Wow! What a daunting task. But it looks like y’all’ve done a great job. Looks very clean while still having lots of content and stories on the home page like I enjoy. Well done! Will there be someplace for us to submit usability issues after the rollout?
Enter your comments here Why couldn’t the change coincide with the stopped delivery of the print edition to the “hinterlands”? You sure know how to confuse folks.
I am hoping you can delete older news stories from the home page on a more timely basis. I am a little perturbed when I click on a story only to have the dateline say it happened 3 or 4 months ago. Furthermore, your coverage of anything to do with intown Atlanta is sorely lacking. I rarely see stories that have anything to do with my area of the city. Yes, there are many readers in the city…it annoys us there is not adequate coverage of city life.
Nice redesign. It’s good to see that the leaderboard ad has been removed. Would it be easy to add a few more elements for weather, such as today’s high and tonight’s low, just to the right of current temperature? The Weather Channel does that in their IE toolbar. It would be nice to show a small image of current doppler as well. Okay so I’m a weather junkie.
“Private Quarters” as the top photo nearly every time I hit ajc.com? Come on, what are y’all, a newspaper or Atlanta Magazine Homes?? Gimmie some news, not posh spaces of the monocle crowd!
I’ll definitely watch for the changes, but from the mock-up you’ve provided, I really don’t see much that’s being altered. Everything looks basically the same. What am I missing or not seeing? Thanks.
How about making it easier to find message boards on your site? Whenever i post something to a “discuss” forum i can never find the same discussion forum a couple of hours later that i just posted to.
Very nice. I’ve emailed several times saying your design needs to be refreshed and suggested you look at WashingtonPost.com as a guide, which it looks like you did. I visit the Post’s site daily and love their home page. In comparison, ajc.com was a huge disappointment. Thanks for listening to reader feedback. I can’t wait for the new design to launch!
Thanks for the much needed redesign. I’m not sold on the logo image or the colors of the logo. Thought you had a good thing going with the AJC Circle. Make sure navigation works fast on slower computers/connections unlike ESPN’s new design. I can’t believe they almost made that site unusable. Looking foward to seeing the udpate.
This looks really, really good! Couple of things I would suggest is to make the video table horizontal with the Inside AJC.com table. I would put a picture or graphic tease in the area that how has the video table. I would even take that space to promo print product (which I think you all would consider taboo, but you’ll be surprised what traffic that would bring. Oh, and I would move MundoHispanico ad under the new Buzz feature.
Overall, very good navigation and usability. Thanks!
Could you redo your jobs site? I’m someone outside your now-shrunken delivery area and I think your partnership with HotJobs stinks. I KNOW there are far more jobs printed in the paper than actually make it onto your website.
I think your current design is fine. Much easier than many including the New York Times which I read often on the internet. Sometimes “change” in not always for the better. On another AJC matter, I am not happy that you have eliminated the Saturday LTE’s. You have also greatly “cut back” om the size of the Sunday LTE’s. I admit that I have a “bias” in this LTE thing, I have written around 400 of them to the paper in the last seven years.
Since the ajc newspaper circulation area has continued to get smaller ajc.com is my only option. I can adjust to any format. I hope that the business section is totally revised.
In the current section news that is several months old fills most of the space. News items six months to a year old is not news anymore, only space filler. Please give us more current news.
I hope that as part of the new design we will see more true news stories featured on the home page and less about every move some hip hop star or desperate housewife makes. I read several major newspapers online daily and none of them devote anywhere near as much home page attention to entertainers. Stick to the news affecting peoples lives on the homepage and leave the entertainment stories in accessatlanta. I do like the new design by the way.
Thanks for the great comments and suggestions, they are extremely useful in helping us to improve the site. Many of the issues we have worked on in this rollout are issues that readers have suggested.
In my work – as part of the online design and user experience group – we had three main goals for this iteration of the site design.
- To clean up the design
- Make the site load faster
- Make navigating content easier
Keep in mind we are constantly making upgrades to the site (some visible and some behind the scenes to improve functionality and page loading times). We have many other design upgrades rolling out this year that will continue the design improvements throughout ajc.com.
Weather: BG and Lisa, we realize weather is very important to readers and have some major enhancements planned, unfortunately they won’t be ready in this iteration – so stay tuned.
Logo: Nick, in regards to the logo, there were other logo versions that we had worked on but there was a branding decision to go with a consistent logotype for the ajc brand.
Wow, a few new graphics with no real change. Even after a redesign, AJC.com is still one of the ugliest newspaper Web sites on the Internet. It must’ve taken an incredible amount of time and energy to come up with something that is essentially the same as before – a clutter of advertising and pint size hyperlinks jammed onto the screen. The opening line of your redesign meeting must have been “How can we possibly get all of these headlines and ads crammed into the smallest block possible?”
The reason I feel bad for papers like the AJC is that your revenue plan has turned into something that is almost solely based on advertising with no regard to content/substance. For every link you have on your home page, users can click onto pages that are equally cluttered and ad-chaulked. The more graphics you have distracting the readers, the less likely any news is going to be read. And that raises the utlimate question – what is the point of AJC.com to begin with?
Promote your stories more with longer (or any) lede lines; don’t rely on the headlines by themselves. If you’re trying to attract new business or residents to the city, then start by cleaning up the AccessAtlanta pages for dining and theater. And for God’s sake, keep anything that qualifies as a story for “The Buzz” in that box and off the top stories list. It’s embarassing when the two categories – ACTUAL news, and entertainment – get mixed.
And next time you try to redesign the Web site, look at your competition before settling.
There are eight questions and 8 different forms on the page. When a visitor clicks “vote” it’s only for the single question and you have to click vote eight different times. There’s no session state either, so there’s no way to view multiple results on the same page.
Why not just have 8 radio collections and one form on the page? That way someone can answer all the questions at once and view all the results at once.
Also, the flash polls tied to the photo galleries have been broken for a long time. Vote on one question and it won’t let you vote again.
I would like either the time the past was last updated or something similar to MSNBC.com that says last updated x hours/minutes ago. I basically keep a browser window open to AJC all day and it would be nice to see if it had updated. Thanks!
Oops, that should be “page” and not “past” above. I was thinking about the time in the past when the page was updated and the fingers led a magic life all their own.
I feel like the redesign has a lot of potential…however, I still feel like the page is too cluttered. Is it really necessary for you to show 5-6 linked stories under each section on the bottom part of the page? There must be some way to simplify that, especially since you’ve already got the headings up in the top of the page. I also would like to echo the suggestion that tells us how long ago the story was last updated (this is important for breaking news).
Scott, thanks for acknowledging my weather suggestions. I look forward to the new launch. Someone had referenced the ESPN site. I agree that it’s slick yet difficult to navigate, and attribute most of the difficulty to lack of familiarity.
A few of you have mentioned wanting stories to include timestamps, later this year ajc.com is moving to a more powerful content management system that has that capability. Until then most stories (unless it’s a big breaking story) won’t have a timestamp. One other nice feature, we will also be able to have multiple templates, for example on stories having the option to include a video or larger photos.
The logo is awful. No heart, no soul, no history at all. Look at the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, NY Times, etc. Great newspapers don’t disown their past and ditch the look that people know in print. Regain your identity, folks!
The overall look is clean and fresh, and seems to be clutter free. The logo is very whimpy,cheap and a bit cheesy looking.I mean baby blue and that font?? ugh!
Love the new look. Glad to see the Hollywood Buzz not so “Front and Center” I was beginning to lose respect for you guys as a viable news source. Thanks for the new look, and I notice the sports stories better now.
Sucks, but I would guess a 14 yr old with html/css experience could have done it in 15 minutes. Just like the printed version, becoming more irrelevant each & every day.
The AJC is completely forgetting that they are the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and they have some history here. The newspapers that will make it out of this mess that they’re in are the ones that are not completely alienating their base with weaker content. What is the AJC offering readers and advertisers except a different logo and newsroom layoffs? Someone called me and told me they were from AJC Media Solutions. It sounds like a start up joke of a company.
LOVE the new format – clean, easy to read, and best of all it loads so much faster! I hated waiting for all the “fancy” graphics and navigation tools to load before – just give me the news!
Well I guess all of those branding compaigns were jsut spent on air?? For years you pushed the circle AJC and now this. I guess the AJC is just like Pepsi in changing their logo. Does it go with the changing of publishers but better yet please change executive editors, sorry but enough is enough. Looks like you hijacked the idea from another local paper.
Not at all impressed. Any student could have done as well.
STILL OBJECT TO THE FACT THAT NOWHERE DOES THE AJC, IN ANY WAY CONSIDER THAT DOUGLAS, PAULDING & THE WESTERN COUNTIES EVEN EXIST.
Nah, I don’t like it. Where are all of the choices? The county and local sections. I feel like I’m lost. Bring the old format back. An what is up with that simpleton logo? Its HORRIBLE.
the new layout is definitely an improvement.. it’s modern and user-friendly, and unlike before, it now feels professional. the new logo, however, is like an attempt at a “retro-looking” logo that only looks old.
The new design is good, but the logo is washed-out looking. The two shades of blue are not complimentary to each other. It’s bland, amateurish, and irritating.
The new format is confusing. I liked the old one. I, too, am tired of seeing the same outdated stories week after week. Private quarters? It is just a way for real estate agents to list their listings. Please defer them to the real estate section. I am interested in news worthy stories. I could careless about the latest escapade of some “celebrity”. Last but not least…where is the vent?
What lunkhead decided to eliminate the Opinion page from the links above the header? Is Entertainment worthy of inclusion, but Opinion deserving of deletion? Send this new publisher back to Florida or Ohio or wherever he came from. The guy has turned an attractive format into a so-so design I would expect to see in the Rome News-Tribune, not the AJC.
I love it! Thanks for moving into the 21st Century. The old website looked like a tabloid with WAY too much junk on the home page. It’s so much more elegantly designed.
I cannot log in as a returning user as of 8:15 AM 1/14/08. Also, I do not like the look of the new logo, and the Sports page was slow to down load. I just filled out an on-line pop-up survey last week from your site, indicating I was Very Pleased with the site. Why would ya’ll have the survey, then go and mess everything up? I DO NOT like the new look.
So far I like it! And I promise, if you stop featuring articles on those RIDICULOUS INSULTING “Real Housewives”, I will love you forever! Not only are they not *news*, they are an insult to the hardworking African-American women who shape Atlanta and, in fact, the entire city.
In the venacular, “it sucks”, but most of us will become accustomed to the new format and then when you change again for changes sake to maintain readership we will have a similar reaction and adjust once again.
Keeping up with my hometown’s local news was always easy but not easy on the eye. The new layout is great and I am enjoying it from a sunny and snowy Switzerland. Glad you made the changes!
I do not like this. It’s plain, no color; too white; boring. Sometimes the annoying ads are atop the drop-down menus. You need to put “Letters” in the “Opinion” drop-down. In fact, Opinion needs to be in the top navigationv bar. The Vent, etc., needs to be closer to the top and not in a drop down. I like the immediately previous version better. This is too plain and we have to do too much work to get to what we want.
Coca Cola is the most recognized logo in the world and one reason is that they don’t keep redesigning it every few years. Take a cue from another Atlanta staple and leave well enough alone! Don’t care much for the new plain jane layout either.
personally, i like the new look – the new logo is pretty good, and the site’s appearance is far more streamlined and easy to look at than the old one. now if the AJC would stop changing the headlines of the same articles every 4 hours, and work on readability…
regardless of my snarky writing comments, nice job with the redesign. while the AJC and Atlanta have history, there’s no reason to keep things static – the AJC isn’t a museum. it can change as it grows.
Why do I not get a “Welcome, Michael” anymore? WHY can I NOT change the weather zip code for local weather like I could before today’s change? AND, WHY, OH WHY, DID Y’ALL NOT WARN ANYBODY THAT THESE CHANGES WERE COMING? (YES I KNOW I’M SHOUTING, AND I KNOW IT’S NOT GOOD ETIQUETTE, BUT I AM NOT HAPPY!)
The layout is ok. but what web designer thinks that light blue or gray text on a white background has enough contrast to be easy to read? job #1 is making it easy for the viewer. fix that quickly, please.
This design is hard to see; not as sharp, crisp and appealing. Worse, it is very hard to navigate and find things. It’s also boring. I really hate the opening dropdown ads, which you’ve kept. THAT, you could’ve eliminated. IMHO, this was NOT money well spent. Bring back the fun, colorful look, with easy to find columns and news!
I really dont care for the new logo, and it will take me some time to get acclimated to the other changes. I agree that AJC says nothing about Atlanta, or the two newspapers that brought us the new for so many years.
the site design is mediocre at best. like so many other newspapers that have ad directors, with no online experience other than attempting to sell a position their parent company asks them to, having way too much freedom to decide how websites should operate and look. stick to what you know, and let the developers do what they know. the overall product will be ten times better.
everyone that reads this: download firefox, and the ad block plus add on to block all of their ads, and the site is much easier to digest.
Sirs…like the new format a lot…not as busy and confusing. Still wish you’d lose those pop-up ads that always appear when you open it. Know how many ignore those things?? Also…on the opinion section, how about listing Jim Wooten by his name, like the liberal writers on your staff…not by “Thinking Right.” I almost skipped it because I did not see his name anywhere!!
That logo makes you look weak and washed out….there is something to be said for continuity, constantly tweaking and changing yourself projects a poor self image
I don’t like the new design, but I guess as others said, we’ll just have to get used to it..To plain, to boring, to ugly, the list could go on & on..Where is MOMania??
I’m an out-of-town reader, and one thing I enjoyed about the old format was my local weather forecast that appeared when the AJC page loaded. Could you please restore that feature?
I just don’t like it. Some parts are good, yes, but overall…me no likey. And Michael, I totally feel your pain. I wanna shout too, but I’m so bothered by this that I can’t. AJC, a heads up would have been nice. I may have adjusted easier with a little warning. Nevertheless, it’s here, and I’m obviously stuck with it if I decided to continue reading this paper online. Logging on is giving me HELL, and I actually enjoyed my personal “welcome” at the top of the page-so much for that! This just sucks…but life goes on. geesh!
The first thing I noticed about the new format – I can’t tell whether I am logged in or not. Did I miss it or did your designers forget it?
Also, is there a link to log out? This is the one thing that is the least standard of the web sites I use, forcing me to search every month on sites I use to pay bills.
As a graphic designer I think this change is horrible. Find some SCAD students to help you next time. It’s too bland and the logo looks very bland. Your photos and ads stand out more than your navigation and logo.
Where is MOMania? Things are hard to find and as a mom I don’t have time to find them.
I love the new website! This is a great new look and falls closely in line with google, cnn.com and other sites which garner huge traffic. Keep up the great work as this online geek, will continue to read!
It’s just OK. Agree with others that logo isn’t impressive; not something I would stop to take a second look at. We all will get used to the new navigation and not a problem; it definitely looks cleaner. However, I find it to be quite slow. Granted, I’m not on the speediest computer when I’m at work, but the old site was quite a bit faster. I also agree with the annoying roll down ads. So annoying that I never look at them and couldn’t tell you what they are advertising. Although I don’t pay much attention to any ads, I’m more likely to see one that’s just sitting there and my eye goes over it while I’m looking at the rest of the page. I just close the roll down ads as fast as I can find the button to do so.
Ugh! I just had a vocal reaction when I opened up the homepage. The old was one pretty crappy, but at least it had some contrast to help with navigation. This looks way less professional than the previous one. I like the new logo in theory, but it’s so soft-spoken and pastel and weak that it just isn’t doing it for me. Make a statement, use some color and contrast. What the hell, y’all???
I Do Not Like The New Format… and for those of you that always want to compare Atlanta with Chicago…Stop Please! We may do some illegal things here in Atlanta, but Chicago takes the Cake. Instead of being known for the self-proclaim 2nd city (which actually belongs to LA, but don’t tell the ppl from Chicago that) Its now known as the most embarrassing/corrupt city in America. No one in the US wants Chicago representing the US in the Olympics. Chicago or Illinois for that matter, will NEVER-EVER be respected as classy city. You lost that with 4 Governors in Jail. Now chew on that!
I think paint newspapers, like the typewriter & landline phones & large novels & large file cabinets…..are a thing of the 1900s. In fact, JOURNALISM IS DEAD…..
A lot of the changes are subtle, but it is a big improvement. The site is much cleaner and easier to navigate and it might help to remind people what you were starting with. Keep up the good work.
The logo looks childish, boring. I’m still looking over the site, but that lower case ‘ajc’ caught my eye and I thought something must be wrong with my internet settings :-/
Not a big fan of the redo. Taking away the Opinion page is a big mistake. No more letters to the editor? No more editorials? Seems you are using this redo to hide the fact that you have greatly reduced the content in the Opinion section. I guess people are easily fooled by flashy diversions.
I agree with so many others. I do not like to new web-site. I think it is very childish and un professional. I would like for the AJC to come into the same as the NY Times and Chicago Tribune. So, with all of the resources that you have, please do something that look more 21st century and not to RETRO. I actually logged out then logged back-in to ensure that I was on the correct page.
Some have mentioned they can’t find certain things… here’s a cheat sheet…
- News Buzz is now “The Buzz” and is moves to the top of the right column (away from the real news)
-Take a Break items are now found further down the homepage in the right column under the ads – these include:
* Puzzles
* Horoscopes
* The Vent
* Lottery
* Comics
* Quizzes
* Sudoku
* Crossword
Navigation: Under each section there are the subsections (ie under Sports is the Atlanta Falcons section) here are the changes…
- Blogs are now under each section, with top Blogs and a link to the directory
- Breaking news alerts are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- E-mail newsletters are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Featured content (databases, quizzes, etc) are now under each section, with top Featured content and a link to the directory
- Health is now a subsection of Lifestyle
- Living is now called Lifestyle
- Metro news sections (all of them including County pages) have moved under “News”
- Mobile edition is now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Nation / World news sections have moved under “News”
- Opinion columns and blogs have moved under “News”
- Photos are now under each section
- Print edition are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- RSS feeds are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Tools and widgets are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Topics pages are now under each section, with top Topics for that section and a link to the Hot Topics page
- Videos are now under each section
- Weather is now in the header on every page
I use Mozilla firefox for a browser and the text is difficult to read. One of the reasons I prefer the AJC for local news is that I prefer reading to watching a video clip. I would recommend making the site cross browser compatible.
I miss being able to click on the print edition to get stories that aren’t posted on the AJC Online. Also, I miss the separate health entries. This new version doesn’t seem as user friendly as the former design.
Did you get your logo design done by RITEAID? It’s almost as cheap and hideous looking. Go take a look at west coast or even say the Augusta Chronicle newspaper sites. I also want print ads available such as Fry’s available in a pdf format or able to read them online.
Thanks for making the changes. I would also like to thank you for making changes to the mobile version that I get on my PDA so I can see the same version as I see on my laptop. That was a very frustrating few weeks when the mobile version was the only one available. And I hope you guys won’t be going back to that. thanks -
Looks washed out. I am not against change, but it needs sharpening. I agree that the logo should not change. I don’t know and don’t really care what Chicago, LA, and New York do.
I’ve participated in several surveys to help improve the site, but had I known this is what they’d do with my feedback, I’d have taken greater pains to be clear. This is washed-out, faded, and doesn’t speak well of Atlanta. A newspaper can be a city’s face — it’s identity. This mimics other Cox sites, sure, but doesn’t do anything for the city’s identity. Maybe busy is good, sometimes. Maybe busy means there’s a lot going on. Maybe busy fits the city’s identity better.
I do not like the new look or format. Not that I am opposed to change, but there is still plenty of room for the old stuff, especiall in today’s world where there is/has been SO much changing that the small creature comforts make life good!! I moved to Birmingham about 2 years ago and the “Birmingham News” cannot hold a candle to the AJC. I looked foward to reading the AJC daily via the internet, or at least I use to…………………….
No major objections to the new look, but the LOGO IS HORRIBLE. It’s not aesthetically pleasing and does not connected to the AJC brand. Big mistake – I hope no one got paid to create it.
The new look is okay, but the AJC logo could have been done more creatively by a really experienced graphic designer/artist. I actually think that the old look was a little more accessible and easier to read, but sometimes change is good.
I make a better looking web site for myself at school on a MAC computer. Your logo is not what Mr Henry Grady would expect. History does matter and change is not always better.
I think AJC, you learned your lesson about the mobile format. I want to see the exact same thing on my iPhone and my laptop.
You really need to lose the big drop down ads, they are as bad as pop-ups. I opened your site and thought I was at firestone.com. I don’t know why a company would do that to their website. Have some pride would you!
Curt….the print version of ajc is antiquated…print is dead…if online keeps the same print business plan/look/identity…it will fail just like the auto industry.
Can you please move The Buzz from the very top of the page? How will the AJC ever be taken seriously as a source of news if you have Hollywood news and gossip and the latest from those horrible ATL housewives front and center. Seriously, look at WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com, heck even USAToday.com for how a news site should look like.
Trendy, lazy. The faded blue font hurts the eyes. It’s an obvious product of the no-design Facebook and MySpace generation. Do a usability study–or at least read one.
I already sent an email saying I thought the new logo was terrible, I really hope this wasn’t a senior level graphic designer who created that for a newspaper. So much is conveyed in the type of font, colors, style that is used and nothing about the new logo says newspaper. The original was much better.
If the AJC folks are bored and need something to do they should try proofreading their online articles before publishing them, I see bad typos all the time.
Not a single change is for the better. I wasn’t a big fan of the old layout but at least it wasn’t bland and anemic. Now it’s like looking at a website predigested for second graders. It’s pathetic. Rethink this please!
Staring to look like USAToday. Maybe you oughtto re-doo access Atlanta for the eneteratinment. I find it the worse to figure out what is where and when (timely reviews would help too).
I agree with the others. I dont like the logo. The light blue is not
an eye catcher when you long on. When I first signed on I had to look twice cause I thougth I was on the wrong web page.
The info at top of page does not stand out. It seems like now you have
to search more on front page to see if there is any news you want to read. Again with the lighter font—Im working harder now.
Right now, people just don’t like it because it is different than what they are used to. I think the new logo is cute and appealing to a younger audience. The new format is much easier to use and understand. Thanks for taking a good thing and making it better
Mr. Baker, I appreciate your tips for navigation. However, you have said NOTHING about being able to get the Local Weather or folks not knowing if we are logged in or not. Really, I’m sorry if I am sounding rude, that’s not my intent. However, the AJC has ALWAYS been my go-to site for news and information, and I am not comfortable with that anymore as of today.
Mr. Scharff, I just wanted to followup and let you know that Weather is still at the same location ( http://www.ajc.com/weather ) and can be accessed from the header on every page. We have some major improvements coming in the next few for this section. Also, if you are not logged in you should be directed to a sign in page. You can access email newsletters and breaking news subscriptions fromthe My Account link in the header on every page. Hope that helps.
You can find all the stuff you are looking for in the menus, people. Learn how to use the Internet. It is cleaner, but the logo is a bit bland. The changes aren’t that drastic. I can barely tell, except it is not as jumbled together.
Looks better, but you really didn’t fix any of the navigation or usability issues that have continually bugged me. Typical ‘redesign’ – all fluff, no substance.
I still haven’t located the features I like.This site loads like cold molasses.I suppose you spent a lot of money to make this mess.Change for the sake of change.Someone justifying their job.Been there seen that.
The one thing I always loved about the AJC website is it felt like I was looking at the actual paper. That made it special to me and the navigation was easier. This new format all just seems to blend together. I’m not impressed.
The new look is great! Much cleaner and more streamlined. I don’t have any issues with the logo — I don’t visit your site to see the logo. Most people probably visit your site for easily accessible, quality news.
Now you should try to make your online presence match your print presence, and put more focus on real news stories, as opposed to silly videos or celebrity news. You can’t match Youtube or celebrity sites like TMZ.com.
Like someone recently said, “You can put lipstick on a pig….” The fact that “Buzz,” “Inside the AJC,” and other fluff are so prominently featured near the top of the page accurately reflects your standing among true news organizations. Why not be more truthful and just rename it the Atlanta Entertainment Journal?
I HATE IT!!!!!!! AJC, why change a good thing?! Bring back the old format. Where in the HECK is the local news???? What’s with the logo? I hate the font as well – it’s hard to read & I’m finding myself squinting to read it!! It’s plain out awful! FIX THIS MESS AJC! WE HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hate is a strong word and honestly it’s exactly how I feel about these UNNECESSARY changes!
Why not keep the old logo/branding? You can do a site redesign without changing traditional elements. The new logo doesn’t convey newspaper to me – more like grocery store.
I can see a lot of cosmetic changes were made, but you’ve still neglected to fix a lot of the usability and layout issues. Perhaps take a look at other, great versions of online newspapers like The Washington Post or the New York Post before making a decision on the final version of the site.
I like it. Much more streamlined and easy to navigate. Question: Will other section fronts be getting the same new “look” as the homepage? The sports section et. al seems to be the same, other than the new nav bar.
I like the cleaner look/feel to the site but have to agree with the comments about the logo. The color isn’t strong enough.
And as many others have said, the content is still mediocre. I read/refer to the AJC because it’s our city’s paper of record, but in terms of reading hard/incisive news, it’s a joke.
The layout is less important than the annoying scrolling advertisements at the top of the page. It says to me, “I don’t respect you so I reserve the right to annoy you with banners advertising products 90% of the readers aren’t interested in”. Take some time to look at Google or Yahoo some day. You don’t see these annoying things do you? Compare their traffic to yours. Ask yourself “how do I advertise to a repeat reader who has a narrow range of interests without annoying him with irrelevant ads?” The answer is not hard.
Why am I reminded of Planet Radio? But seriously, I like the navigation a little bit better but the logo looks too femme or Apple like or something. I know it’s the style today but with news, I like the traditional look like the WSJ and NYT. But that’s me. The format and navigation are win. It’s only the logo that bites.
actually, most of the “naysayers who don’t like change” are probably on firefox like me, where it’s loading like crap with navigation loading on top of each other. i could care less about the design, before or after. i didn’t even notice it had changed until i tried to go somewhere from the home page, and noticed the loading problems.
I could care less about the logo… the layout is much better. I wish y’all had a feature where you can move around the different “boxes”, like nation/world, sports, entertainment, etc. so that whatever you read the most could be higher up on the page, like how Google’s personalized web page allows you to do.
well, given the sorry state of newspapers today, i sincerely doubt the ajc had the budget to hire web & graphic designers that knew what they were doing. it shows.
I love the new layout. It is much cleaner and easier to navigate. Imagine a news web site that makes it easy to find stories, who would have ever thunk it?
A newspaper website should be about the information and not fancy logos and other useless bells and whistles. People that crticise the logo maybe ought to think about what it was they are visiting the site for in the first place. No doubt there will probably be several updates to the logo to strike a balance that pleases the people who value style over substance but so far I have enjoyed visiting the site.
I haven’t been what you call a big fan of the AJC, but that is related to the editorial slant taken. This web site update in my book is a positive.
Congratulations
Change? It’s still cluttered and it still looks like it was made by a 9th grader. There is just too much irrelevant news showing up. The page is just too noisy!
Far cleaner and simpler than before. Text stands out better. Bold primary colors splashed around before were a distraction. The simple interface explains much of the success of the Google search engine and Facebook.
I don’t mind the layout chagnes but the logo looks like you’ve reached the webpage of a cleaning product or company. It’s to sterile and cold. The old logo reflects the history of the paper.
The fonts chosen for this site are not clearly rendered in my browser (IE 7). Letters are not spaced properly, the tops or bottoms of capitals are clipped. I suspect someone allowed this choice to be made without adequate testing.
I like the format, but miss seeing the sports links in the sports recap on the main page. I will get used to clicking the link from the main navigation, but it means I probably won’t scroll around on the main page as much. This is good for me, but not sure it is good for the people that write on the various sections.
One more thing. Could you *please* change to a serif font? It will help make the site look more polished and the AJC look more serious as a news organization.
It is a bit cleaner – may take some time to get used to…but… why all the focus in your announcement on Entertainment and The Buzz… are you a news organization or E! ?
I like the new look (logo) it is refreshing, and clean looking. It even implements the original look and makes the entire page look more organized – good move! When will the logo be in the browser?
Well, you people have got it wrong from the beginning of the internet. Change everything else, leave the logo alone. That is who you are. Which one of the marketing people is responsible for the new logo? Should be on the next bus out. At least it is the same font.
The new logo is horrible. It looks amateur. The type, colors, rounded corners. Yuck. Not professional at all. This logo belongs on the box of a cheap toy.
While I definitely think it is an improvement over the look of the previous site, it’s still not befitting the largest paper of one of the nation’s largest metros.
I’d like to read more about metro Atlanta on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s web site. Not some guy who crashed his plane in Alabama, which is currently your featured main article. Readers turn to the AJC for local news, about local people. Not pilots in Alabama.
I wonder if “Scott Baker” is the one who ERASED my comment. Hmmmm, pretty weird & well typical to say the least! Guess the AJC cannot accept nor take negative feedback on the redesign.
PS: I hate the layout, I hate the font, the logo is horrible and where in the heck is the local news now? I hate everything about the new change! SUCKS!
The logo is terrible. I agree with others that the colors are washed out, don’t complement each other very well, and just looks a little to small town to me. But, I like the updated look of the site in terms of fonts and arrangement. Easier to read.
The new look is clean, but way too plain for my taste. I agree with the posters that say that the AJC is moving too far from the great roots that have been apart of the city of Atlanta for years! Please change it back to “THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION”, and do so before you loose the rest of your readers!
Can’t tell that its been improved, just different. Seems to take a long time to load and it took about four tries to get to this blog because server kept timing out. Also, blue on white or white on blue are the two hardest color combinations to read, might want to research that that next time. The dark blue is ok, but the light blue just kind of fades away. Seems to take more steps to get to some items. Again, not improved, just different.
Atlanta is very deserving of a first class newspaper, when you guys at AJC get it right it is magnificent.
More investigative reporting, and the Food section needs to be refurbished, it used to be a weekly highlight not that long ago, when John Kessler still had “unfortunate” hair, LOL. I hate the new logo, it looks like a middle school contest winner.
seems harder to find things (navigate) because its blah-er and nothing much stands out. Need more obvious menus. Now I have to scroll down and look for vent link. I also still miss the old scrolling video strip from many months ago. I never look at the videos in their current design.
What’s with the removal of color? It’s cheaper in print, but easy in digital.
Looks very much as a student did the design – do Not like the new logo. Harder to find the various sections – too much “pop entertainment” on the “front page”. Must be wanting to become a tabloid from the layout.
Makes me glad I have found better written and informed news sources than the AJC.
First, you cannot tell it is a newspaper from the site. “AJC” could be anything. It looks cheap and does not import verity or gravitas at all. I’ll bet even Bookman will agree with me on this one thing. From the new look, all your columnists are reduced to mere bloggers as there is no indication this is a newspaper.
Second – it navigates fine now, so that is OK. It wasn’t so bad to begin with.
Third, the logo reminds me of the Sealy mattress company or perhaps dental floss. New is not necessarily better. Remember “Izzy” and “Everyday is an opening day in Atlanta” or “ATL” as short for Atlanta (except it takes longer to say). Just because the marketing department or the outside consultants claim it is a good idea or their surveys seem to show that, dosen’t mean it’s not garbage and merely an attempt to justify their continued employment at the cost of your readership.
The new design reminds me of Underground Atlanta – a completely bland mall and food court with the same name as the original; but with no connection to its history, no resemblance to the original and nothing accomplished to make Atlanta a better place.
Does it fit Atlanta? Yes, because it has no connection with the city or its history, a common theme in Atlanta. This is the city that tried to tear down the Fox. This is the city where foreign visitors are amazed that there is no museum of slavery in the South. This is the City that destroyed the Arts Festival by moving to to concrete well before any drought.
Keep messing with the logo and cutting down on my newspaper and my visits will decrease and 20+ year subscription will eventually end. Keep in touch with our history and cater to your audience and you will keep me.
The site redesign looks great. AJC.com is my homepage, so I see it several times during the day, and always browse the top stories and breaking news. Overall the site looks very clean and very well organized. I have to agree with several of the other comments…the new logo looks awful! It looks like a total copy of Hewlett-Packard. Take a look at any printer or fax machine made in the last 10 years and you’ll see exactly what I mean!
The new look is blah, the logo is terrible, but you’ve GOT to start making an effort to update story and special feature links faster. I just clicked on a Budget Travel link about a weekend fare to Salt Lake that was originally published LAST FRIDAY!!! Pathetic.
seriously? this is a redesign? honestly? oh, wait, no you just took a module from a CMS and copied that. The truly defining thing about the ajc and for that matter, the logo, is the utter lack of respect to history and any sort of tribute that could have been implied in this “redesign”
Guys, who did you hire? have you guys talked to the people at Mario Garcia? Poynter? anyone? Please hire a consultant.
Maybe the new publisher (Doug Franklin) will realize how terrible this is and add his input. Please please please before the AJC loses all credibility.
I like the top navigation. It’s crisp, much more informative and I feel like I can access more of the site now. I would like to see Atlanta Weather/Traffic complimented with alerts, big incidents, warnings.
The logo, which has been repeated many times, is off the quality of the rest of your product. I would recommend the circle 2.0ish “AJC” to take it’s place. It would add a darker blue to the top, maintain the feel of the redesign and not look like it was thrown together to get width out of a constrained logo. Add Atlanta Journal-Constitution under if it you need width still to fill the space. Even a typographic logo would be better than the two-tone rounded box.
Major headline font needs work. The font has too much space between letters to be the headline font online. A serif font, as mentioned above, could do the trick or a heavier, more stylized sans-serif headline font.
Overall, good job. I think it’s a definite step in the right direction. I think making subtle changes over time will help your design get tweaked.
I don’t like it at all! It’s difficult to navigate, and took me forever to find my favorites…the vents. Put it back the way it was, or AJC will no longer be my homepage.
The new design is cleaner, but my questions are regarding the lack of AJC paper copies in my county.
1. Will the AJC make Parade Mag available through your site?
2. Will sale ADs from the Sunday paper be available on your site?
3. What about the Sunday Comics?
4. I tried the AJC Print version and the font is much too small when an article is printed. I attempted to fit it to the page and portions of the article did not print. Please help with this issue.
5. If it is not feasible to home deliver in outlying counties, at least provide weekend papers to some of the convenience stores/gas stations in the county.
Obviously, the AJC must really be suffering, since it spent NOTHING on the redesign of this site. It navigation leaves much to be desired and the logo is hideous. I will not start on the content, which in brief has always sucked. But come on, this is the city where I live and I cannot read this paper, though I force myself everyday. At least promise us faster updates on stories (that are poorly written) and links (that may or may not work).
Why isn’t our local news on the headline? How stupid AJC? You guys gave the headline to a pilot who aborted his plane in another state headlines over Atlanta headlines. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!!!!!
By the way, what’s with the horrible, small sized font. This is definitely a turn for the worse. I would expect way better from a major news source. Bring the old back!
I am sorry, but I cannot agree with previous posts. I actually think the logo looks antiquated and borderline comical–not at all journalistic or anything to be taken seriously. I understand wanting a sleeker look, but this is not it. Nonetheless, I am an avid reader and will try my best to adjust.
The new format is OK. I prefer the old one. I hope you have made changes to the video section, whereas we can read the caption without scrolling up and down.
If you aren’t from Atlanta, and are unaware of the abbreviation of AJC to mean The Atlanta Journal-Constitution then how are you supposed to know you are visiting the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website? I think the Atlanta Journal-Constitution should be spelled out somewhere on that hideous AJC logo.
