interactivity and is available in more than one format.”
