Doni: Hi, Kimberly! Wow. You’ve been at the helm of aNewsCafe.com as managing editor for about one and a half years, and I think this is the first time readers have gotten to meet you up close. I’m really happy you agreed to this, especially because of how busy you are, what with chasing around a toddler and taking care of your chickens and, of course, the website.
Kimberly: Hi, Doni! Thanks for inviting me to dish! Yes, my 2-year-old Sophia does keep me running. After she climbs the bookcases, jumps in every puddle down our block and otherwise wears herself out, she usually takes a nap. That’s when I refill the coffee mug and take care of “my other child” — the web site. By this point, the backyard chickens pretty much have to fend for themselves!
Doni: Your chickens are happy chickens. I can hear them squawking with joy. They’re probably as happy about the redesign as we are.
And now we should squawk about it a little ourselves, don’t you think? You go first, since you, Joe Domke and Jim Gore have been the main creators. Which reminds me. Are Joe and Jim still speaking to us?
Kimberly: Hoo-boy. They probably shouldn’t be — they’re doing all the heavy lifting in this major furniture rearrangement. But I think they’ve enjoyed adding fun new features, like a beautiful new masthead, the tag cloud that Joe suggested and the zippy new “slider” box at the top of the page, which features our lead stories. (If you click the arrows on either side, you can skip ahead or go back to any top story that catches your eye.)
Doni: Most of the changes are pretty obvious, but what details would you like to bring to readers’ attention?
Kimberly: We’ve got a neat new home for the “Stage Manager,” Dean Williams’ list of theater arts happenings, paired with a more at-a-glance display of the many community events we feature on the site. And Paul Shigley packs so many good extra bites of news into his Take-Out Window column that we made him an “A La Carte” menu, too. Readers won’t miss a single morsel — and they’ll be able to quickly spot what they’re hungry for.
We’ve added tabs at the top of our site because we want to make it easy for readers to find the topics they most want to read about: Living (including food, gardening, health and outdoors), News, Opinion (here’s where you’ll find all of our great Village Voices contributors, letters and more), Events (including community events, music concerts, performances, etc.), and we are very proud to feature ArtHop — aNewsCafe.com is the exclusive source for ArtHop’s maps, you know.
I know the “Staff” tab and staff list at the bottom of the site are especially dear to you, Doni. Why don’t you say a little about that?
Doni:I have wanted a staff box for some time, a way for readers to see the host of talented people who help produce A News Cafe. For so long, many of the hardest workers, such as you, Joe and Jim, have been practically invisible. I know you make producing a daily news site look like magic, but I wanted to give credit to the whole team.
Kimberly: Ha — magic! Thank goodness readers can’t see what the “magic” looks like from behind each of our home computers. I don’t know about the other guys, but at my house, a little too much time spent editing a story and I might look up to find my toddler has turned her hair red with mashed strawberries. Or has “magically” removed her diaper and is proudly balancing on top of a stool (“ta-da!”). It’s definitely easier to do most of my editing, headline writing and story assigning when Sophia’s napping, or after she’s safely down for the night.
Doni: I know you work late, because I see the time stamps on your emails. Thanks, Kimberly. I think you’re pretty amazing. I just don’t know how you do it all.
Kimberly: Coffee. And naps. And if I can’t get a nap, just more coffee. And really, I couldn’t do this without the team at A News Cafe — Joe, Jeff and you pitch in when I need it. Jim is like my emergency contact on the fridge. Apparently it takes a village to raise a child AND a website! (And did I mention my afternoon latte habit?)
Doni: I’ll pour more coffee while we discuss another new development. For the first time, A News Cafe has a four-person editorial board comprised of top journalists Candace Brown and Paul Shigley, as well as you and me. Exciting times, for sure.
Kimberly: For sure — those two are very gifted folks, and we are thrilled to have them play a greater role in A News Cafe’s growth and development. And speaking of growth, we’ve also made the entire site more friendly for social media, so if you like A News Cafe as a whole or you’re keen on a certain story, you can share it with an easy click.
Oh — and … speaking of sharing, we’ve also set out the virtual “tip jar.” Now, when readers are moved by something they’ve read, or wowed by something they didn’t know, or thankful that local journalists have dedicated their passion, talents and time to bringing them A News Cafe, there’s a way to make a donation in support of that effort.
Doni: The tip jar was actually one of the most difficult decisions in the redesign. A News Cafe has been community supported by local advertisers for almost four years now. Opening the door to readers to help support journalism on A News Cafe could be like sending out invitations and nobody shows up. But we have our thank-you cards at the ready.
Kimberly: You never know, maybe our kindly readers will show us some of their magic tricks. (I’m talking generous money donations here, folks, not showy removal of any important clothing.)
Doni: One thing I’d like to mention is why we decided to redesign the site. Actually, there were two primary ones. First, we were providing so much new content each day that readers were having a hard time finding the stories. We spend so much time and money and effort creating new content, that it really seemed horrible for readers to miss out.
Second, and this is a huge reason, we wanted to make the site more advertiser-friendly. Before, we had ads running down the left and right columns, and not only did it look cluttered, but it didn’t really do the best job of showcasing those ads. Now we have new ad sizes, and new placement opportunities. Here, let me see if Joe or Jim or Jeff (our three tech wizards) can post an example.
Kimberly: We even have opportunities for advertisers to sponsor parts of the site, like Paul Shigley’s Take-Out Window column — I can totally see a sports- or outdoors-related business snapping up that spot.
Doni: Yes, and we have some other advertising spots open, like one in the masthead, and others available to sponsor other sections besides the Take-Out Window, such as the Weather box, or the Community Events section.
Advertisers aside, another reason we wanted to redesign the site was to make it more attractive. It’s almost four years old, and up until now we’d kind of cobbled together new sections as we grew. It was beginning to look like one of those schools made up of modular buildings when they ran out of classrooms. We met with some of our most trusted and respected design friends and asked for their ruthless assessment of the site. I remember that day. Boy, it was so hard to take it, but I think we’re better for it.
Kimberly: Absolutely; aNewsCafe.com has grown and matured so beautifully since you launched it just a few years ago, so it feels natural that its look evolves into something that we hope is more sophisticated, more grown up. Not to make comparisons but, you know, my daughter is going to be three years old before too long, and she’s still not wearing her big girl underpants …
Doni: So I guess you’re saying that we don’t have to make all the changes at once, that we can just …
Kimberly: Sorry, what did you say? I’m still LOL about A News Cafe now wearing its “big girl underpants.” Hey … can I work that into the Dish’s headline, Doni?
Doni: Oh, sure. Big girl panties in the headline. But maybe it belongs in Nancy’s column? More coffee, Kimberly?
Kimberly: Fill ‘er up, Doni.
Doni: Readers, we hope you like the redesign, but we want to hear what you think. Really, we can take it. Be honest. Send all your criticisms to Kimberly, and all the happy thoughts to me, right, Kimberly? I’m joking. Seriously, leave your comments about the redesign here on this Dish, and Kimberly and I and the rest of the gang can respond.
Independent online journalist Doni Greenberg founded what’s now known as anewscafe.com in 2007 with her son, Joe Domke of the Czech Republic. Prior to 2007 Greenberg was an award-winning newspaper opinion columnist, feature and food writer recognized by the Associated Press, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and E.W. Scripps. She lives in Redding, CA.
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