This new format is expedient, and very exciting, I like it very much and welcome the new change. Once others begin to use it they will also love it. great job on the design.
Quickly, (before to many folks see this) go back to the old format. I’ll forgive and forget this mess….btw I still haven’t forgiven or forgotten your removing @Issue from the sunday paper, for that reason alone I no longer buy a sunday paper. Surprise me and do the right thing, go back.
HORRIBLE!!!! HP needs to sue !!! Fire the design team and art director for approving such crap!!!
Just like Atlanta, the AJC has no identity! Look at the NY Times site, NY Daily News site, LA times site. They all has a sense of history and establishment. Your new logo would have been “new” in 1985…but its 2009. Get the original header back up, and hire a new layout team. Be SMART in design, not just NEW. Once again you are thinking everyone in Atlanta is a dumb as you.
The AJC is no longer reaching to be world class huh? Just a big “town” with stupid drinking laws, no nitelife, and horrible cookie cutter developments going up everywhere. Why doesnt anybody here have any style??????????
Mr. Baker, I’m just now getting back on after a long morning meeting. I appreciate you response. However, i am afraid you did not address my actual concern as to the weather. Before today, you could enter a zip code for a different location (it could be anywhere in the U.S.) in the link at the top of the home page, and then, that would be the default weather for the user as long as he or she was signed in. So, me being in Augusta, GA, I always knew what my current conditions were anytime I went to the home page.
the AJC is not going to survive much longer. seems like you guys are taking the “dumbed down” AOL approach by featuring funny videos on your front page.
and those giant dynamic ads are a disaster. they may make short-term money but they are killing the website.
we all have access to the NY Times and WSJ for national news.
we use craigslist for classifieds.
we use Yelp and Urbanspoon for restaurants
we use rottentomatoes for movie times.
AJC should focus on providing top-notch local coverage. break out into community sections.
AJC cannot survive in its current format. it’s the worst major paper in the country and even the good ones are struggling.
i can’t really blame the web designers for being given such a poor product. there’s not much you can do if you are being asked to cater to the lower-income people who still would read this paper.
There has been a few comments about not being able to find MOMania. This blog can now be found under “Lifestlye” in the navigation and then under blogs. All blogs can be found at http://blogs.ajc.com/
whew! OK , I have calmed down now.
I was so angry that I did not see my typos.
I just get so upset when an opportunity for IMPROVEMENT arises, and so often, this city FAILS.
The AJC and the website look should be a bridge of the past and the future. Having been a graphic designer for the past 20 years, I know what good design looks like. And this is NOT it. Sorry.
If the AJC was some small local paper…fine, the “logo” would work. But for a city of 4 million people, that is struggling to find itself STILL, you must do better.
Its very simple really… observe what SUCCESSFUL cities are doing. (And not to copy, but learn.)
Being the MAIN source of news about Atlanta gives your paper and your designers a HEAVY burden. You bear the task of giving Atlanta the respect, and admiration of the world. Sounds silly to some, but true. This is how design is viewed in New York City ad firms. (I’ve worked at the best) You cannot just slap something together and think you have done your job.
Its very plain to see by the many negative comments here, thats EXACTLY what has happened.
**step your game up AJC designers…BAD DESIGN.**
As a daily reader, this is a step in the right direction. The editing still needs work though. Several times a week I find articles plagued with misleading headlines, typos and chopped sentences. Also, dead links are frequently a problem. And just because it’s a blog doesn’t mean the writer gets to be sloppy (this means you Rodney Ho). I hope the redesign isn’t just superficial. There needs to be a commitment to overall site quality.
I have to agree with the majority… I do not like the new site. Sometimes it’s okay to leave things as they were. It lacks any real design and the navigation sucks, as an avid reader of this site( I check several times a day) I think I will start getting my new at Foxnews.com or WSBTV.com.. their sites are very graphic and easily navigated.
Of course you expected pro/con comments…that’s what happens with change. I like it…smooth, sharp, clean looking. I have been doing logos over the years and I’m glad you took the giant risky step of ‘coming up to date’. No matter what other graphic artists say, because even there you will diffence of opinions, you did a super job! Although I do miss the ‘feels like temperature’. Good luck!
Chiming in to echo “I understand wanting a sleeker look, but this is not it.”
The design is far too soft, the logo looks silly and the focus problem (blur of nondescript content toward the center of the page) that the old one had is still there and perhaps been magnified now due to the mushy look of the right rail. The design could really use some punch.
The positive is that you’ve wrested the stylesheets back from oblivion and kicked those nasty old JavaScript bits out for jQuery. Congrats to whomever did all of that work, I know it was probably daunting.
I am a native of Atlanta but currently reside in Philadelphia. I religiously visit http://www.ajc.com, often multiple times daily, just to keep abreast of the happenings of my native city from afar. Though invigorated by the call for a new design, I have to say that I, like many others apparently, am underwelmed by the simplisty and passe’ style of the final product. AJC is a one of Atlanta’s signature pieces, and the world is browsing-believe it or not! Might there be slightly more energy exuded to make the design appear more forward and representative of the level of southern sophistication that the city stands for? Or shall we resign to being stuck with this current rudimentary and uninspired style?
With the exception of the weather and date/time stamp in the margins, I’m not moved at all. Hmmm…I think I’ll browse nytimes.com instead…or how bout this, paper anyone?
Before I didn’t have to scroll down – now I do. How is that progress? As for the logo – I don’t remember what the old one looked like but it’s 3 letters either way. However, I would say this new logo looks less like serious journalism and more like Teen Beat.
The clean look is nice, but I miss the larger number of stories available from the front page of the old design. Where’s the Vent?! I would like to see a logo that is not so bland. I also can’t find the link to the Print Edition. That’s the only place you can find Ken Thomas’ genealogy column. He has so many readers, there should be a prominent link somewhere.
I don’t like it when i pulled it up this morning i thought i was on the wrong site. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” bring the old style back. This one looks like it’s missing something
I thought I was on the wrong site, but when I figured out it was a new format, I really liked it. I am okay with change, and I like the more up to date (looking) format!!
Hate it, hate it, hate it. It is so generic. Nothing pops out at you and makes you want to read it.I am all for change, but not all change is good.Right now all I want to do is find out where you put the vent, and maybe I’ll be okay.
You can find the vent under “Take a Break” on the homepage. You can also access via “News” in the navigation. Looking for the Living Vent? Look under “Lifestyle” and then under features.
Check out our brand new layoff!!
Oops, we meant lay-OUT!
Where is the leadership at this company?
AJC is abandoning everything, including the employees, that made it great. Good luck with your new, exciting changes. Give me a break.
I don’t like this new look at all. The AJC has been suffering from a HORRIBLE identity crisis in recent years! They seem much more interested in catering to those who moved here in the last 10 years from Boston, Chicago, Ohio, New York, etc., instead of taking care of its CORE AUDIENCE – those of us who have lived here and grown up here all our lives. You need to ditch these new “gimmicky” ideas of a new logo, more fancy crap, online video, a stand-up comedian link, etc. and get back to being a NEWS-PAPER…. give me information, content and features that me as a NATIVE ATLANTAN would care about. The old web site look was JUST FINE – this new one has no heart, no soul, no identity. It looks like it could be one of 1,000 newspapers anywhere in the world. Give me back my traditional AJC logo and traditional AJC web site… this new one is garbage and I have no interest in visiting here anymore. I’ll go to a regional paper’s web site or USA Today to get my info now, thank you very much.
So generic! I recently moved to Baltimore and loved the AJC web layout, organization, etc so much that I continued to read the AJC online over 600 miles away! Now it looks about the same as the Baltimore Sun, which is not impressive, hard to read and difficult to navigate.
It lacks personality, the logo is so “blah!” and there is nothing that identifies this site with the history and reputation of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution! What a disappointment, and this coming from someone who does welcome change!
I like that the new format is cleaner. Navigating the site really did get much easier. I can now more easily find more of the features I previously wasn’t aware of.
The logo could be better, but it’s just a logo — doesn’t bother me too much whether it looks like something that belongs on a box of dryer sheets, or if it looks “newsy.” The content matters much more to me.
Having a link to the “Print Edition” somewhere at the top would be most helpful. The NY Times website has a great example of this.
I see there’s slightly less emphasis on the trashy celebrity news junk. The less emphasis, the better. I would appreciate more emphasis on the stuff that actually matters. What’s going on in my part of town?
When the AJC got rid of the Horizon section, there was a promise that there would be more of the type of coverage seen in Horizon. I would love to see an online version of the Horizon section. You could demonstrate that you really are giving more coverage of Horizon-like stories by labeling them “Horizon” and dedicating a page of the website to those stories.
I really thought I was on the wrong site. Just this morning everything was fine. Now, after lunch, I find this. I really don’t like it at all. I really thought I had did something wrong. Please change it back! Please! AJC gives great coverage of news happening now and I truly look forward to it each and every day. Keep up the great work, but in the meantime, correct this error! Thanks
Don’t like the logo (after I found it). The old logo was your brand and recognizable. The new one blends into the banner. While the format of the may be easier to navigate, the page is just like all the other internet site.
The home page is a bit less cluttered, and seems as if it might actually emphasize NEWS a bit more. If so, that’s an improvement.
The arts page, as always, stinks. It is sloppy, incoherent, seldom maintained or updated, and most of the arts stories in the print edition can only be found if you click on the little note at the bottom for people who are looking for a story they saw in the print edition. Stop and think about how pathetic that is. For an example of what real arts pages (plural) in an online edition look like, check out the Denver Post website.
No, I mean it, really: look at the Denver Post website, and imitate what they do (within the bounds of copyright law); no one at the AJC seems to have the imagination to design one themselves, and none of the editors seems to care.
I agree with the critique that the logo is bland; at least you should put, underneath it, “Atlanta Journal-Constitution” in the familiar script. It’s a familiar mark of your brand.
Also, I agree with joeventures about the Horizon stories; some of the best journalism you have done was part of that section, and there’s plenty to report on as Atlanta’s development patterns continue to change.
they censored my previous blog post b/c i pointed out that they were becoming irrelevant since we get classifieds from craigslist, restaurant reviews from Urbanspoon, national news from the NYT.
AJC now caters to people who read Blondie and watch “funny” youtube videos.
this paper is finished. but the Cox sisters have more money than god so they can keep it on lifesupport.
The new logo looks like the style of logo that would have been on a Braves’s cap in the early 1980’s. The new font is a distraction, not an improvement.
So far, the layout/design is much cleaner. I agree with a previous commenter: when is the AJC going to recognize that Coweta, Douglas, and other western counties exist? Not EVERYONE lives in Cobb or Gwinnett.
Is it that hard to look at the LA Times, the Tribune, the Washington Post, or the NY Times websites to see what real newspaper sites look like? I mean, yes, what Atlanta’s pets are wearing and who slept with who on what tv show is absolutely the most important news going on in our area. Way to cover the important stories, AJC. If nothing else, the site looks more like the rag that the newspaper has become.
The new “ajc” design looks like it could be a logo for an appliance manufacturer, and it kind of gets lost. It’s not prominant enough and looks like part of an advertisement link.
I don’t like it. When I opened it up the first time, I thought that I made a mistake by going to another site. The color is gone – where is the color. Go back to the original. It was great!
this is awful — why in the world would you change something that looked so classy????? did somebody have nothing to do? was their job going to be eliminated? well it should be now — get this online ajc back the way it used to be — i was always so proud to think when looking at other papers online how good ours looked — now it’s so ugly just awful — and like everyone is saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”!!!!!!!!! GET IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS!!!!
Like I said before, why fix it if it isn’t broken. It looks like a student project and not a very good student at that. The adds on the right are larger than the articles/menus. The drop down adds need to go bye-bye!! It is just very boring. Doesn’t invite me to look further into it.
I found a bug. Although the main headline changes (now it’s the Ron Clark band), the link associated with that headline still points to the previous headline (the Smoltz story).
Your new look stinks, just like your sorry columnists such as that MORON Cynthia Tucker!!! Your paper is not even Journalism, it is biased towards the LEFT way tooo far, and that is the true reason why the AJC and papers all over the country are failing!! People are sick of the rampant YELLOW JOURNALISM that exists today, and tired of the fact that all fairness, and unbiased reporting is DEAD today! Whatever happened with telling a story based on fact, and reporting news in a way that the facts are delivered, without the manipulation and author’s personal thoughts trying to tell the people what they should be thinking? The new look of the AJC will not fix that!!! Maybe instead of pathetic marketing attempts, you guys should focus on trying to be REAL JOURNALISTS? And what’s up with highlighting and making “ENTERTAINMENT” news so important? That is part of the problem with this country, so many people can tell you the latest BULLCRAP about who Paris Hilton is slumming around with, but God forbid someone knows who their state Senator is!! The AJC is PATHETIC and I personally can’t wait for you to go BANKRUPT!!
The logo looks like a knockoff of the Hewlett Packard Logo. As someone that visits the site everyday sometimes two or more times a day, sorry I’m not impressed. It kind of looks like the draft before you complete the project. Especially since the layout is pretty much the same you just moved headings around a bit, and all I can really see that’s has changed majorly is the logo. A established paper such as this should never change their logo. Your logo is the first thing people see and say oh..that’s the AJC. Right now it looks like a start up paper.
needs a tad bit more color – maybe a green to compliment to blue
too much white – a second color would help to highlight areas of interest to your readers
I got an even better idea… why don’t you change the logo like Pepsi did and make it look like the “Obama Change/Hope BS Logo” I mean, this pathetic paper threw Real Journalism out the window during the election cycle to worship Obama like the rest of our American-Idol crazed society, why not go all the way? Why not just change the log and the name of the paper to “OJC”… Instead of the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation, you can call yourselves the “Obama Journal of Corruption”…
Thank you to everyone at the AJC for your hard work to keep us informed. Overall, you’ve done a great job! I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback about the website redesign. I am a frequent internet user.
1) The logo is not catchy. I would have preferred to see something more unique in terms of color selection and font. The brand identity is not distinctive enough for the viewer. It is almost generic. I would prefer to something more creative.
2) The organization of content is much better. The content is easily accessible in terms of navigation on the screen. I enjoy the stories. The timing of stories and the accuracy works well for my needs.
3) I like the visual enhancements such as more video, pictures, flash elements.
4) You offer a great variety of stories. I enjoy Private Quarters and Vacation pictures. Nice touch to keep your general audience connected. We are invited to add to the site. Great engagement opportunity. I really like the photo galleries.
It’s still slow, clunky, and lacks good design. All you did was change the logo and move some stuff around. Thankfully those stupid expanding ads are gone but this is much the same old design with a few minor changes. A true redesign would have addressed usability, the clutter, and directed my eyes somewhere important.
I subscribed to the AJC for several years, and when they quit delivering in my area I bought it at the store. I loved setting down in my easy chair at night and reading the AJC. I am sorry but setting down at a computer and reading the paper is one of the most non relaxing things I can think of. I called about mail delivery but could not get same day delivery Thanks goodness the Gainesville times and the USA Today still serve my area.
I thought I was on the wrong web page and had to log in twice. I am not feeling the new layout, prefer the old one. However, change is supposed to be- my suggestion would be to tweak it just a bit.
Everyone bow to the authority of Professional Web Designer!!! All hail, his holiness!!! Lean not on your own understandings, but trust all html queries to Professional Web Designer!
I’m surprised you didn’t post a picture of your degree, or better yea link to your portfolio. Yeesh! While I don’t necessarily disagree with anything you said, AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHO DEALS FREQUENTLY WITH WEB DESIGN (see I’m legit now), your attempt to legitimize your comment through your pretentious title is one of the douchiest things I’ve seen in quite a while.
I do appreciate that I no longer have to wade through several columns of celebrity or non-Atlanta news to know what’s happening here, today. If I want entertainment news, I’ll go to people.com. I count on your expertise for local and regional happenings. Keep those at the top!
In general, I find your new layout more scannable than before.
ONly two headlines really pop. The rest of the type is very light and almost sinks into the background. It’s a lot of small type on the page. Also, the banner photo is kind of small to be a banner photo. But I like the layout–much easier to find things that I want.
Looks like my 4 year old designed it. Very plain and not pretty at all. Must have taken at least an hour to design. There isn’t even a Living tab. I guess you must have let go your real designers.
The look is perfect. It is washed up, just like the AJC. We once had a great newspaper, but now it is a mere shadow of itself and staffed by left wing hate mongers such as no talent Cartoon Boy with his sidekicks – Cynthia Tucherheadinthesand and Jay Boogerman. It really is a great design for this washed up rag.
No worries, they soon will be bankrupt and out of business. It would not take much to get back to being a great paper. Report the news not Invent the News or Slant the News or Spin the News. Try being an impartial observer who reports the news instead of spinning it to the left.
Fire the idiots who run the Editorial Board as they have NO TALENT. Cynthia always finds life is viewed best through her racial glasses. Jay looks at the world through a funhouse mirror designed to distort the truth such as his recent hack job on Ronald Reagan. This group has no idea that Carter is our worst President and Ex-President.
I agree with this earlier comment:
If Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman are still running editorial content, then the new look is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic…
I’m not too crazy about the new format. It was a bit text heavy to me. Visually I found it harder to pinpoint what I was looking for, like this was my first time looking at it rather than being a frequent user. Also, the blogs were hard to find. As a side note, why isn’t Henry included on the metro page anymore. We didn’t fall off the planet you know, and as one of the fastest growing counties, you’d think the AJC could find us important enough to include. I agree with others about those half page ads, get rid of them. Keep them small, if I’m interested I click on them, but please don’t splash them in my face. The AJC.com used to be a pleasure to view, but now I’m not sure sure.
What happened to the name of the paper? You seem to have lost your identity of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The format seems more readable, though. Wish there as a tab for the Metro section.
Hey “Carter is a Fool”. Real pple work here. People who may or may not agree with a lot of those leftist. People who would be in some serious serious trouble if they lost their job. Please don’t be so flippant about the company going down. We don’t need any more bad news during this trying time. Talk about the design, not your opinion.
After further reveiw,your site still lacks any style to it.
Aalso why do you continue to leave links to some things that are old & useless, ie: under clayton / metro Katrina General Stepping down/ after 11 months I believe he’s left the building, & 95 new high school coaches
begin practice, only 8 months old. WHO’S SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING THESE THING ?????
Oh that is what you call it….well if dumbing down the paper version was more of a shock after 35 years of subscribing to something not even big enough to lay in the bottom of my birdcage….this is not a surprise because WHOMEVER is making decisions over there doesn’t know what the heck they are doing. I am canceling my paper and going with a real newspaper–the times or even gasp usa today.
This resembles more of an amateur college paper. But then again. That probably is fitting. You used to be a great paper, did you lay everyone off???? and now ith a staff of two you are pretending to have a paper?
Hi guys,
Not bad, I can get used to it, BUT the blogs are too hard to find. May want to consider putting them as an option in the top bar (not just under “entertainment”).
Fool with your layout all you want, but please show some discipline in your headline writing “Branake: Stimulus would help economy” is not what the Fed chairman said. As quoted in the first paragraph of the story, he said “could help”, as long as his other suggestions were implemented. Was this an oversight, or propaganda? Hard to tell with the AJC, new logo or not.
I do not find this format pleasing or any easier to use. I find it cluttered and totally uninteresting. It reminds me of the drab Chicago Suntimes and the New York Times. Lifeless. Where has all the southern heritage gone.
I like the new format- cleaner and easier to use. Only thing I am not sure about is the logo- Why don’t you go back to the old one? It had more “class” and distinction, in my opinion.
This design does not not look good at all. It’s not attractive to the eye at all and makes me think of a website designed for pre-schoolers, Please change it immediately!
Love the new layout. It was long overdue. Kudos to your web team for making such a bold change. As with everything people hate change and unfortunately the majority or web users adapt to this change very slowly but be proud of your new website and don’t worry about all the complainers. They will soon forget AJC.com was ever any different.
BIG step backward! Site is busier than it was before in my opinion; old site was much simpler to navigate and stood out among other news sites that I have seen. Now AJC.com looks worse and like other newpapers sites, staid, busy, navigation-difficult and like any other newsite. But why ask us what we think? You’re not going to change it anyways (though you should change it back).
I’m glad you went back to the straight drop-down menus. Previously highlighting ‘Sports’ and then having to mouse down and left or right to choose ‘Hawks’, etc was a pain — if you moused over adjacent categories (easy to do on a laptop with a touchpad) you lost your place and had to go back and start over.
I think it’s great that you “manned” this blog to help readers navigate. Very nice service.
It was probably a BAD idea to post the question/blog on the first day. It appears most people can’t find things – that’s to be expected with a rearrangement. We also know that a lot of people just don’t adapt well to anything different.
IMO, the site is fine… I read it today actually not even knowing it was a redesign (I did find it less cluttered), and I did notice after 17 years the link to “Would you name your child Exxon, Peach, or Texaco” is FINALLY gone from the home page.
I must agree with the others though. Whoever thought that logo was representative of the paper, this era, or a city like Atlanta was way off. That logo is real, real tired.
Nice enough, I guess. Why spend the money to change it? In my next life, I want to be a consultant convincing companies to change things so that they can be…changed. Not necessarily better, just changed
Let’s all vote with our fingers. Just like the changes a few months ago to the mobile web site, I waited 1 week, went back and it had not reverted back, so I deleted AJC from my bookmark bar. AJC relented and it came back.
I will check back in one week and if it is the same, I will delete it from the bookmark bar. I went cold turkey to the AJC 2 years ago after getting it for almost 30 years. You removed the sections of the paper I liked to read.
If I had a HS student in Digital Media turn in something like this, their grade would be “below” average.
This is terrible – does it have all the bells and whistles on it yet? The NY Times site is white, and it doesn’t look this wimpy. I just redid my blog, and at this point, there’s not much difference between the two – which means that you guys have lost some juice, because I should be able to instantly tell that some professional level graphic designers have been at work here.
The logo is as bad as that Izzy thing that was promoted as the Olympic mascot.
Can we get some swagger back into the logo? Some sharpness? Some design sense that evokes the hand of a mighty corporate news behemoth, rather than the efforts of a teenager tooling around with the Adobe software he got for Christmas?
I know damn well you’re not going to give the VP who spearheaded this sh&t a bonus, unless its a bus pass for him and his family to get out of town. This is the FLAGSHIP paper in your enterprise – how could you do this to your readers?
We’re missing one MAJOR component here … a DIRECT link to The (Metro) Vent from the home page! In fact, the Vents should be their own drop-down menu item under Entertainment or Opinions … just make it EASIER to find The Vent quickly! Otherwise, I like the simplified structure!
It looks like you’re trying to compete with the big boys…and doing a poor job of it. C’mon guys. Be the local newspaper that you are and stick with what you know. Bad design, bad banner ad placement, horrible logo. Nuff said.
The new web page loads much faster – and “gone” is that stupid ad that blocked half my screen for the first minute the page was open. This is an overall improvement.
I’m digging it. It’s not as busy and is easier on the eyes. It didn’t take as long load on my screen, either. I’m lukewarm on the logo, simply because it’s rather dull. You could use a tad more color, though.
Your newly designed home page demonstrates that not all change is necessary or effective. The overall appearance is unappealing and forgettable. Please think this through more carefully and give us something more creative and visually appealing!
Typical Atlanta style….bland, no real identity, the only one in the place that thinks it looks good, and is scared silly by true cities like NYC, Chicago, and LA.
Uninspired logo, too little content, no real organization to the page. This new design is not an improvement, and I am spending less time navigating the site as a result of it.
Not sure why you felt the need to change your site but it is now extremely difficult to read. I don’t like the changes at all. At least give us some contrast so it will be easier to read.
I visited the AJC site several times a day and knew exactly where to find the info I needed. Now I can’t find a thing… I don’t like it at all. Its not about making changes its about making changes that make sense. This does not make sense to me.
I really like the new format! Simple and less flashy is definitely the way to go. Looks like your serious about information and less about eye candy banners and blinking advertisements. Thanks!!!! I’ll continue my subscription!
i like the new format very much. i think if the people who don`t like it would open their minds to change, and sit back, exhale and be patient. they too will find that there is always some new way to open the mind whenever we view something `different`. it`s all about how you open your mind to `change`.
peace, lafae
Nope. My very first comment when the page opened ” I hate this new page”. Plain, boring, nothing special. It does look like webmaster101. Is this another sign of the economic times? I’ll go to MyFoxAtlanta.com.
I think the new homepage design is a step down from where you were. It’s much harder to find key news items. Not user friendly and way less attractive. You’ve butchered your logo with the graphic treatment around it.
I guess I will get used to it. Seems like something is missing. Please get rid of the drop down adds on the front page, very annoying. Change will happen but this seems a bit too plain. Maybe that’s a good thing.
This format is too BRIGHT and not comfortable to read. I usually read ajc.com early in the morning and late at night. The new format is like an overexposed picture, or a SLAP in the face! Also – it appears very similar to CNN.COM, the old format was unique and colorful. The new format is stark and plain. THUMBS DOWN!
I don’t mind the new look. What I mind is meaningless headlines. Nobody cares that Madonna’s dog died except for Madonna’s dog and it died. Seriously, put up some real news on those headlines.
Well it seems that Atlanta has spoken!!!!! It gives me hope that this city has some style…so substance.
Sadly the people in charge need to either – die off, leave for Alabama, or just quit whatever job they have.
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS A REAL NEWSPAPER. we need a paper that honors the past and looks foward to the future, all the while making any changes WITH CLASS… THOUGHT AND REAL TASTE.
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS REAL ARCHITECTURE!!!!!!! Not this bullcrap cookie cutter Post, Gables, Psuedo McMansion crap. For example- Why would the developer of the new property going up at the base of Freedom Parkway and the Blvd ave. and hwy interchange be allowed to put up such a disgusting plain -Jane building?? Why did these idiots get approved???? This was an opportunity to create some amazing buildings that ADDED to the Atlanta skyline that is so stunning in that area. ALL OF ATLANTA’S POSTCARDS SHOW THIS AREA!!! Why did not one INSIST this be designed by an award winning noted designer??? SHAME ON ATLANTA!!!!!
ATLANTA NEEDS TO BE A CITY THAT HAS PUBLIC ART!!!! I have never seen a “city” so devoid of art!!!! Does this place have NO CULTURE?????!!!!!
From now on any project exceeding 2 million $$$$ needs to have 100k in public art factored in… this art needs to be approved by a panel of Atlanta’s taste-makers…NOT some old crusty losers that think that STUPID FAKE ARCHWAY at Atlantic Station is art… what a joke!!!
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS A REAL NITE-LIFE!!!!! Why is this city so damn boring???!!!!! Tourists have NO REASON to come here!!!!! That WACK Cenntenial park?? LOL That wack, WACK world of COKE? That WACK Aquarium?? The Underground?? LOLOL
STOP MAKING IT HARD FOR PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS OWNERS WHO WANT TO OPEN UP BARS, CLUBS AND STORES A HEADACHE!!!!
SELL LIQUOR AND BEER ON SUNDAY!!!! Like REAL cities do!!
CLOSE CLUBS AT 3AM Like REAL cities do!!!!
GET A CLUE ATLANTA!!!!!!
WE NEED A REAL CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS HORRIBLE AJC LOGO AND LAYOUT IS EXACTLY THE SAME STUPID SIMPLETON THINKING THAT HOLDS THIS CITY BACK.
(and no…… I’m NOT moving back to NYC… so don’t waste your breath!) LOL
The new layout is just fine. A lot of the major newspapers are going for the new streamlined appearance (and for those of you that are surprised that this happened so soon, the AJC sent out that survey MONTHS ago – I received the survey and the additional information related to content last year).
Yes, the look and a lot of the features and functions have moved, but do you complain when a shopping site changes how it looks? Oh, a shopping site doesn’t have a blog where you CAN complain. You just have to be able to navigate to an area that LOOKS like what you want. I don’t think that this is SO bad that you just stop pulling up the website. Are you gonna go and start picking up the physical paper? The one that most of you can’t stand? Get over yourselves. The AJC made a business decision, one that most forward thinking companies make to keep up w/ the times. The old layout was a bit dated; it’s been in service for more than a few years. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to view it, but I challenge you to find another local site w/ the coverage that ajc.com provides.
The new format does make it easier to find what I read AJC for (state news, esp politics), but I don’t like the new logo and AJC website is still more like People magazine than a substantive newspaper.
…blah, dull, drab, non-descript, ordinary, mundane, awful, terrible, sucks, crappy, and did i mention blah? please, go to the new york times, la times or chicago sun times for inspiration. this design does absolutely nothing for me. it’s an embarassment to all those who call atlanta home. please change it. thanks, JiMiFLiX!
AJC? Ummm….are we selling soda pop or reporting news here? The logo looks like it belongs on a soda pop cap. I love the new menu,,,but the old design and old logo was much better.
If your designers were looking for an ‘about face’ for the spread, they achieved it. However, as a long time reader and lifetime resident, I have always associated the AJC with a classier more refined look. This one will take a LOT of getting used to.
This looks like something that my granddaughter who is 11 years old could have done. Who is so desperate for job security decided to
do something so childish and unprofessional. Making changes just
for the sake of change just to make sure you justify your job is
outright pitiful.
i don’t like the new logo either – it’s throwback hp with ‘ajc’ letters in the middle instead. the font is very juvenile/whimsy. branding didn’t get this right.
Great change! I would like to offer a couple of improvements. Please add more babes in short skirts & bikini’s, and an expanded sports section – then it would be perfect! Change is good!
I guess the AJC has joined the “CHANGE” bandwagon eh? I am not sure I like the new format…but in time it will grow on me. Will the print version format change as well? Is this a way to cut costs? I can’t even find my favorites…Metro section, horoscopes etc. I have to hunt & peck to find what I want. Don’t particularily like it…but it’s free so I login, read what I want to read and log back out…nothing to get too bent out of shape about. Don’t sweat the small stuff people.
I like the new format but I have also noticed lately that there have been frequent grammatical errors. For example, the Obama link reads Obama wants “reamining” 350B bailout money. There have been numerous other stories that have one or more errors and I know everyone makes mistakes but there should be much more scrutiny when it comes to print.
The old format was much easier to navigate and stood out much better. Makes me wonder why you changed it. Hope you did not pay too much for someone to come up with a lesser option than what you had.
Can you add the ability to comment on your stories. Maybe even offer suggestions for additional stories so you can become a mainstream player again.
It breaks my heart that the logo changed. The AJC logo always has been bold and powerful. The new logo? Soft and fluffy, totally dismissive of the history of this once-great newspaper.
As for the layout … I actually like the white space and some of the reorganization. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get past the changing of the logo.
If there ever was a doubt whether or not this paper still covered Dixie like the dew, this new logo answers that question more definitely than any words ever could.
Dont give a hoot about the layout of the webpage. Im more interested in the content, which still SUCKS!!! Still reads like a cross between USA Today and STAR magazine.
hey you guyz, stop dissin the new logo, Bristol worked at it for like……over an hour!
shes be commisioned to redesign that gold topped building you guyz got downtown!
she’s gonna have it painted Bratz Pink! you betcha!
I’d have to agree with some of the other posts regarding the logo. We can do better than that. Probably a result of design by committee.
Otherwise, though, I think this is very good work. You’ve stuck to solid grid, you have a good footer that’s packed with consistent global navigation, and the main navigation at the top is very good and makes it easier to get get anywhere with minimal clicks. The typeface is airy enough and readable for the older crowd. The sliding ‘Inside the AJC’ feature is nice also — clean and easy to use. For a newspaper, a clean layout is more important than eye popping design, and you — like the New York Times Online — have taken a good step in the right direction.
Whoever did the new logo is NOT smarter than a 5th grader! Very disappointed with the new logo – loss of identity with the faded, lighter blue vs the strong bold blue; all that history washed away. It’s hard to look at the logo seriously. For the headmast, I’d like to see some background color used. That along with the old logo would give it an immediate and strong presentation! The font is easy on the eyes. The basic layout is better organized.
Nothing wrong with change, however, this format puts me in the mind of a blog as opposed to a news periodical. If I didn’t know the AJC I wouldn’t think that this was the city newspaper. I might think it some offshoot type of site like accessatlanta.com. My feeling is that this is a newspaper and therefore you should let it be known that you are just that in your logo.
Did that dude say “don’t sweat the small stuff”???
Hey Bubba –
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid looking yellow bridge across 75/85.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid slogan “everydays opening day-ATL”.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid community around Atlantic Station.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid Atlantic Station!!!
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid GW Bush.
– I wish Obama was our Mayor.
I don’t like it. It’s very genetic. The other format was the AJC that I was familiar with. Even though it was “busier” I didn’t mind it because it reminded me of the print edition. Looking for a new home page as we speak.
What about a tab for Arts and Culture…? Your reduced coverage and visual arts reviews are really hurting you among folks I talk to in the arts community, as AJC becomes less read…there’s so much going on locally, in large AND smaller venues; we want to read about it, and see images…
Without all the dramatics, I also agree that the new ajc logo looks too much like HP and seems uninspired. I do think, however, that the site is crisp, clear, and it doesn’t stand out (in a good way). I like that it’s heavy on text with images lightly interspersed. I agree with others that the drop down ads are annoying, but I have been tuning it out since the first time I saw them.
For the love of God, could someone correct the spelling of “remaining”, under the heading politics and transition, it was mentioned 20 mins. ago. There’s a nifty thing called spell check someone might want to look into.
Like the layout – the logo mimics the old HP logo too much – plus it doesn’t give the AJC a ’serious paper’ appeal against the other big ones. The logo looks kinda like a gossip site. The page is perfect, the items easy to find, just feel the logo isn’t ‘professional’ enough in a world class market!
Rest assured that your feedback will be taken seriously when you refer to the design as ‘genetic’. This is why aptitude tests ought to be prerequisite to the right to vote.
Sorry guys. For a world-class publication in a world-class city, I find this new look a bit simplistic, juvenile, and magazine-like. At first glance it appears too colorful and not a good package for hard news. Sorry but you asked!
I really like the new logo – gives weight to the fact that more people are getting their news online & online readership is going to drive business decisions & revenue not print production. The rest of the site really looks like a re-skin more than a redesign because my eyes go to where I’m used to seeing things (breaking news, images, etc) and I easily find what I’m looking for and expect to see. Nice job!
New logo looks like a cheap rendition of HP logo. They may not appreciate their corporate logo being copied so badly. Liked the old format better even though it was too busy. It at least looked like there was more substance to it. The new one looks washed out. A decent high school student could have done about as good. Very disappointed in the effort especially with all the decent web designers out there.
Did you get the money to do this be alienating all of your readers in the North Georgia that you stopped delivering the paper to to save money?? Idiots…
I like the clean design of the homepage. Easy to read. The logo is very weak though. I think the AJC needs a very powerful dynamic logo that everyone recognizes like the NYT. I do like to read the online “Print Edition.” I miss holding a real paper in my hand but convenience, ease and costs make this not reasonable. I wish the Print and Online Editions matched verbatim. I also hope that the AJC recognizes what they have lost in shrinking their delivery area so severely. Lots of people love the AJC around Georgia and they no longer get it. Like my Mother, only 1.5 hours drive from downtown ATL. I even heard of a man selling the AJC out of the back of his truck so people could get it in the hinterlands. I think the use of the word “footprint” for circulation territory is a PR nightmare. Very insensitive. The AJC has been a part of people’s lives for many years before some of the punks that work there were born. The other Georgia is important. Not just some metro counties, despite the costs of delivery. I live in Midtown Atlanta and only read the paper online so that is fine for me. The AJC always needs to be truly customer service oriented and that will solve the problem. Keep at it!!
Please stop screwing with the comics. I don’t want anything dropped or changed. Color is great for Sunday, but totally not necessary for weekdays. You had it right, but just had to “fix it”.
I get links on the net from all over the place concerning news article from different media sources (i.e. radio, newspaper, and TV sites). My biggest complaint is having to search for the state or nation of the source of the article on the net. I live in the Atlanta area so I know it the largest newspaper in Georgia, but I could not find anywhere that said it was in the state of “Georgia”. I doubt anyone with basic geography knowledge would not know the newspaper is in Georgia, but mapquest does list 10 different cities of Atlanta in the United States. Regardless, I think the AJC would like to be considered a major news source in Georgia unless the cuts in circulation to rural areas of Georgia meant that the AJC was going to try to disown most the state.
I CAN BE CONTACTED THRU THE EMAIL SUPPLIED HERE AND HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH YOU USING MY VERSION FOR A NOMINAL DESIGN FEE ($300) AND CREDITOF ITS CREATION. As you may notice in my redesign I was very aware of the historical feel of the spelled out version, I feel usage of this is important when a serious, “journal-istic” feel is wanted. The sleek AJC font is meant to convey the future, modern world we are speeding towards. The circle is symbolic of 285 and gives the ability to “stamp” or brand when needed. The colors are a bit bolder than that thing at the top of this page. Atlanta needs to be viewed by the world as BOLD, NEW and Cutting Edge.
it’s a bad knockoff of the chicago tribune. check it for yourself chicagotribune.com. while you’re there, check out some of the articles. the writers at the ajc could learn a thing or two about writing from the trib. and the editors too–some papers, online or print, catch spelling and grammatical errors.
The logo font is too thin and there is no focal point. The logo is a weak generic design with a very bland color. The website overall is not as easy to use as the old one and many people are going to have to reset their fonts in order to even read the site. So WHY?
I love the new look and feel but miss the easy access to the Metro section from the header. Your readers want news from their home counties without having to hunt for it. Put METRO back on top. Otherwise… kudos on the new design. Well done.
Please do not keep this boring, uninspired and utterly lackluster design. I makes it hard to return to the site. Design is supposed to draw the reader in, visually communicate something grand, tell the reader what they can expect. In short, it should make the reader want to read. This design fails miserably. It looks like a logo for an upstart soap company. I admonish you to reconsider. It’s a graphically a disaster. Remember New Coke? Change is good when it’s inspired, and there is nothing about this that says inspiration. It’s a do-over.
Ugg-leeee. And I agree wholeheartedly with the comments that the new “trendy” logo is a pointless – no, stupid – effort to distance the site from one of the proudest journalistic traditions in America. People turn to a newspaper website, rather than Joe’s News Blog, because of the history and gravitas of that institution. Did the new publisher have something to do with this lunacy?
Sorry don’t like it. We check the site often and it just seems to much to me now. Something is just not right, sometimes less is more. Also all the pop up adds and moving adds are a little to much. All we want is to read the news. I don’t mind change, when it’s for the better. Cannot say this is better, Sorry!
The design or color makes no difference to me. However, I am yet to find Rick Badie’s blog or any of the others. I have searched for a long time. I can not waste any more of my time looking.
I like the direction you are going (simplified), but I think you need to simplify even more. I don’t like the new logo…but the logo doesn’t really matter to me. Thank you for making the top banner expansion optional.
My suggestion would be to allow users to customize the layout to their liking (like http://my.yahoo.com and http://igoogle.com). Otherwise, you will never satisfy a majority of readers.
I agree with Curt. Adopting a logo that matches your URL makes sense, however to abandon the traditional masthead script is short-sighted. Minimally, you should have kept “The Atlanta Journal Constitution” script across the top, that’s your brand, or do you wish to deny it? The clean look of the rest of the home page is refreshing and simple.
I don’t like the new format because I can’t find the “Question and Answers” section. It may seem trivial, but I always looked for to reading that section to learn something new.
Hate it! It is very boring and plain. The site looks like it has been left in the sun too long and has washed out all the color! And the new logo really is very bland and washed out as well. I can understand making changes, but this was too drastically in the wrong direction. I also agree about the ads when you first log on-HATE THEM!!
Get rid of the pop-up commercials on the front page. They always take away from the headlines, and are a pain to eliminate. Annoying your readers is not the best thing to do.
I’m not as concerned about the color of the page or the logo as much as others seem to be. What concerns me is content and navigation. Thus far it seems much easier to get around, less cluttered, and the pages seem to load faster. These things I like. I’m fine with the new logo and honestly was fine with the old logo. I haven’t noticed a change in content.
The opinion page needs it’s own section on the navigation bar. It was much easier to get to the opinion section on the old site. It is also misleading and ironic to put opinion under news.
I do not like the new format. The new logo is just plain. It does not stand out at all. The ads are thee only things that pop. The news articles are lost on the ads.
Love the new logo and the larger type and clean layout. Would love to see more feature material from Catherine Fox, Pierre Ruhe, Bo Emerson and Jim Auchmutey. They are such good writers, but don’t appear enought in print. Please use their talents more and more. Can only help your circulation.
I am not crazy about the look of the redesign, the drop down menus take up too much screen space and are no match to the previous dynamic menu bars. Most of all, the new ajc.com appears to be much slower than before, it times out all the time which it never did before. GET A BETTER WEB SERVER, OR, GET A BETTER WEB DEVELOPER…
My first reaction upon loading the new page was to double check the headlines of the news stories to see if they were current. The page, or maybe it was that logo, struck me as so 2003. Literally, it looked as tired as your editorial stance.
I think your money would have been better spent replacing your editorial staff (pretty much the entire staff with the exception of Jim Wooten) and bringing in some decent, and honorable, people to assist Mr. Wooten in a true message of hope, and compassion.
Oh well, absent such improvement to your blatently obvious, unapologetic, hate filled, elitist editorial bias, I will continue to visit the Vents (assuming I can find them each day) and nothing else.
The worst part on this online edition is that I can not wrap day old fish, of the kid’s soiled diaper in it.
The new format is horrible. No info, no news, just a list of headlines. NO content — much like the printed portion of the paper. Most of your experienced, best reporters and writers have been laid off, and it shows in superficial coverage and thinner papers. But hey, color comics!!! That certainly helps. Every day there is less and less reason to read you — on line or in print. As a former journalist, and a long time resident of Atlanta I am deeply saddened by this decline.
I like the new layout. The flow of information on the page is easier to read, and the page seems brighter without all the graphics the prior layout had.
I do agree with the other poster that the huge ad that shows when you load a page is annoying.
As for the logo, it’s about brand recognition. The average person feels comfortable with something familiar in the midst of something new, so you may want to consider changing that portion back to the original.
If you must use my name, pls. use only first name. Re new format, the home page is too cluttered, there’s no link for the Vent, & who cares about celebrity over indulgences?
Your new logo is really not attractive. The two colors, the serif font,it’s way too busy – what were you thinking? It’s very “old” looking, not in a good way.
How do I find Cynthia Tucker’s & other’s editorials?
Is there another online AJC newspaper in addition to this site?
The AJC has preserved the freedom of all of us by being a statewide and nationwide government watchdog providing a check and balance to politician’s excesses.
I am concerned that this will be lost due to cancelling statewide delivery.
The site improvements are fine. It’s the content that’s lacking. OLD, out of date reviews, especially of restaurants that are now closed is ridiculous. If you can’t update a review in 4 or 5 years what good is it. I understand every restaurant can’t be constantly updated, but don’t act like your information is somehow relevant because a writer made a couple of comments about a place in 2004.
We rely greatly on our users to let us know when a restaurant is closed (or newly opened). As often as restaurants open and close in a metro area of this size, it’s the only realistic way we can offer what we do. So please do tell us! We want this to be an environment where you can recommend, review and exchange information with fellow users. Thank you for your input — we appreciate hearing from you.
I consider myself to be a Republican. Conservative and Libertarian at the same time. I sometimes find Jimm Wooten to be too far Right. I oftentimes find Jay Bookman to be too far Left.
There are times I could agree with both gentlemen.
Yet, I don’t see the bias that evidently quite a few readers see. Because I get my news from more than one source. And, I think, I have enough intelligence to form my own opinion with out any reporting bias (real or perceived) influencing it.
Tucker only writes one day a week now. Is she going back to two days a week? Once a week is plenty for her slanted views. Wooten is retiring and you are stating that he is still working once a week. Is this true?
With Barr once a week, Wooten once a week and the new columnist 3 times a week, you are still not balanced. Bookman blogs daily and if Tucker now writes twice a week along with the constant left leaning editorial cartoons, there is no balance. To balance this, you need two conservative columnists and another editorial cartoon.
The most biased part of the editorial page are the left leaning drawings of Luckovich. You need a more conservative editorial cartoonist to balance his left leaning scribbles. I would suggest a syndicated cartoonist such as Michael Ramirez from the Investors Business Daily.
I quit a 10+ year subscription to the AJC due to its far-left positions on all issues. Cynthia Tucker is the biggest racist in the entire metroplex. The AJC wouldn’t have to make all these cuts if they just reported the news and didn’t interject its political and racist philosophies. You want to increase subscriptions? Maybe look at successful publications like the Wall Street Journal. Learn from your fallen leftist rags like the Denver paper and the LA Times.
I agree that the paper is too liberal and seems to be trying to appeal more to one racial group and that is exactly the reason why I quit subscribing years ago. Balanced coverage…equal parts liberal and conservative, black and white, would make a difference in my considering another shot at subscribing. In order for the AJC to make a run at staying in print, you need to appeal to a broader base…..Business 101, anybody?
Perhaps another reason for a dive in subscriptions is that, for example, the editor writes things like “None of these choices HAS been easy”. It’s HAVE been easy nimrod. The AJC’s English is typically awful.
A lot of folks (in GA, at least) perceive bias as anything that does not agree with their opinion. I think the AJC has a balance, but, even as someone pretty liberal, there has been a tendency, IMHO, to the left side of the equation. It would be nice to have a mix of liberal/conservative in all sorts of ways. For example, liberal in social policy but conservative in economics–those do exist.
As for me, I have to drive 100 miles roundtrip now to get the AJC (I don’t do that), or squint at the print on a computer screen. I am not a happy camper about that. IMHO, the AJC, as Georgia’s premier newspaper, owes something to us in the hinterlands as well. The local paper is a weekly, filled with advice from preachers and the ag economist, as well as the vet. I can get a paper from Chattanooga, but not from Atlanta, and I live closer to Atlanta!
I totally appreciate the albeit late response from the AJC and the willingness to afford change in their approach to bringing us the news. I wish these changes had been prompted more by a desire to be fair and balanced than a reaction to economic conditions but I’ll take this anyway. For a mighty long time the AJC has slipped down the path of liberalism and bias in their reporting and quite frankly lost the respect of many. Without real competition in the Atlanta market, the AJC has been allowed to go their own way because readers had no other substantial choices. Only now, with the economic times, does the AJC see the benefit of trying to appeal to all of its potential readers. Like I said, it’s a late but welcomed change. I look forward to seeing these changes unfold in the near future. It is my hope the AJC has once again realized its position in the city and in the state and in the south and will focus on delivering the news in an unbiased and credible manner. I’ve been disappointed in the focus and the content of the AJC in the past but will embrace changes towards fair and unslanted coverage if those changes truly materialize.
Tom–none means not one. Not one of these choices HAS been easy. If they had chosen more than one choice, it would be have. Of these choices is a prepositional phrase, not the subject of the verb. Geez!
Just to clarify on questions from “Carter is a fool.”
By July 1, Our new columnist will blog. Wooten will continue to blog and will write a once a week column. Tucker will return to twice a week. So… by the numbers (and columnists are tough to categorize and play a straight numbers games)… We will have the new columnist, Wooten and Barr for five columns a week; and Bookman and Tucker for four columns a week. You raise a good point on Luckovich. Our op-ed page editor has added more conservative syndicated cartoonists in recent months. I hope you’ve noticed.
Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
9:29 am
Tucker only writes one day a week now. Is she going back to two days a week? Once a week is plenty for her slanted views. Wooten is retiring and you are stating that he is still working once a week. Is this true?
With Barr once a week, Wooten once a week and the new columnist 3 times a week, you are still not balanced. Bookman blogs daily and if Tucker now writes twice a week along with the constant left leaning editorial cartoons, there is no balance. To balance this, you need two conservative columnists and another editorial cartoon.
The most biased part of the editorial page are the left leaning drawings of Luckovich. You need a more conservative editorial cartoonist to balance his left leaning scribbles. I would suggest a syndicated cartoonist such as Michael Ramirez from the Investors Business Daily.
I read your “The path ahead for AJC” article. I wish your market research people would have contacted me as I would have given them some advice.
If you want to sell papers, first get in touch with your readers.
For example: in the Living Section artical: “Dozens of ways to stretch your dollars,” many of the restaurants are ridiculously priced such as the Melting Pot $25 dollar fondue dinner and $5 drink specials. Exactly which group you are catering to with these so-called dining dollar stretchers is beyond me. Why not stick to the very companies that use ads and coupons within your own paper for promotion such as the Logans Roadhouse which is underneath Ecco $44 for two?
Next: Technology. In this high tech age, it seems that Husted’s column is ever-shrinking. I am not a big fan of his writing per se, but wake up AJC as this is the internet age. When I do manage to find information such as web sites that may be a benefit, it was worth the five minute read.
Oh but we have the homefinder! like anyone is actually looking for a home right now and a “Caribbean outpost in Cobb. Where is the beneficial news and information there? Perhaps a couple years ago before the bottom fell out of the economy it would have been a good article.
For now, my advice is to focus on the “news” and information that may benefit your readers and help them through these tough times. At this point the only reaon I may keep my subscription is for the wife and her coupons unless I can talk her into the savings difference from the price of your paper.
One last thing, in case you did not know, the metro area expands beyond Cobb, Gwinnett, Fulton, Clayton and Dekalb Counties. “Paulding County” seems to be featured in your paper only when there is a homicide which may be once or twice a year.
I doubt you will consider my offerings to any degree, as this paper has always seemed to be ignorant of the people who subscribe but since this is the only major paper, I thought I would give it s a shot.
Regards,
Lenny
This may come across as petty compared to the liberal vs. conservative debate. I have noticed how many stories on-line have missing words or typo’s. I would estimate it to be running at about half the articles. In my view, you lose some credibility when you can’t even put out a story with fully correct spelling, good sentences, and no typos. I really don’t know what the rate is for the print edition. I rarely read the AJC that way. But it is really disappointing to be reading along and have to figure out what word the writer left out and what was really meant.
Have you considered recycling all the AJC papers that people read and then throw away? How many tons of paper would that be, do you think? There would need to be several convenient locations of course, for people to drop their papers off. I know that there are large dumpsters at several schools, etc., but would it make a difference if the AJC were doing it’s own recycling? Probably not cost effective!
Lenny… Thanks for your comments. Even though you weren’t in the market research… you reflect much of what we heard. People want news. They want us to play the role of watchdog in the community (read Alan Judd’s story today on peanut inspections). On Sunday, they want us to be a bit more thoughtful and explain the “why” behind the news (James Salzer’s story on Georgia legislators’ personal financial problems; the op-ed piece today by William Egart, a flight safety instructor from McDonough). And they want us to help them live their lives. In homefinder, you’re right, we need to find a balance. Stories about beautiful homes remain popular. I suppose it’s a welcome break from these tough economic times. Those are some of most clicked-on photo galleries on ajc.com. However, there are many people facing much more serious home issues, and we need to provide that information as well.
All you need to do is look at the total staff of the editorial page. Wooten has been the only voice of the conservatives. Every one else is a radical liberal, lead by one of the most radicals in the country. Who is she going to surround herself with….moderates??? This paper serves the community at large, but it has a decided slant in both it’s reporting, editorials, and ‘that issue that makes white Americans cowards’.
I read on Page A-3 in your article from Julia Wallace how the paper was going to start proof reading to stop bias. I turn to the next page and read an article titled “President says recovery not certain this year”, only to see true liberal bias. The article states how Obama is going to “redistribute wealth from about 3 million elite familes to forgotten lower and middle classes.” A non bias paper would have said upper income to lower income, and left out the true liberal bias, class warfare word of elite and forgotten. This is why the AJC is a Liberal paper losing readers, and having to sell the sunday paper on the corner for $1.00.
You say you want my business. I have been a reader for over 25 years.
Now each week, I hear that this or that is being cut from the paper. Today my Sunday paper did not arrive until 9:30. The excuse was that the truck was late. I will say the same thing to you that I stated to your representative who I waited almost 10 minutes to speak with this morning, “Totally unacceptable”. I will be contacting a local paper for a subscription. Thank you and I am sorry that your newspaper no longer meets my needs.
So liberal editors are assigned to look for bias & balance. Good luck with that. You are in the business of public trust and you have lost it. I used to get the AJC at my office and at home. You lost my business several years ago.
Free advice on limiting content- cut your racial articles in half and you can add content. Your “all things have racial undertones, overtones, or bias” gets old very, very quickly.
Dear Ms. Wallace,
Thank you for the reply. I truly hope that these changes will bring more balance to the opinion section. For the online readers, we do not see the other political cartoons. This needs to be addressed.
David Hill’s comment about the bias in the stories is right on point. You need to look at this carefully as your reporters often makes these types of assertions.
Totally liberal view points!! Many of my friends now just get the Marietta Journal in Cobb. Used to get AJC, but now live in a different area. Also channels 2,5,11 are totally controlled by left wing! Most need to learn to read many different sources and then draw their own opinion, but don’t do it.
The AJC has always been in the tank for the left, and no amount of cosmetics will change that fact. The reason? Name one journalism school which is even slightly conservative.
A few years ago the AJC dropped O’reilly and Ringwald columns in an attemp to bring what was said at the time to bring balance to the editorial page. What I saw was a further down hill slide. How about just printing the truth and you won’t have to worry about being liberal or conservative or is that asking too much from the AJC.
Dear Ms. Wallace:
Although I appreciate the AJC’s efforts to offer balanced reporting, you do need to realize that those so-called conservatives who resort to name calling and yelling will never subscribe to the paper, anyway. They use terms such as “radical Liberals” while portraying themselves as thoughtful conservatives. David Hill (above) laments as “liberal” a statement in an article that says Obama’s plan “redistributes wealth from about 3 million elite families to forgotten lower and middle classes.” Actually, Obama’s plan gives a tax break to 98% of Americans, while letting a huge tax break for 2% of the very highest wage earners expire. You don’t see that in many articles, and cannot be described as a “redistribution of wealth” – but apparently, some people see this as an example of liberal bias. My point is that you will never, ever, make these right-wing complainers happy, unless you ask Rush Limbaugh to write your entire paper for you. Please keep the mix of columnists that you have. We live in a state that is dominated by Republicans whose idea of consumerism is to give a mammoth fee increase to Georgia Power. We need the excellent voices of Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman, and of the Atlanta Journal Consititution, more than ever. Don’t give in.
You seem to be trying to admit that the AJC has a strong liberal slant but just can’t quite get yourself say it. For example, Wooten is rarely mentioned without a descriptor of “conservative” or “right” but I can never remember you using “liberal” or “left leaning” when you refer to Bookman or Tucker. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
Ms. Wallace,
I read your comments in this morning’s paper and want to affirm the desire to take deliberate steps to address the bias issue. Like many of your readers, I was very disppointed in what appeared to me was a lack of balance in your news coverage and editorials. It was for this very reason that I failed to renew my subscription. I now purchase the paper only on Sunday to keep up with local advertising. Although I do not intend to resubscribe at this time I do want you to know I affirm your desire to provide balanced coverage.
I think that it is quite humorous that the AJC is failing and now is making a token attempt to appeal to conservatives to boost circulation! What happened to all of the Obama pandering during the campaign? Did it not give the paper the numbers that you thought it would?
As the AJC makes its selection of a new conservative columnist, please do your part not to fan the flames of culture war. Surely we’ve had enough self-righteous rhetoric and blind ideology to last us all a lifetime, and surely we’ve degraded what passes for civic discourse shamefully enough for all to agree that we owe both ourselves and posterity an honest attempt to be more responsible, more thoughtful, and more more worthy of respect. I would ask that you disqualify any columnist candidate who used the word “liberal” in his or her trial column. Newt Gingrich’s shamelessly Orwellian transformation of the word into an obscenity was foul enough in his day, and has by now become the hallmark of rigidly hostile, destructive, and frankly stupid discourse.
Please choose a conservative columnist who can make the case for his or her views without resorting to cheap straw-man counter-arguments, without ranting about fundamentally irrelevant far-fringe opponents, and without feeling compelled to oppose, regardless of its merits, any idea not already approved by the current dictators of far-fringe conservatism.
One can be more conservative than David Brooks and still make sense. One can be as serious as William Buckley and still be a real conservative. One can be a conservative and an actual patriot at the same time, determined to think, write, and speak in a way that is good for our country, that helps frame honest debate about critical issues, that encourages us to stop shouting and think. Faced with current proof of the bankruptcy of our lifestyles and our hyper-partisan politics, we cannot afford for a newspaper as important as the AJC is to its region to contribute any further to the breakdown of public civility and reason. A knee-jerk conservative partisan might generate strong, partisan reactions from your readers, but would we be better off? Would Atlanta be a better city for it? Would you be able to get along better with your neighbors, or expect more meaningful public conversation about the great issues and difficult solutions confronting us?
I suspect (and fervently hope) that a clear AJC decision to walk away from the culture wars, to publish points of view that clearly start from sense of shared responsibility, and to encourage its readers to work together to create a meaningful, sustainable community would actually be good for the paper’s long-term viability. We need the AJC to lead, and in doing so make its editorial page an indispensable agent of change for the better rather than just another place where the angry get angrier and the foolish feel confirmed.
I am new to this “conservative/liberal” stuff, I always was into the “Republican/ Democrat” divisions. All this seems silly. If we could stick to the truth, to the facts written in a neutral way, as for a factual school report then we could all, maybe, be happy. If opinions are needed in print, then they should be clearly labeled as such and your counting of bias makes sense. If we must read “factual” articles for bias then all facts are suspect. I would say that the paper needs to keep that old TV cop,Joe Friday, in mind and stick to “the facts, just the facts”…unless it is clearly stated that this is opinion. If all this brouhaha is about the two editorial pages of your relatively fat newspaper then we all involved in a tempest in a small teapot! After all, I, at least, read your paper for news facts, not for your collected opinions of it.
Sincerely, Joyce
You will have a tough time identifying liberal leanings when the survey is done by liberal leaning editors. The problem with perspective is that the statements are usually factually correct. Example: During the election Sarah Palin was usually referred to as “first-term Governor Sarah Palin”; I NEVER saw a reference to “first-term Senator Barack Obama.” It’s the same thing with congressmen who are suspected of improper behavior. Has anyone ever seen a reference to “Democrat Gary Condit”? Even during its proper targeting of Mayor Bill Campbell, did anyone ever see any reference to him being a Democrat? Contrast that with Republican Senator Larry Craig and Republican Senator David Vitter. AJC: It doesn’t have to be a lie to show bias.
This argument about bias is so stupid. This country is basically split 50-50 (or 45-45 with 10 being undecided). If you stop the so-called bias then you’ll alienate the 50% of liberal readers you have. Stopping the bias will only make it so that the conservatives are happy and the liberals are angry. That won’t help your circulation any (or very marginally since Georgia is a red state but only by 5 points). The problems with the decline in Newspapers in general is much deeper than the bias argument. And to all the conservatives who are going to chew me out I would like to point out the entry about The Washington Times on Wikipedia. Surely we can agree that the Washington Times is not biased. The Times has lost money every year since it’s inception and has had nearly 2 billion dollars poured into it. All the while having only 1/7th the readership of the Washington Post.
Bill asks why we describe Wooten as an conservative, but don’t describe Bookman or Tucker as liberals. That’s a good point! We haven’t had anyone question where Bookman or Tucker stand on the political spectrum. We do however often hear people say that we have NO conservative columnists, so have pointed them toward Wooten and some of our regular conservative columnists like Krauthmammer. They see David Brooks as a liberal, because he writes for the New York Times. You know it’s more complicated than that. In some of the market testing, we did one version of the editorial page where every columnist was labeled. The readers rejected that, saying (appropriately) that not all opinion is so easily categorized.
The AJC needs to focus more on local stories. You can get national news, sports, ect., from a variety of sources online, yet the one area AJC can COMMAND remains the “redheaded stepchild.” You took an even bigger step backward by doing away with the zone coverage. Same with sports. Instead of covering more preps (seed-beds for future subscribers) you cut back.
And PLEASE, don’t reply with some kind of spin about how great you do local coverage. I READ the AJC everyday. I KNOW what you do.
The politically correct format of you newspaper/website is sickening. For example, every gay news story/issue is always put front and center on your website, and stays there for days. But unlike the Gwinnett Daily Post; the almost daily stories about rape, hit-and-run, drug running, home invasion, etc., carried out by the Hispanics in Gwinnett County are almost never reported by you. By the way, when are you going to enlighten your readership with a story about the tuberculosis epidemic in Gwinnett County, and the illegal aliens who are responsible for it?
Your pathetical PC policy of selectively publishing photos of defendants in crime stories also deserves mention. Two homegrown stories come to mind. In July, 2006, a Coca-Cola executive was arrested for attempting to sell trade secrets to Pepsi. When the story broke, you reported it without showing a photo of the perp. The story, w/perp photo, quickly went national, and about four days later, you were one of the last publications to add her photo to a story update, revealing to your readership that she was black. Talk about white liberal guilt!
By contrast, in January 2009, you reported (w/ no photos) about an Obama-supporting couple whose house was torched while they were on their way to his inauguration. Days later, when it was revealed that they were the prime suspects and subsequently arrested for arson, you put their photos front and center in your story update, revealing that they were white. Again, white liberal guilt in play here.
In closing, your publication is doomed. Your intellectually dishonest approach to news reporting will continue, in spite of your best efforts, because of your irrational aversion to the truth, and the twisted liberal logic that goes into your day- to-day editorial decisions.
I subscribed to the AJC 5 years ago when first moving to the Atlanta area as a way of getting to know this metro region. Besides being a news junkie, I always enjoyed reading newspapers and getting the facts of what is happening.
In that time, I have threatened to cancel my subscription several times only to clench my teeth and shake my head at the total lack of objectivity throughout the paper, not just the editorial pages. I can even stand Luckovich, if he was balanced on alternate days with an opposing view. Cythia Tucker……..well, she has done more harm to your paper than you seem to understand. Have you ever considered the demographics of your typical subscriber? They are not Cythia Tucker. To make a point, let me exaggerate the biased messages you are sending: 1), Atlanta is a well run crime free visitor mecca, 2), hip hop is God’s gift to the area, 3) Gay life style is celebrated and 4) individual responsibility is not important as long as the local, state and federal government are there to provide handouts. Exaggerated yes, but not by much.
My last 6 month’s subscription is coming due. This time, I will not renew. Despite past promises of fair reporting, it never happens. Nearly every change you make to the paper is a negative in one way or the other. Good objective investigative reporting is sadly lacking. It is time to use my laptop with my morning coffee……………
Ms. Wallace, it is true that not all opinion is “easily categoriezed”- but apparently “conservative” opinion is since it is always labled as such. I do think that having a base understanding of where the writer lies politically does help in understanding their perspective. The AJC agrees or they wouldn’t do with with Mr. Wooten 100% of the time. The likely reason your first effort at “labeling” was rejected is becuase you have largely alienated your conservative readers. I doubt very seriously you have enough of a conservative base left to offset how liberals feel when one of their own is labled. Us on the right are used to it.
I am white, Christian, Atlanta Public School educated, and a Georgia Tech graduate. One of my most valued and trustworthy partners is Black Muslim. Being fiscally conservative, socially liberal, I agree with most of the above comments. Not only is the news reporting slanted including the lead headlines and paragraphs, the liberal editorial headlines and opinions tend to be misleading and omit important facts. The AJC has created more bias and racism in the public through its publication.
I find it hard to believe that even Ralph Magill would approve of your editorial staff.
I don’t read a newspaper to get confirmation of my political views. If you are so twisted with hate that you want to conduct political warfare even in your newspaper choice, I feel sorry for you. I read Tucker and Wooten too. I watch CNN as well as Fox. I’m fully capable of weeding out the news from the slant. In fact, I don’t believe it’s possible to get a perspective on the news without looking at the media from both sides of the political spectrum.
However, I want the news primarily. I find such actions as completely reformatting the online version of the AJC to be not only unnecessary but also confusing. I don’t need to go on an Easter egg hunt to find my favorite features in the AJC.
Finally, I disagree with those who want even more local news in the AJC.
The newspaper has already become so parochial that it’s necessary to go elsewhere to find a full range of national stories. The front page consists almost entirely of Georgia coverage. The Metro section focuses on petty political squabbles within the 100 or jurisdictions in the area. Finally, the Sports section is so focused on the Georgia Bulldogs, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Atlanta Braves, and the Atlanta Falcons that it’s necessary to go elsewhere for national coverage. Why can’t the sports editors recognize that millions of people who’ve moved to Georgia aren’t very interested in which state players got arrested this week?
If the AJC wants to survive, it needs to become a national newspaper.
Judging from a large number of the comments by the conservatives, it is hard not conclude that they consider the AJC biased whenever the views expressed don’t match their own. That’s what makes the AJC a racist, liberal rag.
Georgia is a blood-red state so even middle-of-the-road comments smack of the dreaded liberalism to most conservatives no matter the level of reasoning in the article because they are so far to the right. Ask them about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and they’ll say they get it right most of the time. For such people there is no middle ground. There is only the demented Left and the patriotic, God-fearing Right.
Therein lies the dilemna for the AJC. Does the paper wish to continue its tradition of balanced reporting pointing out the good and bad about the Left and the Right from the high middle ground or will it become a cheerleader for the Hard Right?
The choice the AJC may be facing is between maintaining its integrity and boosting its sales. That will be a very difficult choice.
Frankly, though, most of the people I refer to would not subscribe to the paper because the have Rush Limbaugh to comfort them.
What the hard conservatives here will surely reject is that with the overall bias of reporting via TV (especially CNN and FOX) being very conservative (and often distorted), a more moderate voice is badly needed.
I’m not in such a forgiving or understanding mood as “Longtime subscriber”. How sad that wide-ranging decisions of such great import are being made based on your assertion that …”A few think we’re too conservative. But many more believe that our editorial pages are too liberal and that bias seeps into our news coverage. We have heard you on the bias issue and are taking deliberate steps to address this.” Count me in on the “few” who think you are too conservative (aside from your coverage of the local/state angle, do you ever stop and read the AP headlines/articles?). Why are you promoting Thomas Oliver (who I thought had been banished once before to outer Gwinnett for journalistic incompetence) for articles that encourage people to go out and buy handguns as they await the collapse of our society? Does your turn to the right mean we look forward to more like-minded tripe? I’ve never written to complain or comment (much unlike the conservative readers you regularly publish in “Letters to the Editor”), but now as budgets tighten I see no reason to continue to throw good money at the AJC as it gives greater content legitimacy to these factions. You are the journalists and the professionals and you should be making decisions based as to the accuracy, quality, and immediacy of the AJC and not based on whether you are being judged as “fair and balanced” on the content. Bottom-line, I realize you have to run the AJC as a business, but in the future you can count me in on the Atlantans who will cancel subscriptions based on your decision to kowtow to the very vocal and misguided right-wing base. Reading the obits and the comics will no longer be enough to entice me to renew my subscription.
I DO NOT LIVE IN GEORGIA, BUT READ THE AJC EVERY DAY ONLINE. YOU SEND ME ALL THE BREAKING NEWS ALONG WITH ALL THE REST. AS A DELTA RETIREE, I ESPECIALLY
LOVE YOUR COVERAGE OF DELTA AIRLINES. IT IS FIRST CLASS. IT HAS KEPT ALL OF
US WELL INFORMED THROUGH THIS BANKRUPTCY AND MERGER MESS.
NOW, IN MY OPINION, YOU ARE TOO LIBERAL. YOU HAVE TWO ON YOUR STAFF THAT MAKE ME CRINGE. CYNTHIA TUCKER’S COLUMN APPEARS IN OUR NEW ORLEANS PAPER TOO. HER WRITINGS ARE NOT FIT TO LINE THE BOTTOM OF A BIRD CAGE. THERE IS ALSO YOUR CARTOONIST LUCKOVICH. HE IS TALENTED, BUT LEANS WAY TOO FAR LEFT. HE WAS JUST AS BAD WHEN HE WAS WITH OUR LOCAL PAPER. I CAN’T SPEAK FOR ALL OF NEW ORLEANS, BUT MANY OF US DON’T MISS HIM AT ALL.
WE NOW HAVE A TALENTED AS WELL AS BALANCED EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, THANK YOU. I DO HOPE YOUR PAPER SURVIVES IN SPITE OF THESE TWO LEFTISTS!!!!
I used to subscribe and then quit for three reasons 1. It was much better when there were two papers, If you had the Journal and the Constitution again the more conservative one would bury the other. 2 When it came time to re-new, you automatically doubled, tripled or quadrupled the rate! 3. Too much left leaning editors, opinion articles, cartoonists and mega-maniac race-baters. Your subscribers are those who vote conservative in GA, you are losing these and the ad dollars that follow them. Your paper cannot survive on the liberal, and majority black south Atlanta metro area. THEY DONT SUBSCRIBE! You are the major paper in GA, outside of the 285 loop and south Metro, THEY VOTE CONSERVATIVE, they are conservative and whether you believe it or not, they are Atlanta and GA’s money base. They don’t want to be constantly bombarded by your liberal editors opinions and views on issues. Thats why they don’t subscribe or advertise. Even so called “non-bias” news media, must be operated as a business and cater to their customers. And but for a few exceptions (mid-town), the liberal, or majority in ATL minority, are not your customers. The liberal papers in LA and New York can survive because of their subscriber make-up, THE AJC CANNOT!!!
PS> Hey Vent Guy, and ONLINE Vent Guys; Since you won’t post this comment I’ll post it here!!
SEE WHAT HAPPENS ATLANTA, CLAYTON COUNTY, DETROIT, WASHINGTON DC, OAKLAND; WHEN YOU VOTE COLOR INSTEAD OF A PERSONS CHARACTER, INTEGRITY, EXPIERENCE AND ABILITY…..OR IF YOU VOTE FOR A PARTY INSTEAD OF A PERSON. ALL THESE ARE DEMOCRAT AND FAILING…..
I would like a response to having another cartoonist balance the scribblings of Luckovich for the online readers.
Here is another case in point as to bias. Cynthia Tucker writes glorifying Barney Frank who is most likely one of the people who should be held accountable for the economic mess we are in by his repeated assertions that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were solvent. He blocked the repeated attempts to overhaul these institutions and head off the coming problem.
I would like an answer to the cartoons for online readers.
CARTER IS A FOOL writes: Here is another case in point as to bias. Cynthia Tucker writes glorifying Barney Frank who is most likely one of the people who should be held accountable for the economic mess we are in by his repeated assertions that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were solvent. He blocked the repeated attempts to overhaul these institutions and head off the coming problem
____
This is just so much Hard Right propaganda. The policies that lead to the housing bubble very much belong to Mr. Bush who espoused home ownership as a means of building Republican majorities. Mr. Frank is on record as having warned that not everyone will have the income to own and that quality rental housing should be a priority. Mr. Bush’s policies originated during his first term when Mr. Frank was not chairman of the Congressional committee.
CARTER IS A FOOL’s comments illustrate the myopia afflicting so many. We’ve just finished eight years of Mr. Bush and we’ve had Mr. Obama for a month and a half yet the Hard Right is trying to pin all the fault for our economy on Mr. Obama. That’s why a moderate voice is needed so badly.
I totally appreciate the albeit late response from the AJC and the willingness to afford change in their approach to bringing us the news. I wish these changes had been prompted more by a desire to be fair and balanced than a reaction to economic conditions but I’ll take this anyway. For a mighty long time the AJC has slipped down the path of liberalism and bias in their reporting and quite frankly lost the respect of many. Without real competition in the Atlanta market, the AJC has been allowed to go their own way because readers had no other substantial choices. Only now, with the economic times, does the AJC see the benefit of trying to appeal to all of its potential readers. Like I said, it’s a late but welcomed change. I look forward to seeing these changes unfold in the near future. It is my hope the AJC has once again realized its position in the city and in the state and in the south and will focus on delivering the news in an unbiased and credible manner. I’ve been disappointed in the focus and the content of the AJC in the past but will embrace changes towards fair and unslanted coverage if those changes truly materialize.
Someone needs to say this out loud.
No matter how you reformat the paper,
reformulate your news content or
redesign your logo, Cynthia Tucker is
your “brand.’
If I want to read Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd or David Brooks, I’ll read The New York Times, not the AJC. While adding another local columnist is a step in the right direction, the commentary section needs to and should focus much more on local news, issues and problems that face metro Atlanta, not giving prime real estate to syndicated columnists from elsewhere due to a lack of printable content or space that needs to be filled. Write more local news oriented editorials, have a larger, more diverse or more specialized commentary staff or have your current columnists write more.
Also, I think using terms like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ to describe your commentary staff undermines them intellectually, and their audience by the way. That’s an easy way out to appease critics of bias. It basically pigeonholes them in such a way prevents them from writing commentary that could lean both ways. The issues that affect people today are too complex to be rigidly labeled as ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. That kind of language furthers the partisan divide at a time when Atlantans (and America) can’t really afford it.
The worst thing a local newspaper can do is misinterpret their audience and not specialize, especially in the commentary section. The AJC does a good job to a certain extent, but as readers, we want (and need) more local opinion, because that’s why we read the AJC. If we want national or international news, we’ll pick up the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or turn on CNN.
Read the following for a well thought out discussion on Barney Frank’s significant contribution to the economic problems. Houckster is incorrect. The requirement for loaning money to those who could not afford to pay it back is NOT Bush’s dictate. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (another Foolish Carter problem) was revised during the Clinton years to force lenders to lend money to those not qualified or face additional federal regulations.
Nowhere did I say that this Obama’s fault. It is the fault of those who did not fix the problem in Congress when it was brought to their attention. Not only did Frank not attempt to fix the problem, he blocked these attempts.
This is not a HARD RIGHT position. Liberals love to jump up and call names to make their case. The issues are far more complicated than calling names and making wild accusations.
A fair and balanced view of the world through reporting is needed. Not a biased view that said Bush is at fault for everything and is Bad.
Ms. Wallace, first of all, liberal or conservative is in the eye of the beholder. I recall when some professional women decided to be known by their own first name (e.g. Mrs. Mary Johnson instead of Mrs. Frank Johnson), that was considered liberal and those women were derisively called “modern women”. Then, some women decided not to take their husband’s last name at all and THAT was considered downright militant by some people. My point is that anything the AJC does is going to be labeled by *some*one as biased. Balance is a good goal but given how fickle people are, I doubt that it is a destination that can be achieved.
Second, on any given day, I will read a number of things in the AJC which I think are liberal or a number of things that I perceive as conservative. I would not assume that changes in subscriptions are reflective of anything other than the impact of electronic publishing on the print medium. (I didn’t understand the concept until I bought a house with built in shelves but, since most of my reading is done electronically, I have nothing on my shelves.) People don’t subscribe to what they can get online. So, in addition to agreeing with the comment that people who don’t subscribe now aren’t likely to subscribe because of an attempt to be “unbiased” (whatever that means), I think the AJC should look at other business models instead of trying to meet a nebulous and (in my opinion) unattainable standard.
One suggestion I have is to allow more opportunities to comment on stories in the online version. I think people might be surprised to know what other people are thinking about the news in Metro Atlanta.
I ended my subscription to the AJC because the paper kept getting delivered to my neighbor. Every day it was on the neighbor’s driveway. Every stinkin’ day. Complained three times to the AJC. Each time they promised to get it right. They never did. Unbelievable. I now throw their solicitations in the trash without even opening them. Who needs the aggravation.
The AJC is a far left drivel of a newspaper. I will never subscribe to it as long as Cynthia Tucker runs her anti-white/anti-Jew/anti-American/pro-Islamic Obama propaganda.
Shame that the Cox family is too stubborn to allow their affirmative action mouthpiece to drive this newspaper to the ground.
Good riddance. May the AJC soon join the Rocky Mountain News
I agree with Will’s comment about making sure the opinions pages put focus on local issues. AJC staff opinion writers do address national news, but local commentary is a crucial part of their jobs. It also will be so for the new conservative columnist, who generally will be expected to write about local and Georgia issues 60 percent of the time.
I am amazed at the number of respondents to this issue who want more conservative issues discussed and who think the AJC is extremely liberal. I am middle of the road, used to be Republican, now somewhat liberal and newly turned Democrat. I don’t want to see more conservative columnists in the paper. Mostly, they lean too far to the right. If you can find a conservative columnist who keeps to the facts, and reports constructively, then fine. I don’t think this can happen. As for the liberals like Cynthia Tucker, I agree with most everyone that she is too extreme. I personally don’t read her or Jim Wooten most of the time. And I also agree with some of the other people who wrote in, that we need to see less of those writers who write for New York papers or Washington papers as their views hardly pertain to issues here in the South. Since you are essentially a Southern regional paper, can you not report on issues here in the Southern states? I would like to see more well-rounded bias free articles and I do like some national and International news. You can keep the comics and I can do without the Living section. Just give me the news, the plain news will do without bias and without embellishments.
I haven’t paid for a subscription since 1989. The militant left-wing hate machine (Tucker and Luckovich) would have to disappear before I would consider buying an issue of AJC again.
I don’t subscribe to the AJC any longer for three reasons (1) Jay Bookman (2) Cynthia Tucker (3) Luckovich. For Bookman all things big government and socialist are wonderful and anything restricting government intrusion into a person’s life or encouraging self responsibility are bad. Tucker sees everything in black and white, black is good and white is bad or worse. Luckovich is neither amusing nor thought provoking merely pathetically bitter towards anyone or anything with which he disagrees. I read the AJC on line for local news but quite often skip certain articles when the headline is blatantly biased one way or the other. I don’t just blindly drink the conservative kool-aid but I also don’t want the liberal “big government knows best” baloney force fed to me by some reporter with a personal save the world agenda. Most of the racial uproars in the Atlanta area are stirred up and kept roiling by the all media outlets especially if it concerns some of our immense number of illegal residents. I do not feel the least bit of sympathy or remorse when an illegal is deported or locked up, they aren’t supposed to be here that is why they are referred to as “illegal.” Tear jerker articles about their plight should be published in the Mexico City paper.
Here’s an idea – how about the media promoting MODERATION instead of liberal or conservative? I am convinced that the root of every problem we have in this country is a result of our polarization of ideas. At least, that is how we are portrayed in the media and by politicians. However, I am equally convinced that the majority of the population falls somewhere smack in the middle of the bird, and not just on its right or left wing.
But controversy sells papers and gets ratings. If we were all holding hands and singing Kumbaya, a lot of media types and politicians would be out of a job.
Granted, it is over-simplification to equate this to a sports analogy, but in some ways, politics and racial issues in particular are a little like sports. It’s only natural to root for your own “team”. But the more the other side gets in your face and taunts you, the more hostile you become. Before long, a brawl breaks out and you can no longer just enjoy being a sports fan. It becomes personal.
We are a nation divided, and the blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of the media and our politicians, because you all have chosen to portray the extremes of every subject, forcing the populus to feel we have to pick sides and go to war with one another.
The fact is that most of us, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, want the same thing – a good job, a nice place to live, good education, equal pay and equal opportunity. But we have been led to believe that in order to accomplish this, the other side is standing in our way. If the media focused more on what we all have in common, instead of polarizing our differences and labeling us as one side or the other, we would all stand a better chance of reaching our goals.
Frankly, I stopped subscribing to the AJC years ago because I felt that none of the articles represented my place in society. As a white, lower-middle class working person, all I could read about was the unfortunate plight of African-Americans and how whites are bad and blacks are victims. This type of journalism is grossly unfair to both races, and is just another example of portraying the extremes and pitting us against one another. Whites are tired of being labeled as racists and being made to feel that no matter what we do, it’s never enough. Is it any wonder there’s a growing resentment on our “side”? It’s not racism, it’s self-preservation. And I feel confident that there are just as many African-Americans who are tired of being portrayed as the race of victims and would like to go about there business without skin color being front and center of every conversation.
So how about more articles that portray BOTH sides of a situation and give the readers credit for being able to think for ourselves. Right now, the only options we have are to have our collective blood pressure skyrocket at being perpetually forced to side with diametrically opposed opinions. It would be refreshing to have both sides tone down the rhetoric and find ways to bring us together. But as I said before, what’s in the best interest of our nation doesn’t always equate with what’s in the best interest of media and politics, i.e., money and power.
So how about starting a trend in the media… everything in moderation. Try it. We might like.
Now living in a area that was deemed by the newspaper to be “too far out side the metro area” to have delivery, I will say that I miss my Sunday paper. You say that the ad dollars were down and that is why you couldn’t deliver the paper out to Habersham any longer. My family used to get the ads and drive into Gainesville or to Buford depending on what the sales were. Now we have no way to know. How does that help anyone? Seems like a shorted sighted way to save a few dollars.
On the recycling issue…when I was in elementary school, every month there was a news paper recycle contest. Every class room had a sign out by the sidewalk and every famliy lined up their news papers behind the correct sign in brown grocery store basg or tied with a string. The class with the most papers got to have an ice cream party.
CARTIS IS A FOOL’s weak response to my comments is noted.
To supply an IBD editorial as any indication of the real state of affairs is simply asking too much. I would as likely buy the Brooklyn Bridge. It is one distortion after another. The true state of affairs will have to be determined by a much more rigorous analysis. Suffice it to say it is stretching the imagination to pin so much blame on a congressman as opposed to the President of the United States and the majority Republican party.
Nor did I say that CARTER IS A FOOL blamed Mr. Obama for the current state of our economy. I was speaking in the broader realm that the Hard Right is busily trying to build this very case and even a quick look at the blogs (heavily Hard Right in number) will confirm this. And yes, Barney Frank (because he’s a Democrat and especially because he’s gay) is a juicy target.
The reality is the Mr. George W. Bush was president of the United States during the time the housing bubble began to emerge. Hard Right adherents like to, as CARTER IS A FOOL has done, point to Mr. Clinton’s attempts to get more people to qualify for loans by relaxing the standards under which the ability of the borrower to pay back the loan was adjudged. They fail to note however, as CARTER IS A FOOL does, that the economy was in a different condition then and incomes were still expected to increase making the higher risk tolerable.
Under Mr. Bush, however, incomes stagnated and American debt climbed. This changed the situation and Mr. Bush was responsible for tightening up on requirements if that was what was prudent to do. With a majority in the House and Senate (with a few southern conservative Democrats almost sure to go along, why didn’t he?
Nor during Mr. Bush’s years did we have an effective SEC keeping watch on investment bankers. Christopher Cox, a Mr. Bush appointee, put in place a voluntary supervision program for Wall Street’s largest investment banks that he stated had contributed to the global financial crisis. It was another case of a Bush appointee doing “a heckuva job”.
From 2003 as energy prices began to escalate and as the teaser rates began to expire too many people who got bad loans could not keep up with the payments and it all reached a meltdown point last year with panic on Wall Street making things a dozen times worse.
The AJC has discussed these issues.
The meltdown of our economy is directly attributable to Mr. Bush’s policies. No credible case can be made to deny it. The only alternative the Hard Right has is to make as much noise attacking Mr. Obama and Mr. Frank as possible. Where’s all the personal responsibility that the Republicans liked to remind us moderates that we didn’t have?
I agree with most or at least the majority of posts, the AJC if waaaayy to far left. I wouldn’t read Cynthia Tucker if I was paid to. I cannot believe AJC would keep such a racist, race baiter on their payrolls. For the person who posted, “Please choose a conservative columnist who can make the case for his or her views without resorting to cheap straw-man counter-arguments, without ranting about fundamentally irrelevant far-fringe opponents, and without feeling compelled to oppose, regardless of its merits, any idea not already approved by the current dictators of far-fringe conservatism.” You need to read Bookman, that comment sounds like your describing his left leaning articles. I also agree that if there is anything to report about a Democrat that has done something illegal, immoral or both AJC doesn’t say “Democrat so and so” but if it’s a Republican that does something illegal, immoral or both AJC says “Republican so & so.” For the post that says the housing market is Bush’s fault (you must be Bookman or Tucker because almost everything they write about says that), you don’t know your facts. It was Barney Frank that pushed us into this mess and Frank should not only be kicked out of Congress he should be in jail.
I do appreciate the paper trying to be more fair and balanced but as it’s been said before it might be too little too late. AJC shouldn’t have waited until they fell on hard economic times….who knows if they’d have tried this sooner they may not have as bad of hard economic times.
I cannot understand why people are getting so upset. We ALL need to think about cutting back during this economy and the newspaper is no different. OK, so they need to combine parts of the paper…big deal. The paper is too liberal? Well, for the conservatives in the bunch, maybe it is a GOOD thing to read what “the opposition” is writing and thinking. (Remember, keep you friends close, keep your enemies closer!) After all, what else can you buy for 75 cents? Some people spend more each day on one cup of coffee or are willing to shell out $4.95 for the latest gossip rag. Give me a break! Stop complaining. The money I save in the Sunday paper’s coupons more than pay for my subscription PLUS I get to read whats going on and get to read opinions other than my own. (I simply say a quiet prayer for that person.) It’s a win-win situation.
The biggest thing lacking at the AJC is a little salesmanship. This is no longer 1995 when you could sit back and wait for advertising to pour in and readers had no good choices for getting a daily compendium of world/national/local news and sports. They have plenty of choices. You have to make them think yours is the best, and I don’t see any effort to do that. It’s bizarre to me.
I’m sure you think the AJC “brand” is still strong and you’re half-right. Lots of people still know the brand. Problem is, they just don’t GIVE A CRAP ABOUT IT, and fewer and fewer read it!
You need a good ad agency and some pedal-to-the-metal campaigns. I’m talking billboards, drive time radio, the whole deal. Forget the crappy house ads and stupid shopping destination campaigns. You need to yell at people that they NEED the AJC — print or web, their choice — to know what the heck is going on in metro Atlanta. Doesn’t matter if it’s not totally true. You gotta make em believe it. My 2c. Good luck.
Every newspaper has a right to an editorial position. I personally think that Tucker is a radical and Bookman is a lightweight hypocrite who gets his column emailed to him from the DNC. Who cares?
The damage, though, to the AJC’s perception of fairness comes from your news coverage. The damage comes from what you choose to cover and the stories you choose not to. If you would fix the perception of bias in your stories, make sure that your newsroom and your editors represent a wide range of views. Make sure your headline writers do too. Only when your newsroom reflects a wide range of views can you be able to cover stories without the natural bias that comes from having a point of view.
I applaud your decision to talk about the subject of news bias openly. Most papers are following the deny, deny, deny mantra to their graves. I will rejoice if the AJC will become an even handed voice of fact and accountability in this fair city. I will even buy a subscription.
To the troglodytes of the far left who want to use this space for your political rantings. Bag it!
The AJC has asked a question about bias. If you don’t think there is any, God bless you. There is short bus coming by for you in the AM.
The AJC, like many papers is in economic trouble. Unlike many papers, they are opening addressing the fact that a large part of the market perceives them as captive to the left. They have become more liberal than their market but more liberal than the market,a prescription for economic death. We are talking about how the AJC might address that issue. In many markets this issue has become a matter of life and death for the newspaper.
If you want to be sure that you keep your liberal echo chamber I am sure you will find many to agree with you. However, you will not be reading local newspapers with all your progressive friends, There won’t be any newspaper.
For it’s survival, the AJC must find a way to be relevant and valued as a source of news and opinion by a broad swath of the market. The progressives among us would have the AJC become the Great Specked Bird.
I think that the AJC shouldn’t listen to questions of “bias,” and should instead focus on improving the quality of its composition and facts–what should be the goal of all newspapers. Some people are going to complain about the political stance from which you report, or appear to report. Who cares? You’ll never satisfy these people, unless you’re American Conservative or the Nation. I regard current events from the political left, but I would rather read an AJC more biased towards the right if it were a better paper.
I’ve noticed the paper can have problems with technical terminology–it uses the phrase “heavy rail” to describe “city-to-city rail,” for instance–and I found Tim Eberly’s headline (and the response I received after pointing this out) describing a 17 year-old African American male as a “boy” (as opposed to “teenager”) to be of questionable taste. Otherwise, compositionally, if the paper were a little less “dumbed-down” feeling, it would be nice, but I can take it as it is.
My advice: Stick all your money in reporting, and kill the vent, and moderate comments so that overtly racist remarks don’t post. I’d look at the AJC.com more if reading it didn’t make me feel like I’m reading something that panders to rednecks. My perception is also that the website specifically opens racially-charged stories–MARTA, Clayton County Schools–for comment more often than other subjects, which is worrisome.
Dano, I’ve only lived in Atlanta for 9 years, but in that time I can tell you, only about 4% of Atlanta’s population could handle the AJC resembling the Journal. The lack of pictures and the above-5th grade reading level required would pretty much stump 96% of the idiots who live here.
Let’s face it. In the last 4 decades Atlanta has gone from a white city to a black city and the AJC has evolved from a paper that reflected a white conservative perspective to one that reflects Black liberal views. Why are we surprised? Every major newspaper in black majority cities espouses the same liberal, Democrat, entitlement, big Federal Government, Obama values.
No effort, no matter how well meant, will succeed in changing the cultural values of the AJC. It reflects the community, and Cynthia Tucker personifies it. Good try, Ms.Wallace. You couldn’t change it if you wanted to.
On a more important survival issue, if you want to save the AJC, fix the horrific online version. Living in Florida, I read the AJC online, and it is AWFUL. Separate the AJC from Access Atlanta, and create a newspaper. The format is terrible, although recently marginally improved. The stories stay on the site for literally months. If you want to see what a great newspaper website looks like, look at the New York Times.com or the Wall Street Journal.com. Instead of hiring a useless conservative columnist, go get a first class web designer and catch up with the future of information.
I gave up my subscription years ago as did most of my neighbors and friends. The content and opinions were so out of touch with Georgia values that I could barely bring myself to read it. The irrational opinions of the editorial page (ie: editor Cynthia Tucker) was one of the biggest reasons for my leaving the paper. I miss reading the paper and hope you are truly making an effort to turn the paper around to reflect the interests of the majority of Atlantans & Georgians. If so, I’ll be one of the first to subscribe again.
Your article is fully BSPR. That’s what we have come to expect from the AJC. The main investigative reporting is about places to eat or drink. You are becoming the Southside Sun. Facts, not BSPR is the only way to pull this paper out of the hole it has put itself into.
Earle is right on the web site. The recent redesign is at least cleaner, but you look at the main page and you really don’t get any clue what you’re looking at! Again — it’s like you guys are still in the old days where everyone “had” to get the AJC. News flash: THEY DO NOT! Information has been commoditized and if you’re going to sell it successfully you gotta sell yourselves not just wait for people to come crawling back because they will not! Instead of a little AJC logo the web page should scream “Atlanta’s #1 24/7 news source!!” or some such. It would tell readers where they are and it might even remind your staff what they are supposed to be doing.
Used to subscribe to the AJC years ago but canceled my delivery after many years due to the liberal nonsense coming out of both news and editorial pages. Conservative readers have been jumping ship for years and telling the AJC the reason which has fallen on deaf ears (”we’re losing readers because of the internet” – wrong!). As long as Cynthia Tucker & Luckovich are on staff, then your sudden enlightenment and promise to be fair will not impress folks like me. You could dismiss both tommorrow and your readership would probably double in a month. I would subscribe just out of principle alone to vote my affirmation.
Add me to the list of people who stopped subscribing because the liberal slant just angered me every time I read the paper. Not just on the editorial page, but the liberal slant of the news. I can choose not to read Cynthia Tucker if I don’t want to, knowing that she is about as far left as is possible, but when I read news stories — not editorials — the writer should be objective, and if the writer can’t manage to keep his or her own personal opinions from flavoring the article to the right or left, then the editor should do his or her job and reword it so the piece is objective.
Ms. Wallace, Thank you for your willingness to listen, as you maintain journalistic standards needed by the metropolitan area, and those from the rest of the country, who visit you online daily. Many are former Atlanta residents, as well as subscribers, who have relatives and friends in Atlanta. We appreciate fast updates, pictures, and opinions from all sides. We are a thinking people, who recognize how difficult your job must be. Every last article does not need a label, to indicate political slant. That would hobble columnists and cartoonists. To the well read, it all balances in time. Those readers who insist that only their views are correct, and thus more important, are attempting to get you to drop certain employees’ work, because they do not share their view of the world. How boring would that be, if all did? For every threat to stop reading the AJC, someone is offering to limit their own horizons. There are some people who cannot be pleased. I depend on you, to do your best. Thank you for your efforts, and I wish you much success.
I’m all for decreasing the size of the publication as much as possible without losing too much of the content. Less for me to take to the recycle bin, plua I’m sort of a ‘Reader’s Digest’ scanner. But don’t want to give up my favorite comics, any of the editorial page and the vent. GREAT column today by Wm. Egart re getting back to basics and glad the AJC is getting more basic.
I’m all for the AJC down-sizing without losing too much of the content. First, I’ll have less to recycle; but also speed-read a good bit and like shorter columns, Reader’s Digest version? GREAT column today from Wm. Egart about getting back to the basics, and glad to see my AJC getting a bit more basic too.
After years of printing anti-white, anti-conservative, anti-police, anti-american GARBAGE in not only your op-ed columns but your “news” sections, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU CLOSE DOWN!!
Diane (like the name: )……at 2:34…..You hit it on the head……..By the way, don’t kill the vent…..it’s one of the most thoughtful and entertaining parts of the AJC…….If that’s gone, I most definitely would never resubscribe…..
It’s just too bad about newspapers in general. I used to love to get my evening paper and read it during dinner. When the evening paper stopped, then I just didn’t have time in the morning to read the morning paper, so I discontinued it. But it’s really uncomfortable curling up with my laptop.
Now I just fall asleep watching Bill O’Reilly and hoping that Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow would get kicked off the air for their lunatic rantings.
Julia,
I really think you’re COMPLETELY missing the issue people have with bias, which might be the root of the problem. You can have equal numbers of columns published from the far right and from the far left and call youself balanced when you take the average, but what you’re missing is that people want to read column by columnists who are capable of being fair and balanced, not far right and far left. You’re liberal leaning columnists don’t have the mental capacity to fairly evaluate national issues. EVERYTHING they see and write on is far left. We’re sick of it. It’s wrong and it’s harmful to the public at large. Wooten has called out Republicans on many issues when he’s disagreed with their actions/policies/behavior. While he’s obviously conservative, he’s also fair in his treatment of foul behavior by all of them. THAT is the model we expect from all of them, not some mythical average of left and right leaning columns.
Also, go back and do a tally of the people and parties your paper has “endorsed” in elections. How many R’s and D’s do you have? I’m guessing the ratio is somewhere close to 95% D’s. You’re problem goes beyond column counts, Julia. Why can’t you just present the candidates and not only let, but encourage the people to make up their own minds. Stop being so arrogant you think your opinions deserve a place in the public forum that is this states major newspaper.
Another issue other posters have already touched on is your editorial cartoon. Luckovich is a big problem. He, like your liberal columnists, is incapable of being fair and balanced. You’ve either got find another cartoonist to balance him out or replace him with someone who’s capable of balancing their own thinking. I would bet he alone is responsible for a big chunk of your subscription losses. We’re sick of seeing the same one trick pony every day.
Good luck with your efforts, Julia. I really do wish you well. A challenge you will have to figure out at some point is whether you want to appeal to the metro Atlanta population at large, or your subscription base at large. There is a difference and finding the balance is the key to your survival. Good luck.
I think there is a clear bias in terms of the regions of the Atlanta metro area. I do not believe that all of Atlanta, South Fulton County and Clayton County are as bad as people believe. However, there are so many negative articles that are put out about these areas. These areas, while they have their problems like any other area in Atlanta region, in some cases, are being unfairly targeted and the only stories you read are bad. How about some good news from these areas?
I also think the newspaper needs to make more of a concerted effort in incorporating more of the news from the southern suburbs, notably Henry and Coweta, as these pages seem to hardly be updated as frequently as any of the other pages. Henry County is becoming a critical player in the metropolitan area and Coweta has a rapidly growing population- both on the Southside but neither gets the attention it should get. The AJC has sections like ‘Around Sandy Springs’ and ‘Northside.Talk’… how about ‘Southside.Talk’ and more blogs about things that are happening in the southern suburbs? The southern suburbs are very important to the metropolitan area too.
“None of these choices HAS been easy” is proper Engilsh. The subject is “None”, not “choices”. The AJC has grammatical errors daily. This is not one of them.
As I started to read your article in this mornings paper I was so afraid that you were going to cancel printing the comic section but I was relieved to see that was not the case. I do wish that “Peanuts” would not be so small in the daily paper. I do read most of the editorials and I agree with Cynthia Tucker aometimes and not other. Today I enjoyed Thomas Friedman and Willam Egart.
After reading these comments, I almost don’t know where to begin. I guess I will rely on my own instincts and not read all the hatred espoused by members of a South that will not return, no matter how much they wish for it.
As a journalist who has moved to on to web content, I hurt plenty for the plight of newspapers. I worked at the major daily in Montgomery and I used to look up to the AJC so much when you had more experienced journalists and you did more crusading and investigative pieces. You easily had the best sports staff in the South, evidenced by how Len Paquarelli, Chris Mortensen, et al have moved on to national significance. You can’t replace that kind of talent easily. (I must say, however, that your best columnists — save Cynthia Tucker — are still in sports. Steve Hummer, Schultz and Mark Bradley should be used like Mike Lupica (New York Daily News) and Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press) are at times and be allowed to write general interest columns.)
I think you do a decent job of being fair and balanced. (Ignore the cultural backwater that is most of the posters to this particular story. THEY ARE SCARY! They probably think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president and think Fox News is actually fair and balanced.)
Cynthia Tucker is a treasure and role model for the city. She won the Pulitzer for a reason. While, truthfully speaking, I don’t think she rises to the level of Leonard Pitts, Eugene Robinson, etc. she is definitely second-level among top tier black columnists in the country.
I will be quite happy when Jim Wooten leaves, so I want even waste much copy on him. This paper allowed him to make the single black mother the bogeyman for the past eight years while he could see no wrong in a Bush administration (cronies, contractors, crooks and ne’er do-wells) that ate happily at the public trough for the last eight year and brought this country to its knees. As you can probably tell, I have somewhat liberal views but I can stand an honest conservative (a la David Brooks of the NYT) that tells the truth and shows solid, consistent insight. That was not Wooten. He did as much race-baiting as Tucker was accused of and rarely got called on it until the people started to see him a straw man toward the end of W. administration.
I wish you much luck, AJC. Time waits for no one, and technology and change has wrought much to our beloved industry. But there is always a place for hard-hitting journalism — as evidenced by the WaPo series that did more to find Chandra Levy’s alleged killer than any police force. Keep up your watch as the fourth estate. Don’t let these knuckle-draggers in here obsessed with race and stupid, disproved policies (Reaganomics in the dusty salesbin of history! Trickle-down theories, 10 for a buck!) change your beliefs and foundation of as a servant of a beautiful, progressive city. Keep innovating to stay alive and keep us informed.
I came in to comment on the None Has/Have but catlady beat me to it!
I am tremendously impressed with the focus and well thought through statements here. Usually things get absurd in these reader comments. I think that reflects on the seriousness of the prospect of a major city in danger of losing its newspaper. As Atlantans we can’t have that happen.
To me, fairness is an easy thing to monitor and I can only assume that the management hasn’t prevously selected to do so. It is why journalists had a much reapected profession and what the founding fathers had in mind when they established a constitution that encouraged freedom of expression and press. Both sides make good points here but as the so-called conservatives have been MORE slighted, truth seems to me to be on their side. I also, however expect opinion journalist to stir up controversary and give them credit for being outlandish at times in order to do so.
There is a particularly good point made of the use of selected terms in writing a supposedly straight news article. Such terms as elitist, lower anything… class or educated etc. are slipped in well into the article but have no place at all unless quoting someone else’s words. They are an opinion and a judgement.I realize that’s harsh but so is the prospect of losing a major newspaper. Atlanta needs an objective daily print source for its news.
First of all, let me say that I am (as Lewis Grizzard said) a southern white male. Also politically independent.
Please do not cave to idiots because of the economy. They can always dial up Limbaugh if they crave to have their egos stroked. No matter what or who you print, these fools will always complain unless it falls in line with the prominent GOP propaganda of the day. Please do not allow those who refuse to evolve dictate policy for the AJC. There are those who will find racism and liberalism in anything that does not conform to Jim Crow era thinking.
Atlanta is the Metropolis of the south, filled with diversity and culture, not to mention being home to many fine academic institutions. I think our newspaper should reflect all of this.
For those who don’t like it, tune in to Boortz or Oriely or Limbaugh if you really have the desire to be lied to for entertainment.
Sorry to hear about the cuts. We are entering the inevitable part of the internet. I come from a household that always had a subscription to the AJC. My parents still do subscribe to the AJC. My folks are old school that way. I’ve never ever subscribed to the AJC. . . but when I moved from my parents house, I didn’t stop reading the AJC. I simply look at it online. I don’t care if you become the mouthpiece of the GOP to satisfy all the sayers of “the AJC is too liberal”, you will never deliver as many paper copies as you did 5 years ago ever again. The news is online now and the old school paper folks are, sad as the truth of mortality is, aging. Most new readers will be online readers. How the AJC, or any other major newspaper, deals with this forthcoming reality is anyone’s guess. Online ads don’t cut it like the paper ads.
As to the liberal/conservative schism, whatever. Tucker’s black liberalism is highly offensive to me whereas I find Bookman’s liberalism to be smart and insightful. Wooten. . . Wooten is the kind of conservative columnist a liberal would hire to make conservatives look stupid. Bob Barr is excellent. The only one of the above I’d like to see go is Wooten so he could be replace (I guess you guys are already kind of doing that) with a conservative with some cognitive ability.
The paper in general has, and I know this to be a fact, left important facts out of stories because the facts were politically impolite. Facts such as the race of a perpetrator if the perp was black. The copy-editing is horrendous. There have been headlines badly botched on a fairly regular basis (online edition). Coverage of world events is poor which is fine because I get that news from a combo of sources ranging from the NYT, The Economist, Al Jazeera, Wash Post, and WSJ.
Local social coverage is great. I know about registering for the Peachtree Road Race because you guys have it as a headline. The restaurant reviews are excellent, travel, and weekend things to do, it’s in there and I think that’s great. It’s good coverage. This does not speak to the “Access” pamphlet you people put out. I want to punch Access in the face. Access is a story by itself. State and local politics, however, get pushed to the side and that makes your local coverage in general average.
My solution: First: Figure out a way to make money online. That may be impossible. Second: Keep national and world coverage where it’s at. People like me go for that kind of stuff from other sources anyways. Third: Keep your lawn and garden, and restaurant reviews, etc., where they are at (get reid of Access because it is horrible) because they are good. Fourth: MORE state and local politics. Fifth: this goes to the above two; GO LOCAL IN A BIG WAY. The AJC should be about Atlanta. I want to see the politics of the Dekalb sheriff/CEO mess in depth. I want to know the big arguments in the Capital. I want to know about Chief Pennington going to a neighborhood meeting. I want to know any big news coming out about HD or KO. When I read the AJC, I want to know about all things Atlanta. That’s the social stuff, yeah. But it’s also the politics and business.
Otherwise, I think you guys have a wonderful local paper. It’s not a Wash Post or NYT. But I think the AJC is a lot better than the naysayers love to proclaim.
The AJC is in love with politics and spends a significant amount of resources on both reporting and offering editorial opinion about politics. Well, here is something political for you to ponder… Everyday there is an election in the market place. There, people vote (with their money) for the goods and services that they need. People vote for goods and services that have value, quality, and integrity. And, they vote for goods and services in which they trust and believe in. In the vote for news media you are loosing the election.
Diane at 2:34 may just have a new campaign strategy for your “market place vote”. You should take a very serious look at her comments. You have beat us up enough already. And, we’re not going to buy your products any longer.
Why does everything have to be labeled conservative, liberal, white, or black? The real purpose of a newspaper should be to report the news using undiluted facts instead of injecting the political opinions of the writers or editors. The failure to do this is causing many once good newspapers to fold. The world of today is not the world of 30 years ago and the printed newspaper is not the primary news source anymore. I hope the change you say the AJC is making will restore faith in it but it very well could be too little too late. I hope not. As long as Cynthia Tucker is associated with the AJC it will not be seen as a fact centered news source. She is the one bad apple that spoils a whole basket of good apples.
HCS comment very well reflects the general distrust of the AJC.
So the AJC is having to downsize their paper due to lack of readership. Do not blame technology nor the internet. There are numerous publications out there that may not be growing leaps and bounds, but are financially strong and have a balanced editorial staff.
I have been here almost 20 years and am sick to death over the garbage that the AJC spews from its own employees. Tucker, Bookman, and Luckovich cannot be more left-leaning than the Tower of Pisa. When are you folks in the mgmt dept going to wake up and see the bias??? Do any of them actually have to go out of the AJC building to see what is happening in the real world? Do any of them actually have to interview folks for honest opinions. If you want an even balance, then have a counter opinion for Tucker, Bookman, and Luckovich next to their rhetoric diatribes. This would make equal, but fair reporting.
I seemed to recall that most of the Democratic Candidates being selected for President Obama’s staff have failed to pay most of their taxes for the past few years. Yet, the AJC staff and editorial board seemed more interested in bashing Rush and other Republicans for questioning Mr. Obama’s actions. How dare you chastise them when all you did for the past 8 years was spew political and pure hated towards the Bush Administation. Your articles appeared to cheer that the Iraq War was being lost. Now you whine about the Republicans picking on Obama. Boo Hoo! Give me a break. Is there anyone in your office with any common sense to report on all sides? Quit trying to make the news and just report the news. This is all that I want and if you want my continued subscription, then lay off the personal attacks and fire most of the editoral staff. A letter from the editor really does not impact my life, so if you are making more cuts, start with the Editorial Staff.
Next, keep the Business Section and expand on it with employment stats and stories from the other 8 metro counties. I do not see anything on Forsyth or Dawson Counties yet these places are still growing leaps and bounds. Why don’t you commit a half page to each of the 18 local counties to report building activity, permits, sales, foreclosures, and new business ventures. I am sick of hearing mostly about metro Atlanta and Clayton County. Also runs stories as they are told. Many times, I have read a story off an internet site only to see the same thing printed several days later in the AJC. This is not news, just recycled print.
Also get rid of the lame, Living Section and the Movie-tar sightings. Who care which star had an overpriced dinner at some Buckhead Diner? This garbage does not positively affect a person’s life. Leave the celebrity garbage for the Enquirer or Star. Just this morning, you all printed a front page story on Jane Fonda and her acting abilities. This is pure crap and should not be in Section A. No one cares about Fonda or her thoughts. This is the problem with your paper. It appears that most of the staff is just out of touch with reality. Also learn how to print color. All I get is a blurred copy and cannot read the story. Do you know how to fix your type settings? This does not take a college degree, just competence!
Expand the World News, Business, and the Local County News and I will keep my subscription. The comics are nice, but you all have just wasted too much time and print on your recent favorites contest. Maybe you should have the same contest for your Editorial Staff. This would be a good use of ink.
I am in marketing and sales and could actually do a better job than half of your staff. Would you hire me, probably not, because I am not from Atlanta, do not care for keeping the old ways, and would demand accountability from all staff members. I would actually require the Editorial Staff to provide proof for the stories that they are running. I would also reduce the price back down to 50 cents and concentrate on only the news that really affects the readers and residents. Your love for us really does not matter, just figure out how to run a quality paper. This is not asking too much. Or, maybe it is???? Time will tell!
Hey AJC! Either include the words Democrat or Republican next to all names, including the AJC staff members so that we will know their slant, or leave out all labels and just report the story. Leave out the phrases; I think, I feel, We should, You Should, or anything that signifies the feelings of the columnist. This would provide a more equal, maybe not fair, but balanced article. As a matter of fact, why do we even need a picture or name of the columnist? Just write the story and do not give the credit to any staff member. Oh that’s right, you cannot do that! It would not give Tucker or Luckovich their much flawed Pulitzers. We all know that is the true meaning of being a journalist.
No comments Add your comment
Deanna
January 9th, 2009
4:34 pm
Wow! What a daunting task. But it looks like y’all’ve done a great job. Looks very clean while still having lots of content and stories on the home page like I enjoy. Well done! Will there be someplace for us to submit usability issues after the rollout?
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Jason Gilstrap
January 9th, 2009
5:03 pm
Deanna, thanks for your comments.
You’ll be able to post comments on this blog once the new design launches. We look forward to reading everyone’s feedback.
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Jay
January 9th, 2009
6:12 pm
Enter your comments here Why couldn’t the change coincide with the stopped delivery of the print edition to the “hinterlands”? You sure know how to confuse folks.
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Looks good!
January 9th, 2009
6:33 pm
Long as y’all don’t mess with Smiling Pets or Taco Mountain, I’m cool.
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jeffrye
January 9th, 2009
10:11 pm
I am hoping you can delete older news stories from the home page on a more timely basis. I am a little perturbed when I click on a story only to have the dateline say it happened 3 or 4 months ago. Furthermore, your coverage of anything to do with intown Atlanta is sorely lacking. I rarely see stories that have anything to do with my area of the city. Yes, there are many readers in the city…it annoys us there is not adequate coverage of city life.
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BG
January 9th, 2009
10:21 pm
Nice redesign. It’s good to see that the leaderboard ad has been removed. Would it be easy to add a few more elements for weather, such as today’s high and tonight’s low, just to the right of current temperature? The Weather Channel does that in their IE toolbar. It would be nice to show a small image of current doppler as well. Okay so I’m a weather junkie.
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Montana L
January 10th, 2009
10:40 am
“Private Quarters” as the top photo nearly every time I hit ajc.com? Come on, what are y’all, a newspaper or Atlanta Magazine Homes?? Gimmie some news, not posh spaces of the monocle crowd!
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Doug
January 10th, 2009
11:03 am
A very nice redesign – keep it clean, with plenty of customizable options and the readers will keep coming!
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Sam
January 10th, 2009
12:25 pm
I’ll definitely watch for the changes, but from the mock-up you’ve provided, I really don’t see much that’s being altered. Everything looks basically the same. What am I missing or not seeing? Thanks.
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LIsa
January 10th, 2009
1:31 pm
agree w/ weather comments above. I use your little weather quick links all the time!
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Steve
January 10th, 2009
2:26 pm
How about making it easier to find message boards on your site? Whenever i post something to a “discuss” forum i can never find the same discussion forum a couple of hours later that i just posted to.
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AK
January 10th, 2009
3:31 pm
Very nice. I’ve emailed several times saying your design needs to be refreshed and suggested you look at WashingtonPost.com as a guide, which it looks like you did. I visit the Post’s site daily and love their home page. In comparison, ajc.com was a huge disappointment. Thanks for listening to reader feedback. I can’t wait for the new design to launch!
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Nick
January 10th, 2009
5:43 pm
Thanks for the much needed redesign. I’m not sold on the logo image or the colors of the logo. Thought you had a good thing going with the AJC Circle. Make sure navigation works fast on slower computers/connections unlike ESPN’s new design. I can’t believe they almost made that site unusable. Looking foward to seeing the udpate.
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bboykins
January 10th, 2009
5:45 pm
This looks really, really good! Couple of things I would suggest is to make the video table horizontal with the Inside AJC.com table. I would put a picture or graphic tease in the area that how has the video table. I would even take that space to promo print product (which I think you all would consider taboo, but you’ll be surprised what traffic that would bring. Oh, and I would move MundoHispanico ad under the new Buzz feature.
Overall, very good navigation and usability. Thanks!
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Wayne
January 10th, 2009
11:39 pm
Could you redo your jobs site? I’m someone outside your now-shrunken delivery area and I think your partnership with HotJobs stinks. I KNOW there are far more jobs printed in the paper than actually make it onto your website.
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Bill Burns
January 11th, 2009
7:05 am
I think your current design is fine. Much easier than many including the New York Times which I read often on the internet. Sometimes “change” in not always for the better. On another AJC matter, I am not happy that you have eliminated the Saturday LTE’s. You have also greatly “cut back” om the size of the Sunday LTE’s. I admit that I have a “bias” in this LTE thing, I have written around 400 of them to the paper in the last seven years.
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horace
January 11th, 2009
10:01 am
Since the ajc newspaper circulation area has continued to get smaller ajc.com is my only option. I can adjust to any format. I hope that the business section is totally revised.
In the current section news that is several months old fills most of the space. News items six months to a year old is not news anymore, only space filler. Please give us more current news.
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Al
January 11th, 2009
10:05 am
I hope that as part of the new design we will see more true news stories featured on the home page and less about every move some hip hop star or desperate housewife makes. I read several major newspapers online daily and none of them devote anywhere near as much home page attention to entertainers. Stick to the news affecting peoples lives on the homepage and leave the entertainment stories in accessatlanta. I do like the new design by the way.
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Scott Baker
January 11th, 2009
11:28 am
Thanks for the great comments and suggestions, they are extremely useful in helping us to improve the site. Many of the issues we have worked on in this rollout are issues that readers have suggested.
In my work – as part of the online design and user experience group – we had three main goals for this iteration of the site design.
- To clean up the design
- Make the site load faster
- Make navigating content easier
Keep in mind we are constantly making upgrades to the site (some visible and some behind the scenes to improve functionality and page loading times). We have many other design upgrades rolling out this year that will continue the design improvements throughout ajc.com.
Weather: BG and Lisa, we realize weather is very important to readers and have some major enhancements planned, unfortunately they won’t be ready in this iteration – so stay tuned.
Logo: Nick, in regards to the logo, there were other logo versions that we had worked on but there was a branding decision to go with a consistent logotype for the ajc brand.
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David
January 11th, 2009
4:06 pm
It looks good. Does this coincide with a redesign of the printed project?
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David B.
January 11th, 2009
5:37 pm
Wow, a few new graphics with no real change. Even after a redesign, AJC.com is still one of the ugliest newspaper Web sites on the Internet. It must’ve taken an incredible amount of time and energy to come up with something that is essentially the same as before – a clutter of advertising and pint size hyperlinks jammed onto the screen. The opening line of your redesign meeting must have been “How can we possibly get all of these headlines and ads crammed into the smallest block possible?”
The reason I feel bad for papers like the AJC is that your revenue plan has turned into something that is almost solely based on advertising with no regard to content/substance. For every link you have on your home page, users can click onto pages that are equally cluttered and ad-chaulked. The more graphics you have distracting the readers, the less likely any news is going to be read. And that raises the utlimate question – what is the point of AJC.com to begin with?
Promote your stories more with longer (or any) lede lines; don’t rely on the headlines by themselves. If you’re trying to attract new business or residents to the city, then start by cleaning up the AccessAtlanta pages for dining and theater. And for God’s sake, keep anything that qualifies as a story for “The Buzz” in that box and off the top stories list. It’s embarassing when the two categories – ACTUAL news, and entertainment – get mixed.
And next time you try to redesign the Web site, look at your competition before settling.
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Patrick
January 11th, 2009
9:18 pm
Please, please, PLEASE fix your polls that have multiple questions!
Example:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/10/braves_starting_pitchers.html
There are eight questions and 8 different forms on the page. When a visitor clicks “vote” it’s only for the single question and you have to click vote eight different times. There’s no session state either, so there’s no way to view multiple results on the same page.
Why not just have 8 radio collections and one form on the page? That way someone can answer all the questions at once and view all the results at once.
Also, the flash polls tied to the photo galleries have been broken for a long time. Vote on one question and it won’t let you vote again.
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Scott Baker
January 11th, 2009
9:43 pm
Patrick, sorry about that, it is a less than ideal user experience — a new template for this should be out next week.
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Wayne
January 11th, 2009
11:10 pm
Please include more pictures with your stories on the net.
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Pete
January 12th, 2009
10:34 am
I would like either the time the past was last updated or something similar to MSNBC.com that says last updated x hours/minutes ago. I basically keep a browser window open to AJC all day and it would be nice to see if it had updated. Thanks!
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Pete
January 12th, 2009
10:36 am
Oops, that should be “page” and not “past” above. I was thinking about the time in the past when the page was updated and the fingers led a magic life all their own.
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Tica
January 12th, 2009
2:39 pm
I feel like the redesign has a lot of potential…however, I still feel like the page is too cluttered. Is it really necessary for you to show 5-6 linked stories under each section on the bottom part of the page? There must be some way to simplify that, especially since you’ve already got the headings up in the top of the page. I also would like to echo the suggestion that tells us how long ago the story was last updated (this is important for breaking news).
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BG
January 12th, 2009
2:46 pm
Scott, thanks for acknowledging my weather suggestions. I look forward to the new launch. Someone had referenced the ESPN site. I agree that it’s slick yet difficult to navigate, and attribute most of the difficulty to lack of familiarity.
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Shaun
January 12th, 2009
3:13 pm
The design looks pretty much the same. Are yall going to monitor the comments to keep the racist idiots’ comments off the web?
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Scott Baker
January 12th, 2009
4:36 pm
A few of you have mentioned wanting stories to include timestamps, later this year ajc.com is moving to a more powerful content management system that has that capability. Until then most stories (unless it’s a big breaking story) won’t have a timestamp. One other nice feature, we will also be able to have multiple templates, for example on stories having the option to include a video or larger photos.
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lula todd
January 13th, 2009
6:31 am
Where’s the weather tab?? I NEED that one! Otherwise, it looks great.
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Curt
January 13th, 2009
6:31 am
The logo is awful. No heart, no soul, no history at all. Look at the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, NY Times, etc. Great newspapers don’t disown their past and ditch the look that people know in print. Regain your identity, folks!
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ginger
January 13th, 2009
6:33 am
The overall look is clean and fresh, and seems to be clutter free. The logo is very whimpy,cheap and a bit cheesy looking.I mean baby blue and that font?? ugh!
g
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Diana
January 13th, 2009
6:39 am
I am normally a person who does not like change, but I LOVE your new format…..we are not Chicago or LA. THANK HEAVENS!
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marge
January 13th, 2009
6:40 am
Love the new look. Glad to see the Hollywood Buzz not so “Front and Center” I was beginning to lose respect for you guys as a viable news source. Thanks for the new look, and I notice the sports stories better now.
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herbK
January 13th, 2009
7:15 am
Sucks, but I would guess a 14 yr old with html/css experience could have done it in 15 minutes. Just like the printed version, becoming more irrelevant each & every day.
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Sarah
January 13th, 2009
7:23 am
You ‘fixed’ something that wasn’t broken. I do not like it!
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Lamario
January 13th, 2009
7:25 am
I really like this new site. It looks really clean, streamlined and I like the new logo. Good job!
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Nicole
January 13th, 2009
7:26 am
As an avid ajc.com reader, Im not too impressed with the new look. It seems so plain-I would love the old look back!!!!!!
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RIP AJC
January 13th, 2009
7:29 am
The AJC is completely forgetting that they are the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and they have some history here. The newspapers that will make it out of this mess that they’re in are the ones that are not completely alienating their base with weaker content. What is the AJC offering readers and advertisers except a different logo and newsroom layoffs? Someone called me and told me they were from AJC Media Solutions. It sounds like a start up joke of a company.
Also, Diana is a plant comment.
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Imperial
January 13th, 2009
7:29 am
I like the clean, crisp and fresh look of the new site. Good job to the team that redesigned the site.
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J
January 13th, 2009
7:29 am
Looks good, but PLEASE get rid of those darn drop-down ads that appear when the page is first opened. That is SOOO annoying!!
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Raul Wooten
January 13th, 2009
7:30 am
now, if the AJC could only change Jim Wooten!
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Peachtree
January 13th, 2009
7:32 am
I do not like the new format ar all. I’m not against new things or ideas but this format does not stand out at all.
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Vernelle
January 13th, 2009
7:35 am
I love yu new format…and it does stand out.
Very clean looking. Great JOB AJC
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Brian
January 13th, 2009
7:36 am
Hey, I will support the change, if that means someone keeps their job!! Good luck!!
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Steve
January 13th, 2009
7:37 am
Good job, if it had to be done. Miss not being able to get a hard copy of AJC in my town. The Chattanooga Times is filling the vacuum.
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RBC
January 13th, 2009
7:39 am
much, much better; old was much too “busy”
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jg
January 13th, 2009
7:40 am
Sorry not feeling it – very confusing – but change will happen I guess we will just have to get used to it.
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ART
January 13th, 2009
7:42 am
LOVE the new format – clean, easy to read, and best of all it loads so much faster! I hated waiting for all the “fancy” graphics and navigation tools to load before – just give me the news!
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Craig
January 13th, 2009
7:48 am
I heard your publisher, John Mellot, resigned yesterday. Now I see why.
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dj
January 13th, 2009
7:49 am
Don’t like it! Like old format better.
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Michael
January 13th, 2009
7:51 am
Where’d the crossword go? I have to pay for it now??? That sucks, really. I don’t even like sodiuko, however you spell it. YUK!
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PGA
January 13th, 2009
7:53 am
Well I guess all of those branding compaigns were jsut spent on air?? For years you pushed the circle AJC and now this. I guess the AJC is just like Pepsi in changing their logo. Does it go with the changing of publishers but better yet please change executive editors, sorry but enough is enough. Looks like you hijacked the idea from another local paper.
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Cindy
January 13th, 2009
7:53 am
Where are the blogs? Where is momania? I don’t like it!!!
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John Tackett
January 13th, 2009
7:54 am
Look cleaner and easier to read. Love the new layout.
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Shannon
January 13th, 2009
7:55 am
Sorry, but I don’t like it … don’t like it at all.
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Georgia Gal
January 13th, 2009
7:58 am
If you just gave us back the old logo, I could live with the layout, but what’s up with that logo?? That’s not the AJC’s logo.
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juanita
January 13th, 2009
7:59 am
the print is so small and everything is running together in the stories that you can’t read the story just some of the headlines
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Tisha
January 13th, 2009
7:59 am
So sick of the snarky internet comments! It’s different, It’s clean, get over it!
Besides the logo and the top left quadrant – the change isn’t drastic. It’ll do!
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JEH
January 13th, 2009
8:01 am
Not at all impressed. Any student could have done as well.
STILL OBJECT TO THE FACT THAT NOWHERE DOES THE AJC, IN ANY WAY CONSIDER THAT DOUGLAS, PAULDING & THE WESTERN COUNTIES EVEN EXIST.
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
8:02 am
Sorry, but in the words of Spencer Trilby (Charlton Heston character in True Lies)…”so far, this is not blowing my skirt up, gentlemen”
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steve
January 13th, 2009
8:04 am
can’t find the online vent now….
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Samantha
January 13th, 2009
8:04 am
I do not like it. It does not greet you when you go unto the website. Other than that it’s O.K.
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Nicol
January 13th, 2009
8:04 am
Nah, I don’t like it. Where are all of the choices? The county and local sections. I feel like I’m lost. Bring the old format back. An what is up with that simpleton logo? Its HORRIBLE.
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jk
January 13th, 2009
8:05 am
Meh.
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Reader
January 13th, 2009
8:07 am
its okay kind of plain, but if you must………..ps JEH don’t feel rained on….they dont recognize some of the eastern counties IE:Rockdale, Newton, etc…..
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RIC COLE
January 13th, 2009
8:07 am
Great start at a new year. The new drop down is MUCH EASIER to manipulate. It really doesnt matter if the logo is pretty, DOES IT?
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tiffany
January 13th, 2009
8:09 am
the new layout is definitely an improvement.. it’s modern and user-friendly, and unlike before, it now feels professional. the new logo, however, is like an attempt at a “retro-looking” logo that only looks old.
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Nicholas Stewart
January 13th, 2009
8:09 am
Keep in mind the folks who don’t like change, are the same ones who forbid alcohol from being sold on Sundays.
It looks fine, and in a few days most will forget about the old design.
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tiffany
January 13th, 2009
8:10 am
Enter your comments here
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GC
January 13th, 2009
8:11 am
The new design is good, but the logo is washed-out looking. The two shades of blue are not complimentary to each other. It’s bland, amateurish, and irritating.
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Al
January 13th, 2009
8:15 am
Get rid of that racist Cynthia Tucker and you guys may survive. Otherwise, shut down the paper and this website.
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Dee
January 13th, 2009
8:15 am
The new format is confusing. I liked the old one. I, too, am tired of seeing the same outdated stories week after week. Private quarters? It is just a way for real estate agents to list their listings. Please defer them to the real estate section. I am interested in news worthy stories. I could careless about the latest escapade of some “celebrity”. Last but not least…where is the vent?
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Disgusted
January 13th, 2009
8:15 am
What lunkhead decided to eliminate the Opinion page from the links above the header? Is Entertainment worthy of inclusion, but Opinion deserving of deletion? Send this new publisher back to Florida or Ohio or wherever he came from. The guy has turned an attractive format into a so-so design I would expect to see in the Rome News-Tribune, not the AJC.
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Cayce
January 13th, 2009
8:17 am
I love it! Thanks for moving into the 21st Century. The old website looked like a tabloid with WAY too much junk on the home page. It’s so much more elegantly designed.
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Pat
January 13th, 2009
8:21 am
I do not like the new look. Go back to the old one. The format now is terrible.
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Michael Scharff
January 13th, 2009
8:21 am
I cannot log in as a returning user as of 8:15 AM 1/14/08. Also, I do not like the look of the new logo, and the Sports page was slow to down load. I just filled out an on-line pop-up survey last week from your site, indicating I was Very Pleased with the site. Why would ya’ll have the survey, then go and mess everything up? I DO NOT like the new look.
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Lee
January 13th, 2009
8:23 am
So far I like it! And I promise, if you stop featuring articles on those RIDICULOUS INSULTING “Real Housewives”, I will love you forever! Not only are they not *news*, they are an insult to the hardworking African-American women who shape Atlanta and, in fact, the entire city.
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Nick
January 13th, 2009
8:23 am
Need to have Local Sports Scores Posted on Front Page…..Maybe on the Left side of The Front Page…
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GDuncan
January 13th, 2009
8:25 am
It’s about time for a change……
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Chas
January 13th, 2009
8:27 am
The new logo looks like Hewlett-Packard’s logo. Other than that, the new layout is fine. It’s less busy than the previous one, I think.
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Koz
January 13th, 2009
8:30 am
The new logo – borrowed from Hewlett Packard?
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hryder
January 13th, 2009
8:30 am
In the venacular, “it sucks”, but most of us will become accustomed to the new format and then when you change again for changes sake to maintain readership we will have a similar reaction and adjust once again.
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Sonia
January 13th, 2009
8:30 am
Keeping up with my hometown’s local news was always easy but not easy on the eye. The new layout is great and I am enjoying it from a sunny and snowy Switzerland. Glad you made the changes!
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Voice of Reason Originale
January 13th, 2009
8:32 am
I do not like this. It’s plain, no color; too white; boring. Sometimes the annoying ads are atop the drop-down menus. You need to put “Letters” in the “Opinion” drop-down. In fact, Opinion needs to be in the top navigationv bar. The Vent, etc., needs to be closer to the top and not in a drop down. I like the immediately previous version better. This is too plain and we have to do too much work to get to what we want.
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Susan
January 13th, 2009
8:32 am
Coca Cola is the most recognized logo in the world and one reason is that they don’t keep redesigning it every few years. Take a cue from another Atlanta staple and leave well enough alone! Don’t care much for the new plain jane layout either.
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atlin83
January 13th, 2009
8:33 am
personally, i like the new look – the new logo is pretty good, and the site’s appearance is far more streamlined and easy to look at than the old one. now if the AJC would stop changing the headlines of the same articles every 4 hours, and work on readability…
regardless of my snarky writing comments, nice job with the redesign. while the AJC and Atlanta have history, there’s no reason to keep things static – the AJC isn’t a museum. it can change as it grows.
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Michael Scharff
January 13th, 2009
8:33 am
Why do I not get a “Welcome, Michael” anymore? WHY can I NOT change the weather zip code for local weather like I could before today’s change? AND, WHY, OH WHY, DID Y’ALL NOT WARN ANYBODY THAT THESE CHANGES WERE COMING? (YES I KNOW I’M SHOUTING, AND I KNOW IT’S NOT GOOD ETIQUETTE, BUT I AM NOT HAPPY!)
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tnol
January 13th, 2009
8:34 am
The layout is ok. but what web designer thinks that light blue or gray text on a white background has enough contrast to be easy to read? job #1 is making it easy for the viewer. fix that quickly, please.
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Porkins
January 13th, 2009
8:41 am
Best thing about this design:
The drop down menu gives a vertical list instead of the old horizontal. Much more logical and user-friendly. Good job!
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Lindainatl
January 13th, 2009
8:42 am
This design is hard to see; not as sharp, crisp and appealing. Worse, it is very hard to navigate and find things. It’s also boring. I really hate the opening dropdown ads, which you’ve kept. THAT, you could’ve eliminated. IMHO, this was NOT money well spent. Bring back the fun, colorful look, with easy to find columns and news!
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Vito
January 13th, 2009
8:42 am
The new design is an improvement. The previous design was so awful that just about anything would have been better.
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Mel
January 13th, 2009
8:45 am
I do not like the new format and especially do not like that it was so sudden. The lack of contrast makes it too difficult to read.
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Doug
January 13th, 2009
8:46 am
I really dont care for the new logo, and it will take me some time to get acclimated to the other changes. I agree that AJC says nothing about Atlanta, or the two newspapers that brought us the new for so many years.
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larr
January 13th, 2009
8:47 am
the site design is mediocre at best. like so many other newspapers that have ad directors, with no online experience other than attempting to sell a position their parent company asks them to, having way too much freedom to decide how websites should operate and look. stick to what you know, and let the developers do what they know. the overall product will be ten times better.
everyone that reads this: download firefox, and the ad block plus add on to block all of their ads, and the site is much easier to digest.
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Howard
January 13th, 2009
8:48 am
Sirs…like the new format a lot…not as busy and confusing. Still wish you’d lose those pop-up ads that always appear when you open it. Know how many ignore those things?? Also…on the opinion section, how about listing Jim Wooten by his name, like the liberal writers on your staff…not by “Thinking Right.” I almost skipped it because I did not see his name anywhere!!
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
8:48 am
That logo makes you look weak and washed out….there is something to be said for continuity, constantly tweaking and changing yourself projects a poor self image
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Becky
January 13th, 2009
8:48 am
I don’t like the new design, but I guess as others said, we’ll just have to get used to it..To plain, to boring, to ugly, the list could go on & on..Where is MOMania??
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Bettyboop
January 13th, 2009
8:48 am
Even the Comics suck now! I won’t be renewing my subscription!
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Linda
January 13th, 2009
8:49 am
I’m an out-of-town reader, and one thing I enjoyed about the old format was my local weather forecast that appeared when the AJC page loaded. Could you please restore that feature?
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Jennifer
January 13th, 2009
8:50 am
I can’t find the vents. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
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Joe
January 13th, 2009
8:50 am
Where is the vent!
The change is a w f u l
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geesh!
January 13th, 2009
8:54 am
I just don’t like it. Some parts are good, yes, but overall…me no likey. And Michael, I totally feel your pain. I wanna shout too, but I’m so bothered by this that I can’t. AJC, a heads up would have been nice. I may have adjusted easier with a little warning. Nevertheless, it’s here, and I’m obviously stuck with it if I decided to continue reading this paper online. Logging on is giving me HELL, and I actually enjoyed my personal “welcome” at the top of the page-so much for that! This just sucks…but life goes on. geesh!
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Chad
January 13th, 2009
8:55 am
I also really like the new format, much easier to read through.
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William C
January 13th, 2009
8:55 am
The first thing I noticed about the new format – I can’t tell whether I am logged in or not. Did I miss it or did your designers forget it?
Also, is there a link to log out? This is the one thing that is the least standard of the web sites I use, forcing me to search every month on sites I use to pay bills.
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d
January 13th, 2009
8:55 am
Not so great. Where are the blogs???
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Tracy
January 13th, 2009
8:57 am
As a graphic designer I think this change is horrible. Find some SCAD students to help you next time. It’s too bland and the logo looks very bland. Your photos and ads stand out more than your navigation and logo.
Where is MOMania? Things are hard to find and as a mom I don’t have time to find them.
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C
January 13th, 2009
9:00 am
Poor design. The old was so much better. AWFUL!!!!!
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Ryan
January 13th, 2009
9:00 am
I love the new website! This is a great new look and falls closely in line with google, cnn.com and other sites which garner huge traffic. Keep up the great work as this online geek, will continue to read!
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Cemeeli
January 13th, 2009
9:00 am
I like it, I like it!!!
It’s like getting a brand new Portfolio binder…cool
.
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David
January 13th, 2009
9:01 am
Hate it – need I say more?
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Jacie
January 13th, 2009
9:02 am
It’s just OK. Agree with others that logo isn’t impressive; not something I would stop to take a second look at. We all will get used to the new navigation and not a problem; it definitely looks cleaner. However, I find it to be quite slow. Granted, I’m not on the speediest computer when I’m at work, but the old site was quite a bit faster. I also agree with the annoying roll down ads. So annoying that I never look at them and couldn’t tell you what they are advertising. Although I don’t pay much attention to any ads, I’m more likely to see one that’s just sitting there and my eye goes over it while I’m looking at the rest of the page. I just close the roll down ads as fast as I can find the button to do so.
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issa
January 13th, 2009
9:03 am
Hate it
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kvp
January 13th, 2009
9:07 am
Ugh! I just had a vocal reaction when I opened up the homepage. The old was one pretty crappy, but at least it had some contrast to help with navigation. This looks way less professional than the previous one. I like the new logo in theory, but it’s so soft-spoken and pastel and weak that it just isn’t doing it for me. Make a statement, use some color and contrast. What the hell, y’all???
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ATL Is Better Than Chi/Crock-Town
January 13th, 2009
9:07 am
I Do Not Like The New Format… and for those of you that always want to compare Atlanta with Chicago…Stop Please! We may do some illegal things here in Atlanta, but Chicago takes the Cake. Instead of being known for the self-proclaim 2nd city (which actually belongs to LA, but don’t tell the ppl from Chicago that) Its now known as the most embarrassing/corrupt city in America. No one in the US wants Chicago representing the US in the Olympics. Chicago or Illinois for that matter, will NEVER-EVER be respected as classy city. You lost that with 4 Governors in Jail. Now chew on that!
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J
January 13th, 2009
9:07 am
Like the new format, hate the logo
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issa
January 13th, 2009
9:08 am
I honestly had to recheck to make sure I was on the AJC. I even logged out and logged back in to see if that made a difference
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Matt
January 13th, 2009
9:09 am
Clean and simple is good. Still too many ads. The logo doesn’t exactly scream “history and reputation,” but I guess it fits most of the writing here.
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J David Raiteri
January 13th, 2009
9:10 am
I think paint newspapers, like the typewriter & landline phones & large novels & large file cabinets…..are a thing of the 1900s. In fact, JOURNALISM IS DEAD…..
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Emily
January 13th, 2009
9:11 am
A lot of the changes are subtle, but it is a big improvement. The site is much cleaner and easier to navigate and it might help to remind people what you were starting with. Keep up the good work.
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JLS
January 13th, 2009
9:12 am
The logo looks childish, boring. I’m still looking over the site, but that lower case ‘ajc’ caught my eye and I thought something must be wrong with my internet settings :-/
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DannyX
January 13th, 2009
9:12 am
Not a big fan of the redo. Taking away the Opinion page is a big mistake. No more letters to the editor? No more editorials? Seems you are using this redo to hide the fact that you have greatly reduced the content in the Opinion section. I guess people are easily fooled by flashy diversions.
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Jay
January 13th, 2009
9:12 am
I agree with so many others. I do not like to new web-site. I think it is very childish and un professional. I would like for the AJC to come into the same as the NY Times and Chicago Tribune. So, with all of the resources that you have, please do something that look more 21st century and not to RETRO. I actually logged out then logged back-in to ensure that I was on the correct page.
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Scott Baker
January 13th, 2009
9:12 am
Some have mentioned they can’t find certain things… here’s a cheat sheet…
- News Buzz is now “The Buzz” and is moves to the top of the right column (away from the real news)
-Take a Break items are now found further down the homepage in the right column under the ads – these include:
* Puzzles
* Horoscopes
* The Vent
* Lottery
* Comics
* Quizzes
* Sudoku
* Crossword
Navigation: Under each section there are the subsections (ie under Sports is the Atlanta Falcons section) here are the changes…
- Blogs are now under each section, with top Blogs and a link to the directory
- Breaking news alerts are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- E-mail newsletters are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Featured content (databases, quizzes, etc) are now under each section, with top Featured content and a link to the directory
- Health is now a subsection of Lifestyle
- Living is now called Lifestyle
- Metro news sections (all of them including County pages) have moved under “News”
- Mobile edition is now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Nation / World news sections have moved under “News”
- Opinion columns and blogs have moved under “News”
- Photos are now under each section
- Print edition are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- RSS feeds are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Tools and widgets are now in the right rail of every page below the ad
- Topics pages are now under each section, with top Topics for that section and a link to the Hot Topics page
- Videos are now under each section
- Weather is now in the header on every page
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Raul
January 13th, 2009
9:13 am
It’s okay
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Jamie
January 13th, 2009
9:13 am
I use Mozilla firefox for a browser and the text is difficult to read. One of the reasons I prefer the AJC for local news is that I prefer reading to watching a video clip. I would recommend making the site cross browser compatible.
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Elissa
January 13th, 2009
9:13 am
I miss being able to click on the print edition to get stories that aren’t posted on the AJC Online. Also, I miss the separate health entries. This new version doesn’t seem as user friendly as the former design.
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edge770
January 13th, 2009
9:14 am
Did you get your logo design done by RITEAID? It’s almost as cheap and hideous looking. Go take a look at west coast or even say the Augusta Chronicle newspaper sites. I also want print ads available such as Fry’s available in a pdf format or able to read them online.
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jason
January 13th, 2009
9:14 am
Thanks for making the changes. I would also like to thank you for making changes to the mobile version that I get on my PDA so I can see the same version as I see on my laptop. That was a very frustrating few weeks when the mobile version was the only one available. And I hope you guys won’t be going back to that. thanks -
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Jeff
January 13th, 2009
9:15 am
Boooooo!!!! The old design was much better. This is plain and amateur looking. I thought I was on the wrong site for a minute. Back to the old!!!
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Anita Hall-Cox
January 13th, 2009
9:15 am
Everything looks faded. Not enough color.
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Jon
January 13th, 2009
9:15 am
This is the only webpage that I have trouble reading. Did you change the fonts? I agree the Logo is boring, but I like the new layout.
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$ Bill
January 13th, 2009
9:15 am
I like the new look! It’s cleaner, less cluttered and a bit easier to read.
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Mark Z
January 13th, 2009
9:16 am
This sucks. The AJC website looks something that you would find use the proxy server at work. Please change back!!
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Mimi
January 13th, 2009
9:19 am
Looks washed out. I am not against change, but it needs sharpening. I agree that the logo should not change. I don’t know and don’t really care what Chicago, LA, and New York do.
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Tony
January 13th, 2009
9:19 am
I’ve participated in several surveys to help improve the site, but had I known this is what they’d do with my feedback, I’d have taken greater pains to be clear. This is washed-out, faded, and doesn’t speak well of Atlanta. A newspaper can be a city’s face — it’s identity. This mimics other Cox sites, sure, but doesn’t do anything for the city’s identity. Maybe busy is good, sometimes. Maybe busy means there’s a lot going on. Maybe busy fits the city’s identity better.
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Lucy
January 13th, 2009
9:19 am
I do not like the new look or format. Not that I am opposed to change, but there is still plenty of room for the old stuff, especiall in today’s world where there is/has been SO much changing that the small creature comforts make life good!! I moved to Birmingham about 2 years ago and the “Birmingham News” cannot hold a candle to the AJC. I looked foward to reading the AJC daily via the internet, or at least I use to…………………….
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stock checker
January 13th, 2009
9:20 am
Way to check your links under business / georgia top stocks – it is forbidden.
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Yolanda
January 13th, 2009
9:20 am
No major objections to the new look, but the LOGO IS HORRIBLE. It’s not aesthetically pleasing and does not connected to the AJC brand. Big mistake – I hope no one got paid to create it.
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Chardonnay Nicole Thomas
January 13th, 2009
9:21 am
The new look is okay, but the AJC logo could have been done more creatively by a really experienced graphic designer/artist. I actually think that the old look was a little more accessible and easier to read, but sometimes change is good.
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Scott Baker
January 13th, 2009
9:24 am
The Opinion page is still located at:
http://www.ajc.com/opinion
It’s in the navigation under “News”
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HS Teacher
January 13th, 2009
9:25 am
I make a better looking web site for myself at school on a MAC computer. Your logo is not what Mr Henry Grady would expect. History does matter and change is not always better.
I think AJC, you learned your lesson about the mobile format. I want to see the exact same thing on my iPhone and my laptop.
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Bernie
January 13th, 2009
9:26 am
You really need to lose the big drop down ads, they are as bad as pop-ups. I opened your site and thought I was at firestone.com. I don’t know why a company would do that to their website. Have some pride would you!
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kim
January 13th, 2009
9:26 am
Curt….the print version of ajc is antiquated…print is dead…if online keeps the same print business plan/look/identity…it will fail just like the auto industry.
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A
January 13th, 2009
9:27 am
Can you please move The Buzz from the very top of the page? How will the AJC ever be taken seriously as a source of news if you have Hollywood news and gossip and the latest from those horrible ATL housewives front and center. Seriously, look at WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com, heck even USAToday.com for how a news site should look like.
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
9:27 am
Nice change in the format..much needed…one problem though….the blue is hard to see for older eyes…..perhaps you could darken it more…
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
9:27 am
Trendy, lazy. The faded blue font hurts the eyes. It’s an obvious product of the no-design Facebook and MySpace generation. Do a usability study–or at least read one.
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KSE
January 13th, 2009
9:28 am
I already sent an email saying I thought the new logo was terrible, I really hope this wasn’t a senior level graphic designer who created that for a newspaper. So much is conveyed in the type of font, colors, style that is used and nothing about the new logo says newspaper. The original was much better.
If the AJC folks are bored and need something to do they should try proofreading their online articles before publishing them, I see bad typos all the time.
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Robin Hale
January 13th, 2009
9:28 am
Not a single change is for the better. I wasn’t a big fan of the old layout but at least it wasn’t bland and anemic. Now it’s like looking at a website predigested for second graders. It’s pathetic. Rethink this please!
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Neal
January 13th, 2009
9:28 am
Not bad. The navigation bar needs some color though. It gets lost up there and you almost overlook it.
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inBallGround
January 13th, 2009
9:29 am
Staring to look like USAToday. Maybe you oughtto re-doo access Atlanta for the eneteratinment. I find it the worse to figure out what is where and when (timely reviews would help too).
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Linnie D Williams
January 13th, 2009
9:30 am
I agree with the others. I dont like the logo. The light blue is not
an eye catcher when you long on. When I first signed on I had to look twice cause I thougth I was on the wrong web page.
The info at top of page does not stand out. It seems like now you have
to search more on front page to see if there is any news you want to read. Again with the lighter font—Im working harder now.
Pls change the color if you must keep the design.
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hannah
January 13th, 2009
9:30 am
Right now, people just don’t like it because it is different than what they are used to. I think the new logo is cute and appealing to a younger audience. The new format is much easier to use and understand. Thanks for taking a good thing and making it better
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Michael Scharff
January 13th, 2009
9:31 am
Mr. Baker, I appreciate your tips for navigation. However, you have said NOTHING about being able to get the Local Weather or folks not knowing if we are logged in or not. Really, I’m sorry if I am sounding rude, that’s not my intent. However, the AJC has ALWAYS been my go-to site for news and information, and I am not comfortable with that anymore as of today.
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MA
January 13th, 2009
9:51 am
I don’t mind the new design; it’s the site’s performance that’s annoying me. Slow, slow, slow…
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Scott Baker
January 13th, 2009
9:51 am
Mr. Scharff, I just wanted to followup and let you know that Weather is still at the same location ( http://www.ajc.com/weather ) and can be accessed from the header on every page. We have some major improvements coming in the next few for this section. Also, if you are not logged in you should be directed to a sign in page. You can access email newsletters and breaking news subscriptions fromthe My Account link in the header on every page. Hope that helps.
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BK
January 13th, 2009
9:58 am
You can find all the stuff you are looking for in the menus, people. Learn how to use the Internet. It is cleaner, but the logo is a bit bland. The changes aren’t that drastic. I can barely tell, except it is not as jumbled together.
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Cindy
January 13th, 2009
10:01 am
Looks better, but you really didn’t fix any of the navigation or usability issues that have continually bugged me. Typical ‘redesign’ – all fluff, no substance.
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Scott Baker
January 13th, 2009
10:01 am
We had a server issue that was causing slowness, fixed now
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ron
January 13th, 2009
10:01 am
I still haven’t located the features I like.This site loads like cold molasses.I suppose you spent a lot of money to make this mess.Change for the sake of change.Someone justifying their job.Been there seen that.
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Daxter
January 13th, 2009
10:02 am
Like anything else, it will take getting used to. I agree that the logo is not great.
What I miss is the “Metro” tab in the header. It allowed us to check on stories in each county. Why did you take it out?
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SCOTT
January 13th, 2009
10:02 am
The new look is terrible there is not place to sign in on the front page of this website it’s confusing, i hate it.
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Brandon
January 13th, 2009
10:02 am
The redesign is a HUGE improvement over the previous site. Better in every way. Well done!
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Grace DeVita
January 13th, 2009
10:03 am
It’s about time you made some changes…it’s always been very difficult to navigate
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Rickster
January 13th, 2009
10:03 am
Why mess with a good thing? In an effrot to get better, you mucked it up!!!
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LeFTyNGa
January 13th, 2009
10:04 am
The one thing I always loved about the AJC website is it felt like I was looking at the actual paper. That made it special to me and the navigation was easier. This new format all just seems to blend together. I’m not impressed.
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Mickey Harris
January 13th, 2009
10:04 am
Who cares what color it is,it’s the information thats important. Fantastic Job!
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Kerry
January 13th, 2009
10:04 am
The new look is great! Much cleaner and more streamlined. I don’t have any issues with the logo — I don’t visit your site to see the logo. Most people probably visit your site for easily accessible, quality news.
Now you should try to make your online presence match your print presence, and put more focus on real news stories, as opposed to silly videos or celebrity news. You can’t match Youtube or celebrity sites like TMZ.com.
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Glenn
January 13th, 2009
10:06 am
Gray bars on sides reminds me of “letter boxing”,wuwt?
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Greg
January 13th, 2009
10:06 am
Like someone recently said, “You can put lipstick on a pig….” The fact that “Buzz,” “Inside the AJC,” and other fluff are so prominently featured near the top of the page accurately reflects your standing among true news organizations. Why not be more truthful and just rename it the Atlanta Entertainment Journal?
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Traci
January 13th, 2009
10:08 am
I HATE IT!!!!!!! AJC, why change a good thing?! Bring back the old format. Where in the HECK is the local news???? What’s with the logo? I hate the font as well – it’s hard to read & I’m finding myself squinting to read it!! It’s plain out awful! FIX THIS MESS AJC! WE HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hate is a strong word and honestly it’s exactly how I feel about these UNNECESSARY changes!
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martin
January 13th, 2009
10:09 am
The new logo looks like a generic brand of cookies at a Piggly Wiggly.
Thumbs down!
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M'
January 13th, 2009
10:09 am
Oh, get over it…change can be good..and it has come…it does have a cleaner look and feel to it…and it may prove to be easier to navigate over time.
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Heather
January 13th, 2009
10:09 am
It really doesn’t matter what it looks like because its still the same crappy content. AJC sucks.
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Carolina
January 13th, 2009
10:10 am
Why not keep the old logo/branding? You can do a site redesign without changing traditional elements. The new logo doesn’t convey newspaper to me – more like grocery store.
I can see a lot of cosmetic changes were made, but you’ve still neglected to fix a lot of the usability and layout issues. Perhaps take a look at other, great versions of online newspapers like The Washington Post or the New York Post before making a decision on the final version of the site.
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Joe
January 13th, 2009
10:11 am
I like it. Much more streamlined and easy to navigate. Question: Will other section fronts be getting the same new “look” as the homepage? The sports section et. al seems to be the same, other than the new nav bar.
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luangtom
January 13th, 2009
10:11 am
Nice look….too bad the same biased editor is in charge and the same staff is writing for you.
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Patricia
January 13th, 2009
10:12 am
I like the cleaner look/feel to the site but have to agree with the comments about the logo. The color isn’t strong enough.
And as many others have said, the content is still mediocre. I read/refer to the AJC because it’s our city’s paper of record, but in terms of reading hard/incisive news, it’s a joke.
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Ex-Northerner
January 13th, 2009
10:13 am
Much better! The old was very hard to navigate. The naysayers just don’t like change.
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woodie
January 13th, 2009
10:18 am
The layout is less important than the annoying scrolling advertisements at the top of the page. It says to me, “I don’t respect you so I reserve the right to annoy you with banners advertising products 90% of the readers aren’t interested in”. Take some time to look at Google or Yahoo some day. You don’t see these annoying things do you? Compare their traffic to yours. Ask yourself “how do I advertise to a repeat reader who has a narrow range of interests without annoying him with irrelevant ads?” The answer is not hard.
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Mr. Anderson
January 13th, 2009
10:18 am
Why am I reminded of Planet Radio? But seriously, I like the navigation a little bit better but the logo looks too femme or Apple like or something. I know it’s the style today but with news, I like the traditional look like the WSJ and NYT. But that’s me. The format and navigation are win. It’s only the logo that bites.
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yankee ex-pat
January 13th, 2009
10:19 am
actually, most of the “naysayers who don’t like change” are probably on firefox like me, where it’s loading like crap with navigation loading on top of each other. i could care less about the design, before or after. i didn’t even notice it had changed until i tried to go somewhere from the home page, and noticed the loading problems.
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Najeh Davenpoop
January 13th, 2009
10:20 am
I could care less about the logo… the layout is much better. I wish y’all had a feature where you can move around the different “boxes”, like nation/world, sports, entertainment, etc. so that whatever you read the most could be higher up on the page, like how Google’s personalized web page allows you to do.
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Marian
January 13th, 2009
10:21 am
I don’t like it at all. They say “change is good,” but not this one. The new look is bland and unimpressive. The AJC can and should do so much better.
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yankee ex-pat
January 13th, 2009
10:25 am
well, given the sorry state of newspapers today, i sincerely doubt the ajc had the budget to hire web & graphic designers that knew what they were doing. it shows.
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Danny
January 13th, 2009
10:26 am
I love the new layout. It is much cleaner and easier to navigate. Imagine a news web site that makes it easy to find stories, who would have ever thunk it?
A newspaper website should be about the information and not fancy logos and other useless bells and whistles. People that crticise the logo maybe ought to think about what it was they are visiting the site for in the first place. No doubt there will probably be several updates to the logo to strike a balance that pleases the people who value style over substance but so far I have enjoyed visiting the site.
I haven’t been what you call a big fan of the AJC, but that is related to the editorial slant taken. This web site update in my book is a positive.
Congratulations
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Marc
January 13th, 2009
10:26 am
Change? It’s still cluttered and it still looks like it was made by a 9th grader. There is just too much irrelevant news showing up. The page is just too noisy!
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Kevin
January 13th, 2009
10:27 am
Regarding the logo, you couldn’t have created a more blatant rip-off of HP if you copied and pasted HP’s logo from their website.
Go to google, type in HP, and click on images.
Embarassing.
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Shawn
January 13th, 2009
10:27 am
Far cleaner and simpler than before. Text stands out better. Bold primary colors splashed around before were a distraction. The simple interface explains much of the success of the Google search engine and Facebook.
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Steve
January 13th, 2009
10:28 am
I don’t mind the layout chagnes but the logo looks like you’ve reached the webpage of a cleaning product or company. It’s to sterile and cold. The old logo reflects the history of the paper.
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me
January 13th, 2009
10:29 am
I’m ok with change… but the font is waaaaaaaaaaaay to small now!
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B
January 13th, 2009
10:29 am
The fonts chosen for this site are not clearly rendered in my browser (IE 7). Letters are not spaced properly, the tops or bottoms of capitals are clipped. I suspect someone allowed this choice to be made without adequate testing.
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AuburnZ
January 13th, 2009
10:31 am
I like the format, but miss seeing the sports links in the sports recap on the main page. I will get used to clicking the link from the main navigation, but it means I probably won’t scroll around on the main page as much. This is good for me, but not sure it is good for the people that write on the various sections.
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A
January 13th, 2009
10:38 am
One more thing. Could you *please* change to a serif font? It will help make the site look more polished and the AJC look more serious as a news organization.
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Mac
January 13th, 2009
10:41 am
If Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman are still running editorial content, then the new look is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic…
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Rhonda
January 13th, 2009
10:43 am
the font is too small for people with ageing eyes. also the blue on the white is messes with the eyse.
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Davis
January 13th, 2009
10:49 am
It is a bit cleaner – may take some time to get used to…but… why all the focus in your announcement on Entertainment and The Buzz… are you a news organization or E! ?
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Eric Dye
January 13th, 2009
10:50 am
I like the new look (logo) it is refreshing, and clean looking. It even implements the original look and makes the entire page look more organized – good move! When will the logo be in the browser?
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Elizabeth Griffin
January 13th, 2009
10:52 am
Well, you people have got it wrong from the beginning of the internet. Change everything else, leave the logo alone. That is who you are. Which one of the marketing people is responsible for the new logo? Should be on the next bus out. At least it is the same font.
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Heather
January 13th, 2009
10:54 am
The new logo is horrible. It looks amateur. The type, colors, rounded corners. Yuck. Not professional at all. This logo belongs on the box of a cheap toy.
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Amy
January 13th, 2009
10:58 am
Where is the quick link to the blogs? Like Momania? Am I overlooking them?
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tony
January 13th, 2009
10:58 am
While I definitely think it is an improvement over the look of the previous site, it’s still not befitting the largest paper of one of the nation’s largest metros.
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local news please
January 13th, 2009
11:00 am
I’d like to read more about metro Atlanta on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s web site. Not some guy who crashed his plane in Alabama, which is currently your featured main article. Readers turn to the AJC for local news, about local people. Not pilots in Alabama.
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Traci
January 13th, 2009
11:01 am
I wonder if “Scott Baker” is the one who ERASED my comment. Hmmmm, pretty weird & well typical to say the least! Guess the AJC cannot accept nor take negative feedback on the redesign.
PS: I hate the layout, I hate the font, the logo is horrible and where in the heck is the local news now? I hate everything about the new change! SUCKS!
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She-She
January 13th, 2009
11:07 am
I have put the DENIED stamp on the AJC page. I like the old look much better please change it back asap.
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dreamersrage
January 13th, 2009
11:10 am
The logo is terrible. I agree with others that the colors are washed out, don’t complement each other very well, and just looks a little to small town to me. But, I like the updated look of the site in terms of fonts and arrangement. Easier to read.
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Teresa
January 13th, 2009
11:12 am
THE NEW HOME PAGE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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gasunshine
January 13th, 2009
11:12 am
I don’t see any difference other than the lack of color. The site is still very busy and cluttered.
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Spade
January 13th, 2009
11:13 am
The new look is clean, but way too plain for my taste. I agree with the posters that say that the AJC is moving too far from the great roots that have been apart of the city of Atlanta for years! Please change it back to “THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION”, and do so before you loose the rest of your readers!
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Cammi317
January 13th, 2009
11:16 am
Where is Momania? I can’t find the blogs!!!!!!!!!
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Brenda
January 13th, 2009
11:21 am
Can’t tell that its been improved, just different. Seems to take a long time to load and it took about four tries to get to this blog because server kept timing out. Also, blue on white or white on blue are the two hardest color combinations to read, might want to research that that next time. The dark blue is ok, but the light blue just kind of fades away. Seems to take more steps to get to some items. Again, not improved, just different.
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DB
January 13th, 2009
11:21 am
Atlanta is very deserving of a first class newspaper, when you guys at AJC get it right it is magnificent.
More investigative reporting, and the Food section needs to be refurbished, it used to be a weekly highlight not that long ago, when John Kessler still had “unfortunate” hair, LOL. I hate the new logo, it looks like a middle school contest winner.
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pj
January 13th, 2009
11:21 am
seems harder to find things (navigate) because its blah-er and nothing much stands out. Need more obvious menus. Now I have to scroll down and look for vent link. I also still miss the old scrolling video strip from many months ago. I never look at the videos in their current design.
What’s with the removal of color? It’s cheaper in print, but easy in digital.
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long time reader
January 13th, 2009
11:23 am
Looks very much as a student did the design – do Not like the new logo. Harder to find the various sections – too much “pop entertainment” on the “front page”. Must be wanting to become a tabloid from the layout.
Makes me glad I have found better written and informed news sources than the AJC.
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MD
January 13th, 2009
11:24 am
It looks highly GENERIC!!!!!!!! Hate it!!!!!!!!
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AtlantaNative
January 13th, 2009
11:27 am
First, you cannot tell it is a newspaper from the site. “AJC” could be anything. It looks cheap and does not import verity or gravitas at all. I’ll bet even Bookman will agree with me on this one thing. From the new look, all your columnists are reduced to mere bloggers as there is no indication this is a newspaper.
Second – it navigates fine now, so that is OK. It wasn’t so bad to begin with.
Third, the logo reminds me of the Sealy mattress company or perhaps dental floss. New is not necessarily better. Remember “Izzy” and “Everyday is an opening day in Atlanta” or “ATL” as short for Atlanta (except it takes longer to say). Just because the marketing department or the outside consultants claim it is a good idea or their surveys seem to show that, dosen’t mean it’s not garbage and merely an attempt to justify their continued employment at the cost of your readership.
The new design reminds me of Underground Atlanta – a completely bland mall and food court with the same name as the original; but with no connection to its history, no resemblance to the original and nothing accomplished to make Atlanta a better place.
Does it fit Atlanta? Yes, because it has no connection with the city or its history, a common theme in Atlanta. This is the city that tried to tear down the Fox. This is the city where foreign visitors are amazed that there is no museum of slavery in the South. This is the City that destroyed the Arts Festival by moving to to concrete well before any drought.
Keep messing with the logo and cutting down on my newspaper and my visits will decrease and 20+ year subscription will eventually end. Keep in touch with our history and cater to your audience and you will keep me.
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Gabe
January 13th, 2009
11:30 am
The site redesign looks great. AJC.com is my homepage, so I see it several times during the day, and always browse the top stories and breaking news. Overall the site looks very clean and very well organized. I have to agree with several of the other comments…the new logo looks awful! It looks like a total copy of Hewlett-Packard. Take a look at any printer or fax machine made in the last 10 years and you’ll see exactly what I mean!
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silent knight
January 13th, 2009
11:30 am
I don’t care for the new style at all!! While the pages seem to load quicker, it’s hard to find the sections I want to read.
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Scott
January 13th, 2009
11:31 am
Looks fantastic. Thanks for updating and streamlining the webpage. I think this is long overdue.
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Macca
January 13th, 2009
11:32 am
The new look is blah, the logo is terrible, but you’ve GOT to start making an effort to update story and special feature links faster. I just clicked on a Budget Travel link about a weekend fare to Salt Lake that was originally published LAST FRIDAY!!! Pathetic.
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argh
January 13th, 2009
11:33 am
seriously? this is a redesign? honestly? oh, wait, no you just took a module from a CMS and copied that. The truly defining thing about the ajc and for that matter, the logo, is the utter lack of respect to history and any sort of tribute that could have been implied in this “redesign”
Guys, who did you hire? have you guys talked to the people at Mario Garcia? Poynter? anyone? Please hire a consultant.
Maybe the new publisher (Doug Franklin) will realize how terrible this is and add his input. Please please please before the AJC loses all credibility.
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Nick
January 13th, 2009
11:36 am
I like the top navigation. It’s crisp, much more informative and I feel like I can access more of the site now. I would like to see Atlanta Weather/Traffic complimented with alerts, big incidents, warnings.
The logo, which has been repeated many times, is off the quality of the rest of your product. I would recommend the circle 2.0ish “AJC” to take it’s place. It would add a darker blue to the top, maintain the feel of the redesign and not look like it was thrown together to get width out of a constrained logo. Add Atlanta Journal-Constitution under if it you need width still to fill the space. Even a typographic logo would be better than the two-tone rounded box.
Major headline font needs work. The font has too much space between letters to be the headline font online. A serif font, as mentioned above, could do the trick or a heavier, more stylized sans-serif headline font.
Overall, good job. I think it’s a definite step in the right direction. I think making subtle changes over time will help your design get tweaked.
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Susan
January 13th, 2009
11:37 am
I don’t like it at all! It’s difficult to navigate, and took me forever to find my favorites…the vents. Put it back the way it was, or AJC will no longer be my homepage.
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Nancy - Jackson, GA
January 13th, 2009
11:37 am
The new design is cleaner, but my questions are regarding the lack of AJC paper copies in my county.
1. Will the AJC make Parade Mag available through your site?
2. Will sale ADs from the Sunday paper be available on your site?
3. What about the Sunday Comics?
4. I tried the AJC Print version and the font is much too small when an article is printed. I attempted to fit it to the page and portions of the article did not print. Please help with this issue.
5. If it is not feasible to home deliver in outlying counties, at least provide weekend papers to some of the convenience stores/gas stations in the county.
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Jane
January 13th, 2009
11:37 am
Obviously, the AJC must really be suffering, since it spent NOTHING on the redesign of this site. It navigation leaves much to be desired and the logo is hideous. I will not start on the content, which in brief has always sucked. But come on, this is the city where I live and I cannot read this paper, though I force myself everyday. At least promise us faster updates on stories (that are poorly written) and links (that may or may not work).
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Sharrieff
January 13th, 2009
11:38 am
Where is the “Opinion” section? How do you expect me to find Luckovitch? In a word, this new format SUCKS!!!
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WTF
January 13th, 2009
11:38 am
Why isn’t our local news on the headline? How stupid AJC? You guys gave the headline to a pilot who aborted his plane in another state headlines over Atlanta headlines. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!!!!!
By the way, what’s with the horrible, small sized font. This is definitely a turn for the worse. I would expect way better from a major news source. Bring the old back!
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StephHatesIt
January 13th, 2009
11:39 am
I am sorry, but I cannot agree with previous posts. I actually think the logo looks antiquated and borderline comical–not at all journalistic or anything to be taken seriously. I understand wanting a sleeker look, but this is not it. Nonetheless, I am an avid reader and will try my best to adjust.
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RED
January 13th, 2009
11:48 am
The new format is OK. I prefer the old one. I hope you have made changes to the video section, whereas we can read the caption without scrolling up and down.
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Spade
January 13th, 2009
11:50 am
If you aren’t from Atlanta, and are unaware of the abbreviation of AJC to mean The Atlanta Journal-Constitution then how are you supposed to know you are visiting the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website? I think the Atlanta Journal-Constitution should be spelled out somewhere on that hideous AJC logo.
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cynthia
January 13th, 2009
11:52 am
I like it! Good job.
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
11:56 am
Everyone needs to quit b****ing! Bunch of drama queens. It’s a subtle change that cleans it up, not real reason to be excited either way.
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Trevor
January 13th, 2009
11:57 am
This new format is expedient, and very exciting, I like it very much and welcome the new change. Once others begin to use it they will also love it. great job on the design.
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Walt Belcher
January 13th, 2009
12:00 pm
The type is kinda small isn’t it? Hard to read and I’ve go 20/20. I can’t even read what I’m writing now. Well, if I get my nose on the screen.
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
12:06 pm
Quickly, (before to many folks see this) go back to the old format. I’ll forgive and forget this mess….btw I still haven’t forgiven or forgotten your removing @Issue from the sunday paper, for that reason alone I no longer buy a sunday paper. Surprise me and do the right thing, go back.
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Douglas
January 13th, 2009
12:06 pm
HORRIBLE!!!! HP needs to sue !!! Fire the design team and art director for approving such crap!!!
Just like Atlanta, the AJC has no identity! Look at the NY Times site, NY Daily News site, LA times site. They all has a sense of history and establishment. Your new logo would have been “new” in 1985…but its 2009. Get the original header back up, and hire a new layout team. Be SMART in design, not just NEW. Once again you are thinking everyone in Atlanta is a dumb as you.
The AJC is no longer reaching to be world class huh? Just a big “town” with stupid drinking laws, no nitelife, and horrible cookie cutter developments going up everywhere. Why doesnt anybody here have any style??????????
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Deirdre
January 13th, 2009
12:09 pm
Where’s the link to ajcblogs on the front page. Do we have to go searching in different depts just to get to a variety of blogs?
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Michael Scharff
January 13th, 2009
12:09 pm
Mr. Baker, I’m just now getting back on after a long morning meeting. I appreciate you response. However, i am afraid you did not address my actual concern as to the weather. Before today, you could enter a zip code for a different location (it could be anywhere in the U.S.) in the link at the top of the home page, and then, that would be the default weather for the user as long as he or she was signed in. So, me being in Augusta, GA, I always knew what my current conditions were anytime I went to the home page.
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Lee
January 13th, 2009
12:15 pm
What? You guys changed the web page? Haven’t noticed….
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Jeff
January 13th, 2009
12:15 pm
The new logo is not good. Not good at all. Really bad. Ugly.
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trent jones
January 13th, 2009
12:21 pm
It’s somewhat better, BUT…
the AJC is not going to survive much longer. seems like you guys are taking the “dumbed down” AOL approach by featuring funny videos on your front page.
and those giant dynamic ads are a disaster. they may make short-term money but they are killing the website.
we all have access to the NY Times and WSJ for national news.
we use craigslist for classifieds.
we use Yelp and Urbanspoon for restaurants
we use rottentomatoes for movie times.
AJC should focus on providing top-notch local coverage. break out into community sections.
AJC cannot survive in its current format. it’s the worst major paper in the country and even the good ones are struggling.
i can’t really blame the web designers for being given such a poor product. there’s not much you can do if you are being asked to cater to the lower-income people who still would read this paper.
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Julia Lavine
January 13th, 2009
12:21 pm
There has been a few comments about not being able to find MOMania. This blog can now be found under “Lifestlye” in the navigation and then under blogs. All blogs can be found at http://blogs.ajc.com/
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Jennifer
January 13th, 2009
12:28 pm
I don’t like how the Opinion section is no longer on the menu bar across the top. Otherwise the change is fine.
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Kurt
January 13th, 2009
12:34 pm
The new design is better. People may think they don’t like it more, but I’ll bet you see more traffic.
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Rae
January 13th, 2009
12:37 pm
I like the new look for the site, but DO NOT like the logo at all!!!!! Please keep the old one or try something else.
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Douglas
January 13th, 2009
12:37 pm
whew! OK , I have calmed down now.
I was so angry that I did not see my typos.
I just get so upset when an opportunity for IMPROVEMENT arises, and so often, this city FAILS.
The AJC and the website look should be a bridge of the past and the future. Having been a graphic designer for the past 20 years, I know what good design looks like. And this is NOT it. Sorry.
If the AJC was some small local paper…fine, the “logo” would work. But for a city of 4 million people, that is struggling to find itself STILL, you must do better.
Its very simple really… observe what SUCCESSFUL cities are doing. (And not to copy, but learn.)
Being the MAIN source of news about Atlanta gives your paper and your designers a HEAVY burden. You bear the task of giving Atlanta the respect, and admiration of the world. Sounds silly to some, but true. This is how design is viewed in New York City ad firms. (I’ve worked at the best) You cannot just slap something together and think you have done your job.
Its very plain to see by the many negative comments here, thats EXACTLY what has happened.
**step your game up AJC designers…BAD DESIGN.**
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Chris Boyles
January 13th, 2009
12:38 pm
As a daily reader, this is a step in the right direction. The editing still needs work though. Several times a week I find articles plagued with misleading headlines, typos and chopped sentences. Also, dead links are frequently a problem. And just because it’s a blog doesn’t mean the writer gets to be sloppy (this means you Rodney Ho). I hope the redesign isn’t just superficial. There needs to be a commitment to overall site quality.
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Chris Boyles
January 13th, 2009
12:40 pm
P.S. I agree that the new logo looks like it’s from 1972.
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joyce
January 13th, 2009
12:42 pm
Put it back like you had it for God’s sakes. No improvement; just an irritation. Have to hit “search” to even find the Vents. Nuf said…
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Jenna
January 13th, 2009
12:46 pm
I have to agree with the majority… I do not like the new site. Sometimes it’s okay to leave things as they were. It lacks any real design and the navigation sucks, as an avid reader of this site( I check several times a day) I think I will start getting my new at Foxnews.com or WSBTV.com.. their sites are very graphic and easily navigated.
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Debbie
January 13th, 2009
12:50 pm
Hate it…..but that won’t stop me from visiting the web site all day….everyday.
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Joe
January 13th, 2009
12:56 pm
Like the new format, HATE the new logo. Why the heck would you choose baby blue??? UGLY!
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jamie
January 13th, 2009
12:56 pm
There needs to be vent access at the top of the page by the weather – for our urgent venting needs.
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Gael
January 13th, 2009
12:57 pm
Of course you expected pro/con comments…that’s what happens with change. I like it…smooth, sharp, clean looking. I have been doing logos over the years and I’m glad you took the giant risky step of ‘coming up to date’. No matter what other graphic artists say, because even there you will diffence of opinions, you did a super job! Although I do miss the ‘feels like temperature’. Good luck!
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Joe
January 13th, 2009
12:58 pm
Hard to read font.
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mel
January 13th, 2009
1:00 pm
Chiming in to echo “I understand wanting a sleeker look, but this is not it.”
The design is far too soft, the logo looks silly and the focus problem (blur of nondescript content toward the center of the page) that the old one had is still there and perhaps been magnified now due to the mushy look of the right rail. The design could really use some punch.
The positive is that you’ve wrested the stylesheets back from oblivion and kicked those nasty old JavaScript bits out for jQuery. Congrats to whomever did all of that work, I know it was probably daunting.
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Paper or Plastic
January 13th, 2009
1:04 pm
I am a native of Atlanta but currently reside in Philadelphia. I religiously visit http://www.ajc.com, often multiple times daily, just to keep abreast of the happenings of my native city from afar. Though invigorated by the call for a new design, I have to say that I, like many others apparently, am underwelmed by the simplisty and passe’ style of the final product. AJC is a one of Atlanta’s signature pieces, and the world is browsing-believe it or not! Might there be slightly more energy exuded to make the design appear more forward and representative of the level of southern sophistication that the city stands for? Or shall we resign to being stuck with this current rudimentary and uninspired style?
With the exception of the weather and date/time stamp in the margins, I’m not moved at all. Hmmm…I think I’ll browse nytimes.com instead…or how bout this, paper anyone?
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Annoyed
January 13th, 2009
1:08 pm
hate it.
Before I didn’t have to scroll down – now I do. How is that progress? As for the logo – I don’t remember what the old one looked like but it’s 3 letters either way. However, I would say this new logo looks less like serious journalism and more like Teen Beat.
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itsme
January 13th, 2009
1:08 pm
The clean look is nice, but I miss the larger number of stories available from the front page of the old design. Where’s the Vent?! I would like to see a logo that is not so bland. I also can’t find the link to the Print Edition. That’s the only place you can find Ken Thomas’ genealogy column. He has so many readers, there should be a prominent link somewhere.
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Michelle
January 13th, 2009
1:10 pm
I don’t like it when i pulled it up this morning i thought i was on the wrong site. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” bring the old style back. This one looks like it’s missing something
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Tami
January 13th, 2009
1:14 pm
I thought I was on the wrong site, but when I figured out it was a new format, I really liked it. I am okay with change, and I like the more up to date (looking) format!!
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Janice
January 13th, 2009
1:15 pm
Hate it, hate it, hate it. It is so generic. Nothing pops out at you and makes you want to read it.I am all for change, but not all change is good.Right now all I want to do is find out where you put the vent, and maybe I’ll be okay.
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C. Davis
January 13th, 2009
1:20 pm
Nothing to get too excited about….it’s OK. Where is the print edition tab. I like to see a list of all the articles like before.
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Kim
January 13th, 2009
1:24 pm
I have laughed all day at the new logo. It looks like an old ’70’s grocery store or maybe a generic brand of canned beans! I give it a month tops!
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Julia Lavine
January 13th, 2009
1:25 pm
You can find the vent under “Take a Break” on the homepage. You can also access via “News” in the navigation. Looking for the Living Vent? Look under “Lifestyle” and then under features.
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Laughing
January 13th, 2009
1:27 pm
Check out our brand new layoff!!
Oops, we meant lay-OUT!
Where is the leadership at this company?
AJC is abandoning everything, including the employees, that made it great. Good luck with your new, exciting changes. Give me a break.
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Jeff
January 13th, 2009
1:27 pm
I don’t like this new look at all. The AJC has been suffering from a HORRIBLE identity crisis in recent years! They seem much more interested in catering to those who moved here in the last 10 years from Boston, Chicago, Ohio, New York, etc., instead of taking care of its CORE AUDIENCE – those of us who have lived here and grown up here all our lives. You need to ditch these new “gimmicky” ideas of a new logo, more fancy crap, online video, a stand-up comedian link, etc. and get back to being a NEWS-PAPER…. give me information, content and features that me as a NATIVE ATLANTAN would care about. The old web site look was JUST FINE – this new one has no heart, no soul, no identity. It looks like it could be one of 1,000 newspapers anywhere in the world. Give me back my traditional AJC logo and traditional AJC web site… this new one is garbage and I have no interest in visiting here anymore. I’ll go to a regional paper’s web site or USA Today to get my info now, thank you very much.
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Cindy
January 13th, 2009
1:27 pm
Lacks pizazz. Very bland. Liked the previous homepage so much better.
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Lindsay
January 13th, 2009
1:28 pm
So generic! I recently moved to Baltimore and loved the AJC web layout, organization, etc so much that I continued to read the AJC online over 600 miles away! Now it looks about the same as the Baltimore Sun, which is not impressive, hard to read and difficult to navigate.
It lacks personality, the logo is so “blah!” and there is nothing that identifies this site with the history and reputation of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution! What a disappointment, and this coming from someone who does welcome change!
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Dondee
January 13th, 2009
1:28 pm
Don’t like it….
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Joeventures
January 13th, 2009
1:29 pm
I like that the new format is cleaner. Navigating the site really did get much easier. I can now more easily find more of the features I previously wasn’t aware of.
The logo could be better, but it’s just a logo — doesn’t bother me too much whether it looks like something that belongs on a box of dryer sheets, or if it looks “newsy.” The content matters much more to me.
Having a link to the “Print Edition” somewhere at the top would be most helpful. The NY Times website has a great example of this.
I see there’s slightly less emphasis on the trashy celebrity news junk. The less emphasis, the better. I would appreciate more emphasis on the stuff that actually matters. What’s going on in my part of town?
When the AJC got rid of the Horizon section, there was a promise that there would be more of the type of coverage seen in Horizon. I would love to see an online version of the Horizon section. You could demonstrate that you really are giving more coverage of Horizon-like stories by labeling them “Horizon” and dedicating a page of the website to those stories.
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Shantel
January 13th, 2009
1:32 pm
I really thought I was on the wrong site. Just this morning everything was fine. Now, after lunch, I find this. I really don’t like it at all. I really thought I had did something wrong. Please change it back! Please! AJC gives great coverage of news happening now and I truly look forward to it each and every day. Keep up the great work, but in the meantime, correct this error! Thanks
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
1:35 pm
I hate the new look…but I greatly appreciate your letting me critcize you again and again about it.
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BolnH20
January 13th, 2009
1:35 pm
Don’t like the logo (after I found it). The old logo was your brand and recognizable. The new one blends into the banner. While the format of the may be easier to navigate, the page is just like all the other internet site.
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BPJ
January 13th, 2009
1:37 pm
The home page is a bit less cluttered, and seems as if it might actually emphasize NEWS a bit more. If so, that’s an improvement.
The arts page, as always, stinks. It is sloppy, incoherent, seldom maintained or updated, and most of the arts stories in the print edition can only be found if you click on the little note at the bottom for people who are looking for a story they saw in the print edition. Stop and think about how pathetic that is. For an example of what real arts pages (plural) in an online edition look like, check out the Denver Post website.
No, I mean it, really: look at the Denver Post website, and imitate what they do (within the bounds of copyright law); no one at the AJC seems to have the imagination to design one themselves, and none of the editors seems to care.
I agree with the critique that the logo is bland; at least you should put, underneath it, “Atlanta Journal-Constitution” in the familiar script. It’s a familiar mark of your brand.
Also, I agree with joeventures about the Horizon stories; some of the best journalism you have done was part of that section, and there’s plenty to report on as Atlanta’s development patterns continue to change.
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trent jones
January 13th, 2009
1:39 pm
ha ha.
they censored my previous blog post b/c i pointed out that they were becoming irrelevant since we get classifieds from craigslist, restaurant reviews from Urbanspoon, national news from the NYT.
AJC now caters to people who read Blondie and watch “funny” youtube videos.
this paper is finished. but the Cox sisters have more money than god so they can keep it on lifesupport.
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Steve
January 13th, 2009
1:40 pm
What was the point?
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Justin
January 13th, 2009
1:41 pm
Bring back the old design…
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EPAJ
January 13th, 2009
1:41 pm
Do not like it.
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GC
January 13th, 2009
1:44 pm
Colors are too light, too bland, amateurish looking. Needs some dash.
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Tom
January 13th, 2009
1:44 pm
The new logo looks like the style of logo that would have been on a Braves’s cap in the early 1980’s. The new font is a distraction, not an improvement.
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GC
January 13th, 2009
1:46 pm
I really like the pulldown designs on the header bar. It’s nicely thought out and brings most of the most-looked-for elements into easy reach.
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KEB
January 13th, 2009
1:46 pm
So far, the layout/design is much cleaner. I agree with a previous commenter: when is the AJC going to recognize that Coweta, Douglas, and other western counties exist? Not EVERYONE lives in Cobb or Gwinnett.
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Where have real journalists gone?
January 13th, 2009
1:48 pm
Is it that hard to look at the LA Times, the Tribune, the Washington Post, or the NY Times websites to see what real newspaper sites look like? I mean, yes, what Atlanta’s pets are wearing and who slept with who on what tv show is absolutely the most important news going on in our area. Way to cover the important stories, AJC. If nothing else, the site looks more like the rag that the newspaper has become.
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
1:57 pm
how about a poll about the changes…dynamite or dogpoop, I suspect it would be about 80% dogpoop
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Nate
January 13th, 2009
1:59 pm
The new “ajc” design looks like it could be a logo for an appliance manufacturer, and it kind of gets lost. It’s not prominant enough and looks like part of an advertisement link.
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Nate
January 13th, 2009
2:00 pm
Enter your comments here
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Chikaodi
January 13th, 2009
2:11 pm
New design is awful!!!
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Nubianteacher
January 13th, 2009
2:24 pm
I HATE IT!!!!! GO BACK TO THE OLD!
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Red
January 13th, 2009
2:26 pm
I like the old look from this morning. I was blown away this afternoon to see this change. There is an old saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it”.
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Lynn
January 13th, 2009
2:30 pm
I don’t like it. When I opened it up the first time, I thought that I made a mistake by going to another site. The color is gone – where is the color. Go back to the original. It was great!
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martha
January 13th, 2009
2:30 pm
this is awful — why in the world would you change something that looked so classy????? did somebody have nothing to do? was their job going to be eliminated? well it should be now — get this online ajc back the way it used to be — i was always so proud to think when looking at other papers online how good ours looked — now it’s so ugly just awful — and like everyone is saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”!!!!!!!!! GET IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS!!!!
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Frankie
January 13th, 2009
2:31 pm
Nice!!!!!Clean, Crisp, No distractions.
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martha
January 13th, 2009
2:33 pm
where are my manners — PLEASE GET IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS!!!! THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Tara
January 13th, 2009
2:35 pm
It is not user friendly. Drop down menu is cluttered. Liked the old setup better.
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Rhonda
January 13th, 2009
2:36 pm
Like I said before, why fix it if it isn’t broken. It looks like a student project and not a very good student at that. The adds on the right are larger than the articles/menus. The drop down adds need to go bye-bye!! It is just very boring. Doesn’t invite me to look further into it.
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Allen
January 13th, 2009
2:36 pm
The two main things I want to see from the mainpage are news by county and the op-ed page. You’ve made both harder to access. Brilliant.
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Rhonda
January 13th, 2009
2:37 pm
oops, meant to say “ads” not adds.
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CE
January 13th, 2009
2:39 pm
Sorry guys, I hate it. Very sterile. Guess it’s just another sign that southern charm is gone:-(
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Marc
January 13th, 2009
2:40 pm
I found a bug. Although the main headline changes (now it’s the Ron Clark band), the link associated with that headline still points to the previous headline (the Smoltz story).
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awful
January 13th, 2009
2:41 pm
this may be the worst page of all time. i use to come over here and rip all day long. i now will have to take my rippin elsewhere. maybe cnn?
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Ripped
January 13th, 2009
2:45 pm
This site is dog$%*^! Bring back the old one and bring back Smoltz.
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Jeremiah
January 13th, 2009
2:52 pm
Your new look stinks, just like your sorry columnists such as that MORON Cynthia Tucker!!! Your paper is not even Journalism, it is biased towards the LEFT way tooo far, and that is the true reason why the AJC and papers all over the country are failing!! People are sick of the rampant YELLOW JOURNALISM that exists today, and tired of the fact that all fairness, and unbiased reporting is DEAD today! Whatever happened with telling a story based on fact, and reporting news in a way that the facts are delivered, without the manipulation and author’s personal thoughts trying to tell the people what they should be thinking? The new look of the AJC will not fix that!!! Maybe instead of pathetic marketing attempts, you guys should focus on trying to be REAL JOURNALISTS? And what’s up with highlighting and making “ENTERTAINMENT” news so important? That is part of the problem with this country, so many people can tell you the latest BULLCRAP about who Paris Hilton is slumming around with, but God forbid someone knows who their state Senator is!! The AJC is PATHETIC and I personally can’t wait for you to go BANKRUPT!!
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BC
January 13th, 2009
2:52 pm
The logo looks like a knockoff of the Hewlett Packard Logo. As someone that visits the site everyday sometimes two or more times a day, sorry I’m not impressed. It kind of looks like the draft before you complete the project. Especially since the layout is pretty much the same you just moved headings around a bit, and all I can really see that’s has changed majorly is the logo. A established paper such as this should never change their logo. Your logo is the first thing people see and say oh..that’s the AJC. Right now it looks like a start up paper.
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GC
January 13th, 2009
2:56 pm
I like everything about the redesign except the logo.
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Rainbow Bright
January 13th, 2009
3:00 pm
needs a tad bit more color – maybe a green to compliment to blue
too much white – a second color would help to highlight areas of interest to your readers
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Jeremiah
January 13th, 2009
3:00 pm
I got an even better idea… why don’t you change the logo like Pepsi did and make it look like the “Obama Change/Hope BS Logo” I mean, this pathetic paper threw Real Journalism out the window during the election cycle to worship Obama like the rest of our American-Idol crazed society, why not go all the way? Why not just change the log and the name of the paper to “OJC”… Instead of the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation, you can call yourselves the “Obama Journal of Corruption”…
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Sharon Grandberry Burton
January 13th, 2009
3:01 pm
Thank you to everyone at the AJC for your hard work to keep us informed. Overall, you’ve done a great job! I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback about the website redesign. I am a frequent internet user.
1) The logo is not catchy. I would have preferred to see something more unique in terms of color selection and font. The brand identity is not distinctive enough for the viewer. It is almost generic. I would prefer to something more creative.
2) The organization of content is much better. The content is easily accessible in terms of navigation on the screen. I enjoy the stories. The timing of stories and the accuracy works well for my needs.
3) I like the visual enhancements such as more video, pictures, flash elements.
4) You offer a great variety of stories. I enjoy Private Quarters and Vacation pictures. Nice touch to keep your general audience connected. We are invited to add to the site. Great engagement opportunity. I really like the photo galleries.
5) Good use of space. I like the white space.
Thank you!!!
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Professional Web Designer
January 13th, 2009
3:01 pm
It’s still slow, clunky, and lacks good design. All you did was change the logo and move some stuff around. Thankfully those stupid expanding ads are gone but this is much the same old design with a few minor changes. A true redesign would have addressed usability, the clutter, and directed my eyes somewhere important.
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RomeNewswire
January 13th, 2009
3:04 pm
Its cleaner and easier to navigate… not sure about the new logo yet…
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John
January 13th, 2009
3:04 pm
Please redo the logo. Looks like your were trying to save money or noone could agree on a new design.
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Joan
January 13th, 2009
3:05 pm
Is Woman to Woman gone?
Also, the logo is so 1989.
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Bozo
January 13th, 2009
3:05 pm
It sucks. Hard on the eyes. However, on the plus side it is so “white” Terence Moore probably does not like it.
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Sue
January 13th, 2009
3:06 pm
Those drop down-ads is what pays for you to read AJC online!
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asu23
January 13th, 2009
3:07 pm
The layout is nice and clean. However, it took me forever to find the Vent- should be a little more prominent.
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Val
January 13th, 2009
3:11 pm
Please return to the old layout. The new layout has too many empty spaces.
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Dale Collins
January 13th, 2009
3:11 pm
Uncreatingly BORING!
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Julia Lavine
January 13th, 2009
3:14 pm
Woman to Woman is still on the site and can be found under “News” in the navigation and then under opinion.
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Tom H awks
January 13th, 2009
3:15 pm
I subscribed to the AJC for several years, and when they quit delivering in my area I bought it at the store. I loved setting down in my easy chair at night and reading the AJC. I am sorry but setting down at a computer and reading the paper is one of the most non relaxing things I can think of. I called about mail delivery but could not get same day delivery Thanks goodness the Gainesville times and the USA Today still serve my area.
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Ree
January 13th, 2009
3:16 pm
I thought I was on the wrong web page and had to log in twice. I am not feeling the new layout, prefer the old one. However, change is supposed to be- my suggestion would be to tweak it just a bit.
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Karen
January 13th, 2009
3:16 pm
The logo and header line are too light in color and too plain. A graphic designer needs to work on it!
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
3:16 pm
Everyone bow to the authority of Professional Web Designer!!! All hail, his holiness!!! Lean not on your own understandings, but trust all html queries to Professional Web Designer!
I’m surprised you didn’t post a picture of your degree, or better yea link to your portfolio. Yeesh! While I don’t necessarily disagree with anything you said, AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHO DEALS FREQUENTLY WITH WEB DESIGN (see I’m legit now), your attempt to legitimize your comment through your pretentious title is one of the douchiest things I’ve seen in quite a while.
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tevo
January 13th, 2009
3:17 pm
I do appreciate that I no longer have to wade through several columns of celebrity or non-Atlanta news to know what’s happening here, today. If I want entertainment news, I’ll go to people.com. I count on your expertise for local and regional happenings. Keep those at the top!
In general, I find your new layout more scannable than before.
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
3:19 pm
Bozo – funny comment.
I agree the new logo is quite “HP”-ish
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nypeach
January 13th, 2009
3:27 pm
ONly two headlines really pop. The rest of the type is very light and almost sinks into the background. It’s a lot of small type on the page. Also, the banner photo is kind of small to be a banner photo. But I like the layout–much easier to find things that I want.
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dc
January 13th, 2009
3:29 pm
Looks like my 4 year old designed it. Very plain and not pretty at all. Must have taken at least an hour to design. There isn’t even a Living tab. I guess you must have let go your real designers.
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BPJ
January 13th, 2009
3:30 pm
It appears the new logo is going over as well as the New Coke did.
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Carter is a Fool
January 13th, 2009
3:53 pm
The look is perfect. It is washed up, just like the AJC. We once had a great newspaper, but now it is a mere shadow of itself and staffed by left wing hate mongers such as no talent Cartoon Boy with his sidekicks – Cynthia Tucherheadinthesand and Jay Boogerman. It really is a great design for this washed up rag.
No worries, they soon will be bankrupt and out of business. It would not take much to get back to being a great paper. Report the news not Invent the News or Slant the News or Spin the News. Try being an impartial observer who reports the news instead of spinning it to the left.
Fire the idiots who run the Editorial Board as they have NO TALENT. Cynthia always finds life is viewed best through her racial glasses. Jay looks at the world through a funhouse mirror designed to distort the truth such as his recent hack job on Ronald Reagan. This group has no idea that Carter is our worst President and Ex-President.
I agree with this earlier comment:
If Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman are still running editorial content, then the new look is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic…
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Finch
January 13th, 2009
4:02 pm
I do not like the new format AT ALL!! Where is the Metro section? It looks like you guys tried to copy the cnn page!?!?!?!?
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Lori
January 13th, 2009
4:12 pm
I’m not too crazy about the new format. It was a bit text heavy to me. Visually I found it harder to pinpoint what I was looking for, like this was my first time looking at it rather than being a frequent user. Also, the blogs were hard to find. As a side note, why isn’t Henry included on the metro page anymore. We didn’t fall off the planet you know, and as one of the fastest growing counties, you’d think the AJC could find us important enough to include. I agree with others about those half page ads, get rid of them. Keep them small, if I’m interested I click on them, but please don’t splash them in my face. The AJC.com used to be a pleasure to view, but now I’m not sure sure.
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Jerry
January 13th, 2009
4:17 pm
In the words of the inimmitiable (sic) Bert Lance, “If it ain’t broke, Don’t fix it !”. I DO NOT LIKE IT !!!
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GRS
January 13th, 2009
4:23 pm
It looks like the HP logo.
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SHunter
January 13th, 2009
4:32 pm
What happened to the name of the paper? You seem to have lost your identity of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The format seems more readable, though. Wish there as a tab for the Metro section.
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Person
January 13th, 2009
4:34 pm
Hey “Carter is a Fool”. Real pple work here. People who may or may not agree with a lot of those leftist. People who would be in some serious serious trouble if they lost their job. Please don’t be so flippant about the company going down. We don’t need any more bad news during this trying time. Talk about the design, not your opinion.
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JEH
January 13th, 2009
4:38 pm
After further reveiw,your site still lacks any style to it.
Aalso why do you continue to leave links to some things that are old & useless, ie: under clayton / metro Katrina General Stepping down/ after 11 months I believe he’s left the building, & 95 new high school coaches
begin practice, only 8 months old. WHO’S SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING THESE THING ?????
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smh
January 13th, 2009
4:55 pm
Oh that is what you call it….well if dumbing down the paper version was more of a shock after 35 years of subscribing to something not even big enough to lay in the bottom of my birdcage….this is not a surprise because WHOMEVER is making decisions over there doesn’t know what the heck they are doing. I am canceling my paper and going with a real newspaper–the times or even gasp usa today.
This resembles more of an amateur college paper. But then again. That probably is fitting. You used to be a great paper, did you lay everyone off???? and now ith a staff of two you are pretending to have a paper?
Bye Bye AJC. You are history.
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George
January 13th, 2009
4:57 pm
So far, I like it. A lot more articles right on the 1st page.
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Annie
January 13th, 2009
5:03 pm
Hi guys,
Not bad, I can get used to it, BUT the blogs are too hard to find. May want to consider putting them as an option in the top bar (not just under “entertainment”).
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Mort Merkel
January 13th, 2009
5:58 pm
Well, it’s not as craptastic as The Tennessean, but it’s getting there.
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nowhereman
January 13th, 2009
6:03 pm
Fool with your layout all you want, but please show some discipline in your headline writing “Branake: Stimulus would help economy” is not what the Fed chairman said. As quoted in the first paragraph of the story, he said “could help”, as long as his other suggestions were implemented. Was this an oversight, or propaganda? Hard to tell with the AJC, new logo or not.
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Malcolm
January 13th, 2009
6:07 pm
I do not find this format pleasing or any easier to use. I find it cluttered and totally uninteresting. It reminds me of the drab Chicago Suntimes and the New York Times. Lifeless. Where has all the southern heritage gone.
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Beverly
January 13th, 2009
6:11 pm
I love it, its clean cut and easy to navagate
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whateverboo
January 13th, 2009
6:13 pm
I like the new layout.
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ray b
January 13th, 2009
6:14 pm
I like the new format- cleaner and easier to use. Only thing I am not sure about is the logo- Why don’t you go back to the old one? It had more “class” and distinction, in my opinion.
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Tonya
January 13th, 2009
6:14 pm
This design does not not look good at all. It’s not attractive to the eye at all and makes me think of a website designed for pre-schoolers, Please change it immediately!
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Terry
January 13th, 2009
6:15 pm
Hate the new format.I read the ajc.com every day, or I used to. I’m even going to delete it from my “Favorites”. Good-by ajc.com!
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Cliff
January 13th, 2009
6:16 pm
Love the new layout. It was long overdue. Kudos to your web team for making such a bold change. As with everything people hate change and unfortunately the majority or web users adapt to this change very slowly but be proud of your new website and don’t worry about all the complainers. They will soon forget AJC.com was ever any different.
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Janet
January 13th, 2009
6:16 pm
BIG improvement! Looks great!
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Jared
January 13th, 2009
6:17 pm
Wow! I can finally read AJC online easily! Everything is much cleaner and easy to find. Thanks AJC
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Eric L.
January 13th, 2009
6:23 pm
BIG step backward! Site is busier than it was before in my opinion; old site was much simpler to navigate and stood out among other news sites that I have seen. Now AJC.com looks worse and like other newpapers sites, staid, busy, navigation-difficult and like any other newsite. But why ask us what we think? You’re not going to change it anyways (though you should change it back).
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J
January 13th, 2009
6:24 pm
I’m glad you went back to the straight drop-down menus. Previously highlighting ‘Sports’ and then having to mouse down and left or right to choose ‘Hawks’, etc was a pain — if you moused over adjacent categories (easy to do on a laptop with a touchpad) you lost your place and had to go back and start over.
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Jay
January 13th, 2009
6:26 pm
Julia, Scott, AJC,
I think it’s great that you “manned” this blog to help readers navigate. Very nice service.
It was probably a BAD idea to post the question/blog on the first day. It appears most people can’t find things – that’s to be expected with a rearrangement. We also know that a lot of people just don’t adapt well to anything different.
IMO, the site is fine… I read it today actually not even knowing it was a redesign (I did find it less cluttered), and I did notice after 17 years the link to “Would you name your child Exxon, Peach, or Texaco” is FINALLY gone from the home page.
I must agree with the others though. Whoever thought that logo was representative of the paper, this era, or a city like Atlanta was way off. That logo is real, real tired.
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ed cox
January 13th, 2009
6:27 pm
Nice enough, I guess. Why spend the money to change it? In my next life, I want to be a consultant convincing companies to change things so that they can be…changed. Not necessarily better, just changed
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fer
January 13th, 2009
6:29 pm
What was wrong w/ the old format?
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Sp Ed Teacher
January 13th, 2009
6:29 pm
Let’s all vote with our fingers. Just like the changes a few months ago to the mobile web site, I waited 1 week, went back and it had not reverted back, so I deleted AJC from my bookmark bar. AJC relented and it came back.
I will check back in one week and if it is the same, I will delete it from the bookmark bar. I went cold turkey to the AJC 2 years ago after getting it for almost 30 years. You removed the sections of the paper I liked to read.
If I had a HS student in Digital Media turn in something like this, their grade would be “below” average.
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Alma Q
January 13th, 2009
6:30 pm
The logo is quite forgettable. I would not abandon a decades long logo for something that looks suspiciously like the HP logo. Try, try again.
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Kris Broughton
January 13th, 2009
6:30 pm
This is terrible – does it have all the bells and whistles on it yet? The NY Times site is white, and it doesn’t look this wimpy. I just redid my blog, and at this point, there’s not much difference between the two – which means that you guys have lost some juice, because I should be able to instantly tell that some professional level graphic designers have been at work here.
The logo is as bad as that Izzy thing that was promoted as the Olympic mascot.
Can we get some swagger back into the logo? Some sharpness? Some design sense that evokes the hand of a mighty corporate news behemoth, rather than the efforts of a teenager tooling around with the Adobe software he got for Christmas?
I know damn well you’re not going to give the VP who spearheaded this sh&t a bonus, unless its a bus pass for him and his family to get out of town. This is the FLAGSHIP paper in your enterprise – how could you do this to your readers?
To Atlanta?
To yourselves?
KB
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Dano
January 13th, 2009
6:32 pm
We’re missing one MAJOR component here … a DIRECT link to The (Metro) Vent from the home page! In fact, the Vents should be their own drop-down menu item under Entertainment or Opinions … just make it EASIER to find The Vent quickly! Otherwise, I like the simplified structure!
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K
January 13th, 2009
6:33 pm
The logo is boring, but the rest is nice.
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Really?
January 13th, 2009
6:35 pm
It looks like you’re trying to compete with the big boys…and doing a poor job of it. C’mon guys. Be the local newspaper that you are and stick with what you know. Bad design, bad banner ad placement, horrible logo. Nuff said.
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LahLah
January 13th, 2009
6:36 pm
Everything looks fine but the logo is really plain. You all can do better on the logo.
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Pete Marentay
January 13th, 2009
6:37 pm
The new web page loads much faster – and “gone” is that stupid ad that blocked half my screen for the first minute the page was open. This is an overall improvement.
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Maya
January 13th, 2009
6:40 pm
I’m digging it. It’s not as busy and is easier on the eyes. It didn’t take as long load on my screen, either. I’m lukewarm on the logo, simply because it’s rather dull. You could use a tad more color, though.
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SteveSC
January 13th, 2009
6:44 pm
Hate it. Too much sizzle…no steak. The drop down ads are a pain. More news and less BS.
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Paul McDowell
January 13th, 2009
6:48 pm
Your newly designed home page demonstrates that not all change is necessary or effective. The overall appearance is unappealing and forgettable. Please think this through more carefully and give us something more creative and visually appealing!
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Lynn Mc
January 13th, 2009
6:54 pm
I LOVE THE NEW LOOK! IT SHOWS MORE NEWS AT A GLANCE, WHICH IS WHAT WE NEEDED~! THANK YOU!
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DAlex
January 13th, 2009
6:55 pm
Sorry, doesn’t do it for me. To bland, the logo doesn’t pop, layout doesn’t have a natural flow. I’ll be seeing this forever, won’t I. *sigh*
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james
January 13th, 2009
6:56 pm
would like brighter colors and a vent person that will print( all) printable vents ty james
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CB
January 13th, 2009
7:02 pm
Typical Atlanta style….bland, no real identity, the only one in the place that thinks it looks good, and is scared silly by true cities like NYC, Chicago, and LA.
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Al
January 13th, 2009
7:04 pm
The ajc looks like the logo for Sealy Posturepedic. The site is kind of bland, I”m not very impressed.
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jake
January 13th, 2009
7:06 pm
Weak, bland, disappointing. I’m rooting for you guys, but new design looks like it was done on the cheap. No imagination, no creativity.
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CP Girl
January 13th, 2009
7:07 pm
Uninspired logo, too little content, no real organization to the page. This new design is not an improvement, and I am spending less time navigating the site as a result of it.
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gabeaux
January 13th, 2009
7:08 pm
The page is too weak, not crisp enough. Departments should be bolder. This looks like a step backward.
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Richard Thomason
January 13th, 2009
7:09 pm
Did’nt like the other one,hate this one
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Chip
January 13th, 2009
7:16 pm
Not sure why you felt the need to change your site but it is now extremely difficult to read. I don’t like the changes at all. At least give us some contrast so it will be easier to read.
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Nick
January 13th, 2009
7:22 pm
I’m not impressed at all. Too blah!! Just has no pep
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fred
January 13th, 2009
7:22 pm
Too much on each page, like going to home depot the first time, you get lost and walk away
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Lou Ann
January 13th, 2009
7:23 pm
I don’t like the new format. The old one was fine – why change it?? Seems like a big waste or employee time…….and money.
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Dave
January 13th, 2009
7:26 pm
Looks like AJC copied almost identical 11alive web format
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Dee
January 13th, 2009
7:27 pm
I visited the AJC site several times a day and knew exactly where to find the info I needed. Now I can’t find a thing… I don’t like it at all. Its not about making changes its about making changes that make sense. This does not make sense to me.
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Wheels
January 13th, 2009
7:27 pm
I really like the new format! Simple and less flashy is definitely the way to go. Looks like your serious about information and less about eye candy banners and blinking advertisements. Thanks!!!! I’ll continue my subscription!
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lafae richardson
January 13th, 2009
7:30 pm
i like the new format very much. i think if the people who don`t like it would open their minds to change, and sit back, exhale and be patient. they too will find that there is always some new way to open the mind whenever we view something `different`. it`s all about how you open your mind to `change`.
peace, lafae
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horace
January 13th, 2009
7:34 pm
The Delta logo was screwed up by its new designers and now the AJC has followed suit. Both should return to the logo that that was their identity.
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l vee
January 13th, 2009
7:36 pm
dont like it at all no i dont i guess fox will be home page
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Sharon
January 13th, 2009
7:36 pm
Hate it! The only thing I enjoy is the online vent and there isn’t a link to be found for it! Goodbye!
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G
January 13th, 2009
7:37 pm
Awesome! I love the fresh, new, clean look. Keep it up. Now be sure to give us real news and not fluff.
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Ed
January 13th, 2009
7:39 pm
It is so much easier to check on the weather now. I like other changes, too. Thanks!
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Kermit
January 13th, 2009
7:40 pm
This new design must have been done by a student at North Metro Technical College. We used to do stuff like this when I was a student there.
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Kent Mitchell
January 13th, 2009
7:42 pm
Why not use the same format as the Drudge Report? It’s simple, easy to locate stories.
AJC is still about as easy to navigate as Rubic’s Cube.
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Jane in GA
January 13th, 2009
7:42 pm
Nope. My very first comment when the page opened ” I hate this new page”. Plain, boring, nothing special. It does look like webmaster101. Is this another sign of the economic times? I’ll go to MyFoxAtlanta.com.
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Bridge
January 13th, 2009
7:47 pm
Everything is all over the place. Too junky. I like the old look.
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Rebecca
January 13th, 2009
7:49 pm
I think the new homepage design is a step down from where you were. It’s much harder to find key news items. Not user friendly and way less attractive. You’ve butchered your logo with the graphic treatment around it.
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Pam
January 13th, 2009
7:51 pm
Not crazy about it.
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
7:53 pm
new one? sorry. Just “Tweek” the old one a little and you’ll have it right!
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Corazon
January 13th, 2009
7:53 pm
I guess I will get used to it. Seems like something is missing. Please get rid of the drop down adds on the front page, very annoying. Change will happen but this seems a bit too plain. Maybe that’s a good thing.
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Christina
January 13th, 2009
7:59 pm
This format is too BRIGHT and not comfortable to read. I usually read ajc.com early in the morning and late at night. The new format is like an overexposed picture, or a SLAP in the face! Also – it appears very similar to CNN.COM, the old format was unique and colorful. The new format is stark and plain. THUMBS DOWN!
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FirstGlance
January 13th, 2009
7:59 pm
Better, because its faster. Speed kills.
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DHD
January 13th, 2009
8:00 pm
I don’t mind the new look. What I mind is meaningless headlines. Nobody cares that Madonna’s dog died except for Madonna’s dog and it died. Seriously, put up some real news on those headlines.
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Douglas
January 13th, 2009
8:03 pm
Well it seems that Atlanta has spoken!!!!! It gives me hope that this city has some style…so substance.
Sadly the people in charge need to either – die off, leave for Alabama, or just quit whatever job they have.
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS A REAL NEWSPAPER. we need a paper that honors the past and looks foward to the future, all the while making any changes WITH CLASS… THOUGHT AND REAL TASTE.
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS REAL ARCHITECTURE!!!!!!! Not this bullcrap cookie cutter Post, Gables, Psuedo McMansion crap. For example- Why would the developer of the new property going up at the base of Freedom Parkway and the Blvd ave. and hwy interchange be allowed to put up such a disgusting plain -Jane building?? Why did these idiots get approved???? This was an opportunity to create some amazing buildings that ADDED to the Atlanta skyline that is so stunning in that area. ALL OF ATLANTA’S POSTCARDS SHOW THIS AREA!!! Why did not one INSIST this be designed by an award winning noted designer??? SHAME ON ATLANTA!!!!!
ATLANTA NEEDS TO BE A CITY THAT HAS PUBLIC ART!!!! I have never seen a “city” so devoid of art!!!! Does this place have NO CULTURE?????!!!!!
From now on any project exceeding 2 million $$$$ needs to have 100k in public art factored in… this art needs to be approved by a panel of Atlanta’s taste-makers…NOT some old crusty losers that think that STUPID FAKE ARCHWAY at Atlantic Station is art… what a joke!!!
WE NEED A CITY THAT HAS A REAL NITE-LIFE!!!!! Why is this city so damn boring???!!!!! Tourists have NO REASON to come here!!!!! That WACK Cenntenial park?? LOL That wack, WACK world of COKE? That WACK Aquarium?? The Underground?? LOLOL
STOP MAKING IT HARD FOR PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS OWNERS WHO WANT TO OPEN UP BARS, CLUBS AND STORES A HEADACHE!!!!
SELL LIQUOR AND BEER ON SUNDAY!!!! Like REAL cities do!!
CLOSE CLUBS AT 3AM Like REAL cities do!!!!
GET A CLUE ATLANTA!!!!!!
WE NEED A REAL CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS HORRIBLE AJC LOGO AND LAYOUT IS EXACTLY THE SAME STUPID SIMPLETON THINKING THAT HOLDS THIS CITY BACK.
(and no…… I’m NOT moving back to NYC… so don’t waste your breath!) LOL
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Trey
January 13th, 2009
8:03 pm
The new layout is just fine. A lot of the major newspapers are going for the new streamlined appearance (and for those of you that are surprised that this happened so soon, the AJC sent out that survey MONTHS ago – I received the survey and the additional information related to content last year).
Yes, the look and a lot of the features and functions have moved, but do you complain when a shopping site changes how it looks? Oh, a shopping site doesn’t have a blog where you CAN complain. You just have to be able to navigate to an area that LOOKS like what you want. I don’t think that this is SO bad that you just stop pulling up the website. Are you gonna go and start picking up the physical paper? The one that most of you can’t stand? Get over yourselves. The AJC made a business decision, one that most forward thinking companies make to keep up w/ the times. The old layout was a bit dated; it’s been in service for more than a few years. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to view it, but I challenge you to find another local site w/ the coverage that ajc.com provides.
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skorpio
January 13th, 2009
8:06 pm
no words
the new logo is just horrible
i know we’re in a recession but dang the teenage computer geek next door could have designed a more colorful page.
3 words:
DO NOT WANT
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Joe
January 13th, 2009
8:07 pm
TERRIBLE new format !!!! You all got ripped off if you paid a dime for this.
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Frank Wren
January 13th, 2009
8:14 pm
New logo, which we DIDN’T ask for, but STILL no Hawks and Thrashers Vents, which we DID ask for…?
Thanks, ajc…
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FalcoRex
January 13th, 2009
8:15 pm
Clean, fresh, white, bright – I like it.
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Katy
January 13th, 2009
8:19 pm
Not enough Color . Too Drab
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Jane
January 13th, 2009
8:24 pm
The new format does make it easier to find what I read AJC for (state news, esp politics), but I don’t like the new logo and AJC website is still more like People magazine than a substantive newspaper.
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James Sanders
January 13th, 2009
8:24 pm
…blah, dull, drab, non-descript, ordinary, mundane, awful, terrible, sucks, crappy, and did i mention blah? please, go to the new york times, la times or chicago sun times for inspiration. this design does absolutely nothing for me. it’s an embarassment to all those who call atlanta home. please change it. thanks, JiMiFLiX!
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Lisa Carter
January 13th, 2009
8:25 pm
I’m sorry. But this is not attractive. I don’t think I’ll be visiting as often.
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Print Fan
January 13th, 2009
8:26 pm
Where is the PRINT EDITION NOW?
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Print Fan
January 13th, 2009
8:26 pm
Enter your comments here
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Jim Chester
January 13th, 2009
8:27 pm
Where’s the opinion page? Oh-and the Metro section?
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Jerome
January 13th, 2009
8:28 pm
**This is racist.**
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displaced
January 13th, 2009
8:29 pm
great look. congrats.
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Denise
January 13th, 2009
8:29 pm
Same s…, different day.
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Graphic Designer
January 13th, 2009
8:30 pm
AJC? Ummm….are we selling soda pop or reporting news here? The logo looks like it belongs on a soda pop cap. I love the new menu,,,but the old design and old logo was much better.
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Kim Hill
January 13th, 2009
8:33 pm
If your designers were looking for an ‘about face’ for the spread, they achieved it. However, as a long time reader and lifetime resident, I have always associated the AJC with a classier more refined look. This one will take a LOT of getting used to.
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Pamela Y Jones
January 13th, 2009
8:33 pm
This looks like something that my granddaughter who is 11 years old could have done. Who is so desperate for job security decided to
do something so childish and unprofessional. Making changes just
for the sake of change just to make sure you justify your job is
outright pitiful.
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bar
January 13th, 2009
8:36 pm
AJC…..I think this new format is terrible. It’s just plain and it does not catch my eye or i’m sure alot of other viewers also.
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mel
January 13th, 2009
8:40 pm
i don’t like the new logo either – it’s throwback hp with ‘ajc’ letters in the middle instead. the font is very juvenile/whimsy. branding didn’t get this right.
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SixSigma
January 13th, 2009
8:41 pm
Great change! I would like to offer a couple of improvements. Please add more babes in short skirts & bikini’s, and an expanded sports section – then it would be perfect! Change is good!
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SP
January 13th, 2009
8:46 pm
I guess the AJC has joined the “CHANGE” bandwagon eh? I am not sure I like the new format…but in time it will grow on me. Will the print version format change as well? Is this a way to cut costs? I can’t even find my favorites…Metro section, horoscopes etc. I have to hunt & peck to find what I want. Don’t particularily like it…but it’s free so I login, read what I want to read and log back out…nothing to get too bent out of shape about. Don’t sweat the small stuff people.
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Faithful Reader
January 13th, 2009
8:50 pm
Hate it! Just hate it. Give me the old layout. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!
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John Kenna
January 13th, 2009
8:51 pm
If it wasn’t broken… Sorry folks you blew it. This format is a big step back…
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Steamboat
January 13th, 2009
8:52 pm
This is style over substance. Bring real change to the AJC —> Fire Jay Bookman and Cynthia Tucker.
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ANGEL
January 13th, 2009
8:53 pm
I really hate this new look. It’s boring and doesn’t stand out like the previous layout was. The colors are to calm and not vibriant enough.
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Keshaun
January 13th, 2009
8:53 pm
I like the new format but I have also noticed lately that there have been frequent grammatical errors. For example, the Obama link reads Obama wants “reamining” 350B bailout money. There have been numerous other stories that have one or more errors and I know everyone makes mistakes but there should be much more scrutiny when it comes to print.
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Webmaster K
January 13th, 2009
8:54 pm
Okay where’s the Metro link in the header?
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john123
January 13th, 2009
8:57 pm
The old format was much easier to navigate and stood out much better. Makes me wonder why you changed it. Hope you did not pay too much for someone to come up with a lesser option than what you had.
Can you add the ability to comment on your stories. Maybe even offer suggestions for additional stories so you can become a mainstream player again.
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ssiscribe
January 13th, 2009
8:57 pm
It breaks my heart that the logo changed. The AJC logo always has been bold and powerful. The new logo? Soft and fluffy, totally dismissive of the history of this once-great newspaper.
As for the layout … I actually like the white space and some of the reorganization. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get past the changing of the logo.
If there ever was a doubt whether or not this paper still covered Dixie like the dew, this new logo answers that question more definitely than any words ever could.
–30–
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wooleybare
January 13th, 2009
9:01 pm
Dont give a hoot about the layout of the webpage. Im more interested in the content, which still SUCKS!!! Still reads like a cross between USA Today and STAR magazine.
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Vexorg
January 13th, 2009
9:01 pm
Geez, where did your webpage designer get the inspiration for the “new” logo…looked at a Hewitt-Packard printer during the thought process???
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steve
January 13th, 2009
9:01 pm
do we have to cater to blacks so much in atlanta?
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S. Palin
January 13th, 2009
9:07 pm
hey you guyz, stop dissin the new logo, Bristol worked at it for like……over an hour!
shes be commisioned to redesign that gold topped building you guyz got downtown!
she’s gonna have it painted Bratz Pink! you betcha!
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Scott
January 13th, 2009
9:07 pm
Hate It!
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Victor McCrary
January 13th, 2009
9:08 pm
I think the new format is very bland and lacks creativity. It appears the AJC has taken a few steps back. This is not “Change we can believe in”
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Brian
January 13th, 2009
9:08 pm
I’d have to agree with some of the other posts regarding the logo. We can do better than that. Probably a result of design by committee.
Otherwise, though, I think this is very good work. You’ve stuck to solid grid, you have a good footer that’s packed with consistent global navigation, and the main navigation at the top is very good and makes it easier to get get anywhere with minimal clicks. The typeface is airy enough and readable for the older crowd. The sliding ‘Inside the AJC’ feature is nice also — clean and easy to use. For a newspaper, a clean layout is more important than eye popping design, and you — like the New York Times Online — have taken a good step in the right direction.
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Carl
January 13th, 2009
9:09 pm
Being of the older generation,who reads the comics every day.It would be nice if the font in the comics and elsewhere could be larger.
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GJJR
January 13th, 2009
9:09 pm
Change is good sometimes. I think the new look is good. It is not the look that is important but rather what we are reading.
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JJ
January 13th, 2009
9:10 pm
The new look is fresher, more current, cleaner — all together better! Glad to see AJC is not afraid of change.
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Di
January 13th, 2009
9:11 pm
NOT!
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GW
January 13th, 2009
9:12 pm
Whoever did the new logo is NOT smarter than a 5th grader! Very disappointed with the new logo – loss of identity with the faded, lighter blue vs the strong bold blue; all that history washed away. It’s hard to look at the logo seriously. For the headmast, I’d like to see some background color used. That along with the old logo would give it an immediate and strong presentation! The font is easy on the eyes. The basic layout is better organized.
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AnotherWebmaster
January 13th, 2009
9:13 pm
Nothing wrong with change, however, this format puts me in the mind of a blog as opposed to a news periodical. If I didn’t know the AJC I wouldn’t think that this was the city newspaper. I might think it some offshoot type of site like accessatlanta.com. My feeling is that this is a newspaper and therefore you should let it be known that you are just that in your logo.
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Dr. No
January 13th, 2009
9:14 pm
Did that dude say “don’t sweat the small stuff”???
Hey Bubba –
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid looking yellow bridge across 75/85.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid slogan “everydays opening day-ATL”.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid community around Atlantic Station.
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid Atlantic Station!!!
Its thinking like that, that gave us that stupid GW Bush.
– I wish Obama was our Mayor.
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Amanda Martin
January 13th, 2009
9:17 pm
Not my favorite. I think the old format grabbed the readers attention quicker.
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AC
January 13th, 2009
9:18 pm
I don’t like it. It’s very genetic. The other format was the AJC that I was familiar with. Even though it was “busier” I didn’t mind it because it reminded me of the print edition. Looking for a new home page as we speak.
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Lisa
January 13th, 2009
9:19 pm
What about a tab for Arts and Culture…? Your reduced coverage and visual arts reviews are really hurting you among folks I talk to in the arts community, as AJC becomes less read…there’s so much going on locally, in large AND smaller venues; we want to read about it, and see images…
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Juan
January 13th, 2009
9:19 pm
Without all the dramatics, I also agree that the new ajc logo looks too much like HP and seems uninspired. I do think, however, that the site is crisp, clear, and it doesn’t stand out (in a good way). I like that it’s heavy on text with images lightly interspersed. I agree with others that the drop down ads are annoying, but I have been tuning it out since the first time I saw them.
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DWAYNE
January 13th, 2009
9:20 pm
I LIKE IT, IT LOOKS CLEAN AND UNCLUTTERED, MORE PROFESSIONAL
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
9:20 pm
For the love of God, could someone correct the spelling of “remaining”, under the heading politics and transition, it was mentioned 20 mins. ago. There’s a nifty thing called spell check someone might want to look into.
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Vet
January 13th, 2009
9:23 pm
I do not like the new format…too plain.
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disgusted
January 13th, 2009
9:23 pm
In order to see the homepage I have to adjust the text size to medium. Now the page is unjumbled but the text is too small for me to read!@%#$#@@#$%
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jm
January 13th, 2009
9:24 pm
Just like the end of last year’s Peachtree Road Race….AWFUL!
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jw
January 13th, 2009
9:26 pm
Like the layout – the logo mimics the old HP logo too much – plus it doesn’t give the AJC a ’serious paper’ appeal against the other big ones. The logo looks kinda like a gossip site. The page is perfect, the items easy to find, just feel the logo isn’t ‘professional’ enough in a world class market!
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Brian
January 13th, 2009
9:27 pm
Rest assured that your feedback will be taken seriously when you refer to the design as ‘genetic’. This is why aptitude tests ought to be prerequisite to the right to vote.
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Ryan
January 13th, 2009
9:32 pm
I love it! Old school Bravos “A”.
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Joy Johnson
January 13th, 2009
9:32 pm
Sorry guys. For a world-class publication in a world-class city, I find this new look a bit simplistic, juvenile, and magazine-like. At first glance it appears too colorful and not a good package for hard news. Sorry but you asked!
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Tracy
January 13th, 2009
9:32 pm
I really like the new logo – gives weight to the fact that more people are getting their news online & online readership is going to drive business decisions & revenue not print production. The rest of the site really looks like a re-skin more than a redesign because my eyes go to where I’m used to seeing things (breaking news, images, etc) and I easily find what I’m looking for and expect to see. Nice job!
ps – SEO’s rocking too(kudos Mrs. Fabella)
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SteveR
January 13th, 2009
9:34 pm
New logo looks like a cheap rendition of HP logo. They may not appreciate their corporate logo being copied so badly. Liked the old format better even though it was too busy. It at least looked like there was more substance to it. The new one looks washed out. A decent high school student could have done about as good. Very disappointed in the effort especially with all the decent web designers out there.
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grittykitty
January 13th, 2009
9:34 pm
The whole thing looks terrible – cheap and tacky! Logo looks like a rip-off between hp and Pfizer. Blech!
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
9:35 pm
Nice, clean, and easy to find what I’m looking for quickly. I like it a lot.
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sean
January 13th, 2009
9:37 pm
looks great like the real newspaper
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DR
January 13th, 2009
9:37 pm
Huge improvement over the old site! Very clean, info is where you expect, and the 90s-era design is gone now.
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OMG!
January 13th, 2009
9:39 pm
Seriously…do you really think we want to HEAR Ton Shane?????? Get a clue
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Deb
January 13th, 2009
9:42 pm
Hate it.
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K
January 13th, 2009
9:44 pm
Did you get the money to do this be alienating all of your readers in the North Georgia that you stopped delivering the paper to to save money?? Idiots…
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Mike
January 13th, 2009
9:48 pm
I love the new look. Now if you’d just get rid of Terrence Moore I’d be in heaven.
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George
January 13th, 2009
9:48 pm
I like the clean design of the homepage. Easy to read. The logo is very weak though. I think the AJC needs a very powerful dynamic logo that everyone recognizes like the NYT. I do like to read the online “Print Edition.” I miss holding a real paper in my hand but convenience, ease and costs make this not reasonable. I wish the Print and Online Editions matched verbatim. I also hope that the AJC recognizes what they have lost in shrinking their delivery area so severely. Lots of people love the AJC around Georgia and they no longer get it. Like my Mother, only 1.5 hours drive from downtown ATL. I even heard of a man selling the AJC out of the back of his truck so people could get it in the hinterlands. I think the use of the word “footprint” for circulation territory is a PR nightmare. Very insensitive. The AJC has been a part of people’s lives for many years before some of the punks that work there were born. The other Georgia is important. Not just some metro counties, despite the costs of delivery. I live in Midtown Atlanta and only read the paper online so that is fine for me. The AJC always needs to be truly customer service oriented and that will solve the problem. Keep at it!!
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Brian
January 13th, 2009
9:49 pm
Please stop screwing with the comics. I don’t want anything dropped or changed. Color is great for Sunday, but totally not necessary for weekdays. You had it right, but just had to “fix it”.
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Charles
January 13th, 2009
9:49 pm
I get links on the net from all over the place concerning news article from different media sources (i.e. radio, newspaper, and TV sites). My biggest complaint is having to search for the state or nation of the source of the article on the net. I live in the Atlanta area so I know it the largest newspaper in Georgia, but I could not find anywhere that said it was in the state of “Georgia”. I doubt anyone with basic geography knowledge would not know the newspaper is in Georgia, but mapquest does list 10 different cities of Atlanta in the United States. Regardless, I think the AJC would like to be considered a major news source in Georgia unless the cuts in circulation to rural areas of Georgia meant that the AJC was going to try to disown most the state.
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Gary
January 13th, 2009
9:50 pm
Thank you
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Douglas
January 13th, 2009
9:52 pm
ATTENTION AJC!!! I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF DOING MY VERSION OF YOUR “NEW ” LOGO…THE LINK TO SEE IT IS…
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/992049944.html
I CAN BE CONTACTED THRU THE EMAIL SUPPLIED HERE AND HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH YOU USING MY VERSION FOR A NOMINAL DESIGN FEE ($300) AND CREDITOF ITS CREATION. As you may notice in my redesign I was very aware of the historical feel of the spelled out version, I feel usage of this is important when a serious, “journal-istic” feel is wanted. The sleek AJC font is meant to convey the future, modern world we are speeding towards. The circle is symbolic of 285 and gives the ability to “stamp” or brand when needed. The colors are a bit bolder than that thing at the top of this page. Atlanta needs to be viewed by the world as BOLD, NEW and Cutting Edge.
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Douglas
January 13th, 2009
10:06 pm
heres the logo on a web page….
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/992064350.html
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lindsay c
January 13th, 2009
10:21 pm
it’s a bad knockoff of the chicago tribune. check it for yourself chicagotribune.com. while you’re there, check out some of the articles. the writers at the ajc could learn a thing or two about writing from the trib. and the editors too–some papers, online or print, catch spelling and grammatical errors.
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Chuck
January 13th, 2009
10:36 pm
The logo font is too thin and there is no focal point. The logo is a weak generic design with a very bland color. The website overall is not as easy to use as the old one and many people are going to have to reset their fonts in order to even read the site. So WHY?
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Barry
January 13th, 2009
10:48 pm
I like the new streamlined look. The previous design of the site was too crowded and busy. Good work!
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Michael in Decatur
January 13th, 2009
10:52 pm
It’s be nice to have the date up top near the logo…..
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Blair890
January 13th, 2009
11:04 pm
I love the new look and feel but miss the easy access to the Metro section from the header. Your readers want news from their home counties without having to hunt for it. Put METRO back on top. Otherwise… kudos on the new design. Well done.
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Hank Tanner
January 13th, 2009
11:18 pm
AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!! IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE OLD FORMAT?
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Fredrick Robinson
January 13th, 2009
11:39 pm
Please do not keep this boring, uninspired and utterly lackluster design. I makes it hard to return to the site. Design is supposed to draw the reader in, visually communicate something grand, tell the reader what they can expect. In short, it should make the reader want to read. This design fails miserably. It looks like a logo for an upstart soap company. I admonish you to reconsider. It’s a graphically a disaster. Remember New Coke? Change is good when it’s inspired, and there is nothing about this that says inspiration. It’s a do-over.
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PubliusIX
January 14th, 2009
1:24 am
Ugg-leeee. And I agree wholeheartedly with the comments that the new “trendy” logo is a pointless – no, stupid – effort to distance the site from one of the proudest journalistic traditions in America. People turn to a newspaper website, rather than Joe’s News Blog, because of the history and gravitas of that institution. Did the new publisher have something to do with this lunacy?
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Bernard
January 14th, 2009
1:42 am
The new website looks is great! Fresh, clean modern. Umm, about the new logo….Its flat out unacceptable!
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Dr.Weiss
January 14th, 2009
2:12 am
Oh goody! Now I have another reason to HATE Atlanta!
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Mom 2 Boys
January 14th, 2009
2:21 am
Sorry don’t like it. We check the site often and it just seems to much to me now. Something is just not right, sometimes less is more. Also all the pop up adds and moving adds are a little to much. All we want is to read the news. I don’t mind change, when it’s for the better. Cannot say this is better, Sorry!
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ebaby
January 14th, 2009
3:51 am
I miss having the BLOG highlights as part of the “front page”. I especially miss having the direct access to Momania.
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Jim hudson
January 14th, 2009
6:40 am
I’ve got a 22 inch high resoolution display panel and I cannoth read most of your website because of the font size.
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ronald
January 14th, 2009
6:52 am
increase the font size on your monitor
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Jim
January 14th, 2009
6:52 am
The new logo made me think of Sealy mattresses logo when I saw it. hmmmm…dont know if that matters. OTherwise the format looks fine to me.
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john
January 14th, 2009
7:01 am
what happened to accessing the on-line print version of the paper? don’t like the new format at all.
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Paula
January 14th, 2009
7:06 am
The design or color makes no difference to me. However, I am yet to find Rick Badie’s blog or any of the others. I have searched for a long time. I can not waste any more of my time looking.
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Jeff
January 14th, 2009
7:09 am
You might want to do some testing of your new design with the Firefox browser – not everyone is using IE.
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KEN DUDLEY
January 14th, 2009
7:15 am
Why?
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Mike R.
January 14th, 2009
7:20 am
I like the direction you are going (simplified), but I think you need to simplify even more. I don’t like the new logo…but the logo doesn’t really matter to me. Thank you for making the top banner expansion optional.
My suggestion would be to allow users to customize the layout to their liking (like http://my.yahoo.com and http://igoogle.com). Otherwise, you will never satisfy a majority of readers.
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BKA
January 14th, 2009
7:38 am
I agree with Curt. Adopting a logo that matches your URL makes sense, however to abandon the traditional masthead script is short-sighted. Minimally, you should have kept “The Atlanta Journal Constitution” script across the top, that’s your brand, or do you wish to deny it? The clean look of the rest of the home page is refreshing and simple.
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AJP
January 14th, 2009
7:42 am
Don’t care for it. Where are the blogs?
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kc
January 14th, 2009
7:53 am
I HOPE THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS REDESIGN GETS FIRED.
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dino
January 14th, 2009
7:56 am
just deleted ajc from my bookmarks….i like things quick and easy. bye ajc.
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Brandi
January 14th, 2009
8:07 am
Logo is horrible and the site is very bland design-wise. I preferred the old better.
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Chanin
January 14th, 2009
8:13 am
The new publisher needs to be fired…and I wouldn’t pay Douglas $1.00 for the new logo- it sucks. Douglas might want to rethink his career choice.
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George
January 14th, 2009
8:18 am
It’s different…keep changing. To quote a army general: “If they don’t like change, they are going to like irrelevance even less.”.
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Greg
January 14th, 2009
8:21 am
I don’t like the new format because I can’t find the “Question and Answers” section. It may seem trivial, but I always looked for to reading that section to learn something new.
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Angela
January 14th, 2009
8:32 am
Hate it! It is very boring and plain. The site looks like it has been left in the sun too long and has washed out all the color! And the new logo really is very bland and washed out as well. I can understand making changes, but this was too drastically in the wrong direction. I also agree about the ads when you first log on-HATE THEM!!
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Lee
January 14th, 2009
8:32 am
Get rid of the pop-up commercials on the front page. They always take away from the headlines, and are a pain to eliminate. Annoying your readers is not the best thing to do.
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Brenda
January 14th, 2009
8:35 am
It’s cleaner. Not as cluttered or messy. I like it!
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kelley
January 14th, 2009
8:41 am
I think it’s easier on the eyes – not cluttered and junky. But I do agree w/ others who say you need to get rid of the drop down ads. Annoying!
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Mark
January 14th, 2009
8:53 am
I’m not as concerned about the color of the page or the logo as much as others seem to be. What concerns me is content and navigation. Thus far it seems much easier to get around, less cluttered, and the pages seem to load faster. These things I like. I’m fine with the new logo and honestly was fine with the old logo. I haven’t noticed a change in content.
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Jim
January 14th, 2009
8:59 am
the layout is ok. The new logo is atrocious.
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Mark
January 14th, 2009
9:08 am
The opinion page needs it’s own section on the navigation bar. It was much easier to get to the opinion section on the old site. It is also misleading and ironic to put opinion under news.
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chip shirley
January 14th, 2009
9:21 am
I like the NYT cover style better where the front page of the website actually looks like the newspaper.
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Sue
January 14th, 2009
9:52 am
I do not like the new format. The new logo is just plain. It does not stand out at all. The ads are thee only things that pop. The news articles are lost on the ads.
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Mike
January 14th, 2009
9:59 am
Where is the tab for the GA Drought/lake levels? This is desperately needed and viewed by many…
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Mel
January 14th, 2009
9:59 am
The new logo reeks! It looks cheap! Please bring back the old logo!!! Everything else is fine.
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Akintunde
January 14th, 2009
10:01 am
Very nice redesign-clean,easier to read and locate top stories. Thanks. One item-please, please dismiss with the drop-down ads.
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Denise
January 14th, 2009
10:01 am
Uh where is the date? I dont think I really like it as much as the other format… Cleaner.. but I think something is missing
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Mort Merkel
January 14th, 2009
10:01 am
I absolutely hate that you took the opinion section off the bar at the top.
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Joe
January 14th, 2009
10:05 am
Love the new logo and the larger type and clean layout. Would love to see more feature material from Catherine Fox, Pierre Ruhe, Bo Emerson and Jim Auchmutey. They are such good writers, but don’t appear enought in print. Please use their talents more and more. Can only help your circulation.
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Ron
January 14th, 2009
10:06 am
Whose kid did you get to redesign this?
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TBo
January 14th, 2009
10:12 am
I am not crazy about the look of the redesign, the drop down menus take up too much screen space and are no match to the previous dynamic menu bars. Most of all, the new ajc.com appears to be much slower than before, it times out all the time which it never did before. GET A BETTER WEB SERVER, OR, GET A BETTER WEB DEVELOPER…
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HCCynic
January 14th, 2009
10:35 am
My first reaction upon loading the new page was to double check the headlines of the news stories to see if they were current. The page, or maybe it was that logo, struck me as so 2003. Literally, it looked as tired as your editorial stance.
I think your money would have been better spent replacing your editorial staff (pretty much the entire staff with the exception of Jim Wooten) and bringing in some decent, and honorable, people to assist Mr. Wooten in a true message of hope, and compassion.
Oh well, absent such improvement to your blatently obvious, unapologetic, hate filled, elitist editorial bias, I will continue to visit the Vents (assuming I can find them each day) and nothing else.
The worst part on this online edition is that I can not wrap day old fish, of the kid’s soiled diaper in it.
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Patricia Templeton
January 14th, 2009
10:35 am
The new format is horrible. No info, no news, just a list of headlines. NO content — much like the printed portion of the paper. Most of your experienced, best reporters and writers have been laid off, and it shows in superficial coverage and thinner papers. But hey, color comics!!! That certainly helps. Every day there is less and less reason to read you — on line or in print. As a former journalist, and a long time resident of Atlanta I am deeply saddened by this decline.
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CNJ
January 14th, 2009
10:36 am
I like the new layout. The flow of information on the page is easier to read, and the page seems brighter without all the graphics the prior layout had.
I do agree with the other poster that the huge ad that shows when you load a page is annoying.
As for the logo, it’s about brand recognition. The average person feels comfortable with something familiar in the midst of something new, so you may want to consider changing that portion back to the original.
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Fred
January 14th, 2009
10:46 am
The layout is fine. The logo however is miserable. It looks chaep. Totally forgettable. Please change it back.
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fer
January 14th, 2009
10:46 am
The more I use it, or TRY to use it, the more I hate it!
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T
January 14th, 2009
11:42 am
Overall, I think the layout is fine, but I thought the old search format was better. I think the new logo is too simple, but I can live with it.
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Jason
January 14th, 2009
11:43 am
Simpler is not always better. Now the home page looks like a term paper. Every headline is 1.5 spaced. Way to go.
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dino
January 14th, 2009
12:49 pm
THEY NEED TO FIRE ALL OF YOU!!!!!
THE NERVE OF YOU TO EDIT ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS AND LEAVE THE POSITIVE COMMENTS.
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nico
January 14th, 2009
3:41 pm
don’t like it. logo has no personality, website seems to have less content than before. lame all around.
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alice ayliffe
January 15th, 2009
10:45 am
If you must use my name, pls. use only first name. Re new format, the home page is too cluttered, there’s no link for the Vent, & who cares about celebrity over indulgences?
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B
January 16th, 2009
2:59 pm
Your new logo is really not attractive. The two colors, the serif font,it’s way too busy – what were you thinking? It’s very “old” looking, not in a good way.
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Jesse
January 16th, 2009
6:05 pm
How do I find Cynthia Tucker’s & other’s editorials?
Is there another online AJC newspaper in addition to this site?
The AJC has preserved the freedom of all of us by being a statewide and nationwide government watchdog providing a check and balance to politician’s excesses.
I am concerned that this will be lost due to cancelling statewide delivery.
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Carl Johnson
February 5th, 2009
9:40 pm
I think the changes are fabulous. What a wonderful addition to your site. Thanks for making the site so easy to use!
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Steve
February 17th, 2009
9:51 am
The site improvements are fine. It’s the content that’s lacking. OLD, out of date reviews, especially of restaurants that are now closed is ridiculous. If you can’t update a review in 4 or 5 years what good is it. I understand every restaurant can’t be constantly updated, but don’t act like your information is somehow relevant because a writer made a couple of comments about a place in 2004.
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Lynn Orr
February 17th, 2009
3:43 pm
We rely greatly on our users to let us know when a restaurant is closed (or newly opened). As often as restaurants open and close in a metro area of this size, it’s the only realistic way we can offer what we do. So please do tell us! We want this to be an environment where you can recommend, review and exchange information with fellow users. Thank you for your input — we appreciate hearing from you.
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Jay
March 8th, 2009
9:18 am
I consider myself to be a Republican. Conservative and Libertarian at the same time. I sometimes find Jimm Wooten to be too far Right. I oftentimes find Jay Bookman to be too far Left.
There are times I could agree with both gentlemen.
Yet, I don’t see the bias that evidently quite a few readers see. Because I get my news from more than one source. And, I think, I have enough intelligence to form my own opinion with out any reporting bias (real or perceived) influencing it.
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Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
9:29 am
Tucker only writes one day a week now. Is she going back to two days a week? Once a week is plenty for her slanted views. Wooten is retiring and you are stating that he is still working once a week. Is this true?
With Barr once a week, Wooten once a week and the new columnist 3 times a week, you are still not balanced. Bookman blogs daily and if Tucker now writes twice a week along with the constant left leaning editorial cartoons, there is no balance. To balance this, you need two conservative columnists and another editorial cartoon.
The most biased part of the editorial page are the left leaning drawings of Luckovich. You need a more conservative editorial cartoonist to balance his left leaning scribbles. I would suggest a syndicated cartoonist such as Michael Ramirez from the Investors Business Daily.
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Dano
March 8th, 2009
9:31 am
I quit a 10+ year subscription to the AJC due to its far-left positions on all issues. Cynthia Tucker is the biggest racist in the entire metroplex. The AJC wouldn’t have to make all these cuts if they just reported the news and didn’t interject its political and racist philosophies. You want to increase subscriptions? Maybe look at successful publications like the Wall Street Journal. Learn from your fallen leftist rags like the Denver paper and the LA Times.
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Dondee
March 8th, 2009
9:36 am
I agree that the paper is too liberal and seems to be trying to appeal more to one racial group and that is exactly the reason why I quit subscribing years ago. Balanced coverage…equal parts liberal and conservative, black and white, would make a difference in my considering another shot at subscribing. In order for the AJC to make a run at staying in print, you need to appeal to a broader base…..Business 101, anybody?
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Tom Berg
March 8th, 2009
9:37 am
Perhaps another reason for a dive in subscriptions is that, for example, the editor writes things like “None of these choices HAS been easy”. It’s HAVE been easy nimrod. The AJC’s English is typically awful.
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catlady
March 8th, 2009
9:38 am
A lot of folks (in GA, at least) perceive bias as anything that does not agree with their opinion. I think the AJC has a balance, but, even as someone pretty liberal, there has been a tendency, IMHO, to the left side of the equation. It would be nice to have a mix of liberal/conservative in all sorts of ways. For example, liberal in social policy but conservative in economics–those do exist.
As for me, I have to drive 100 miles roundtrip now to get the AJC (I don’t do that), or squint at the print on a computer screen. I am not a happy camper about that. IMHO, the AJC, as Georgia’s premier newspaper, owes something to us in the hinterlands as well. The local paper is a weekly, filled with advice from preachers and the ag economist, as well as the vet. I can get a paper from Chattanooga, but not from Atlanta, and I live closer to Atlanta!
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John
March 8th, 2009
9:40 am
I totally appreciate the albeit late response from the AJC and the willingness to afford change in their approach to bringing us the news. I wish these changes had been prompted more by a desire to be fair and balanced than a reaction to economic conditions but I’ll take this anyway. For a mighty long time the AJC has slipped down the path of liberalism and bias in their reporting and quite frankly lost the respect of many. Without real competition in the Atlanta market, the AJC has been allowed to go their own way because readers had no other substantial choices. Only now, with the economic times, does the AJC see the benefit of trying to appeal to all of its potential readers. Like I said, it’s a late but welcomed change. I look forward to seeing these changes unfold in the near future. It is my hope the AJC has once again realized its position in the city and in the state and in the south and will focus on delivering the news in an unbiased and credible manner. I’ve been disappointed in the focus and the content of the AJC in the past but will embrace changes towards fair and unslanted coverage if those changes truly materialize.
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catlady
March 8th, 2009
9:41 am
Tom–none means not one. Not one of these choices HAS been easy. If they had chosen more than one choice, it would be have. Of these choices is a prepositional phrase, not the subject of the verb. Geez!
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Julia Wallace
March 8th, 2009
9:45 am
Just to clarify on questions from “Carter is a fool.”
By July 1, Our new columnist will blog. Wooten will continue to blog and will write a once a week column. Tucker will return to twice a week. So… by the numbers (and columnists are tough to categorize and play a straight numbers games)… We will have the new columnist, Wooten and Barr for five columns a week; and Bookman and Tucker for four columns a week. You raise a good point on Luckovich. Our op-ed page editor has added more conservative syndicated cartoonists in recent months. I hope you’ve noticed.
Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
9:29 am
Tucker only writes one day a week now. Is she going back to two days a week? Once a week is plenty for her slanted views. Wooten is retiring and you are stating that he is still working once a week. Is this true?
With Barr once a week, Wooten once a week and the new columnist 3 times a week, you are still not balanced. Bookman blogs daily and if Tucker now writes twice a week along with the constant left leaning editorial cartoons, there is no balance. To balance this, you need two conservative columnists and another editorial cartoon.
The most biased part of the editorial page are the left leaning drawings of Luckovich. You need a more conservative editorial cartoonist to balance his left leaning scribbles. I would suggest a syndicated cartoonist such as Michael Ramirez from the Investors Business Daily.
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Lenny
March 8th, 2009
9:46 am
Ms.Wallace,
I read your “The path ahead for AJC” article. I wish your market research people would have contacted me as I would have given them some advice.
If you want to sell papers, first get in touch with your readers.
For example: in the Living Section artical: “Dozens of ways to stretch your dollars,” many of the restaurants are ridiculously priced such as the Melting Pot $25 dollar fondue dinner and $5 drink specials. Exactly which group you are catering to with these so-called dining dollar stretchers is beyond me. Why not stick to the very companies that use ads and coupons within your own paper for promotion such as the Logans Roadhouse which is underneath Ecco $44 for two?
Next: Technology. In this high tech age, it seems that Husted’s column is ever-shrinking. I am not a big fan of his writing per se, but wake up AJC as this is the internet age. When I do manage to find information such as web sites that may be a benefit, it was worth the five minute read.
Oh but we have the homefinder! like anyone is actually looking for a home right now and a “Caribbean outpost in Cobb. Where is the beneficial news and information there? Perhaps a couple years ago before the bottom fell out of the economy it would have been a good article.
For now, my advice is to focus on the “news” and information that may benefit your readers and help them through these tough times. At this point the only reaon I may keep my subscription is for the wife and her coupons unless I can talk her into the savings difference from the price of your paper.
One last thing, in case you did not know, the metro area expands beyond Cobb, Gwinnett, Fulton, Clayton and Dekalb Counties. “Paulding County” seems to be featured in your paper only when there is a homicide which may be once or twice a year.
I doubt you will consider my offerings to any degree, as this paper has always seemed to be ignorant of the people who subscribe but since this is the only major paper, I thought I would give it s a shot.
Regards,
Lenny
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MP
March 8th, 2009
9:47 am
This may come across as petty compared to the liberal vs. conservative debate. I have noticed how many stories on-line have missing words or typo’s. I would estimate it to be running at about half the articles. In my view, you lose some credibility when you can’t even put out a story with fully correct spelling, good sentences, and no typos. I really don’t know what the rate is for the print edition. I rarely read the AJC that way. But it is really disappointing to be reading along and have to figure out what word the writer left out and what was really meant.
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Bill Holsomback
March 8th, 2009
10:01 am
Have you considered recycling all the AJC papers that people read and then throw away? How many tons of paper would that be, do you think? There would need to be several convenient locations of course, for people to drop their papers off. I know that there are large dumpsters at several schools, etc., but would it make a difference if the AJC were doing it’s own recycling? Probably not cost effective!
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Julia Wallace
March 8th, 2009
10:08 am
Lenny… Thanks for your comments. Even though you weren’t in the market research… you reflect much of what we heard. People want news. They want us to play the role of watchdog in the community (read Alan Judd’s story today on peanut inspections). On Sunday, they want us to be a bit more thoughtful and explain the “why” behind the news (James Salzer’s story on Georgia legislators’ personal financial problems; the op-ed piece today by William Egart, a flight safety instructor from McDonough). And they want us to help them live their lives. In homefinder, you’re right, we need to find a balance. Stories about beautiful homes remain popular. I suppose it’s a welcome break from these tough economic times. Those are some of most clicked-on photo galleries on ajc.com. However, there are many people facing much more serious home issues, and we need to provide that information as well.
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Greg
March 8th, 2009
10:17 am
All you need to do is look at the total staff of the editorial page. Wooten has been the only voice of the conservatives. Every one else is a radical liberal, lead by one of the most radicals in the country. Who is she going to surround herself with….moderates??? This paper serves the community at large, but it has a decided slant in both it’s reporting, editorials, and ‘that issue that makes white Americans cowards’.
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David Hill
March 8th, 2009
10:20 am
I read on Page A-3 in your article from Julia Wallace how the paper was going to start proof reading to stop bias. I turn to the next page and read an article titled “President says recovery not certain this year”, only to see true liberal bias. The article states how Obama is going to “redistribute wealth from about 3 million elite familes to forgotten lower and middle classes.” A non bias paper would have said upper income to lower income, and left out the true liberal bias, class warfare word of elite and forgotten. This is why the AJC is a Liberal paper losing readers, and having to sell the sunday paper on the corner for $1.00.
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linda worley
March 8th, 2009
10:23 am
You say you want my business. I have been a reader for over 25 years.
Now each week, I hear that this or that is being cut from the paper. Today my Sunday paper did not arrive until 9:30. The excuse was that the truck was late. I will say the same thing to you that I stated to your representative who I waited almost 10 minutes to speak with this morning, “Totally unacceptable”. I will be contacting a local paper for a subscription. Thank you and I am sorry that your newspaper no longer meets my needs.
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workinDawg
March 8th, 2009
10:25 am
So liberal editors are assigned to look for bias & balance. Good luck with that. You are in the business of public trust and you have lost it. I used to get the AJC at my office and at home. You lost my business several years ago.
Free advice on limiting content- cut your racial articles in half and you can add content. Your “all things have racial undertones, overtones, or bias” gets old very, very quickly.
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Buzz G
March 8th, 2009
10:31 am
This paper will never be worth killing trees for until Ms. Tucker apologizes for what she has done to this once-great paper and walks out the door.
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Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
10:34 am
Dear Ms. Wallace,
Thank you for the reply. I truly hope that these changes will bring more balance to the opinion section. For the online readers, we do not see the other political cartoons. This needs to be addressed.
David Hill’s comment about the bias in the stories is right on point. You need to look at this carefully as your reporters often makes these types of assertions.
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Pam
March 8th, 2009
10:37 am
Totally liberal view points!! Many of my friends now just get the Marietta Journal in Cobb. Used to get AJC, but now live in a different area. Also channels 2,5,11 are totally controlled by left wing! Most need to learn to read many different sources and then draw their own opinion, but don’t do it.
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Rufus
March 8th, 2009
10:42 am
The AJC has always been in the tank for the left, and no amount of cosmetics will change that fact. The reason? Name one journalism school which is even slightly conservative.
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James
March 8th, 2009
10:52 am
A few years ago the AJC dropped O’reilly and Ringwald columns in an attemp to bring what was said at the time to bring balance to the editorial page. What I saw was a further down hill slide. How about just printing the truth and you won’t have to worry about being liberal or conservative or is that asking too much from the AJC.
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Longtime Atlanta subscriber
March 8th, 2009
10:57 am
Dear Ms. Wallace:
Although I appreciate the AJC’s efforts to offer balanced reporting, you do need to realize that those so-called conservatives who resort to name calling and yelling will never subscribe to the paper, anyway. They use terms such as “radical Liberals” while portraying themselves as thoughtful conservatives. David Hill (above) laments as “liberal” a statement in an article that says Obama’s plan “redistributes wealth from about 3 million elite families to forgotten lower and middle classes.” Actually, Obama’s plan gives a tax break to 98% of Americans, while letting a huge tax break for 2% of the very highest wage earners expire. You don’t see that in many articles, and cannot be described as a “redistribution of wealth” – but apparently, some people see this as an example of liberal bias. My point is that you will never, ever, make these right-wing complainers happy, unless you ask Rush Limbaugh to write your entire paper for you. Please keep the mix of columnists that you have. We live in a state that is dominated by Republicans whose idea of consumerism is to give a mammoth fee increase to Georgia Power. We need the excellent voices of Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman, and of the Atlanta Journal Consititution, more than ever. Don’t give in.
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Bill
March 8th, 2009
10:59 am
Ms Wallace,
You seem to be trying to admit that the AJC has a strong liberal slant but just can’t quite get yourself say it. For example, Wooten is rarely mentioned without a descriptor of “conservative” or “right” but I can never remember you using “liberal” or “left leaning” when you refer to Bookman or Tucker. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
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John Bailey
March 8th, 2009
11:00 am
Ms. Wallace,
I read your comments in this morning’s paper and want to affirm the desire to take deliberate steps to address the bias issue. Like many of your readers, I was very disppointed in what appeared to me was a lack of balance in your news coverage and editorials. It was for this very reason that I failed to renew my subscription. I now purchase the paper only on Sunday to keep up with local advertising. Although I do not intend to resubscribe at this time I do want you to know I affirm your desire to provide balanced coverage.
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Scott
March 8th, 2009
11:00 am
I think that it is quite humorous that the AJC is failing and now is making a token attempt to appeal to conservatives to boost circulation! What happened to all of the Obama pandering during the campaign? Did it not give the paper the numbers that you thought it would?
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Zach Etheridge
March 8th, 2009
11:03 am
As the AJC makes its selection of a new conservative columnist, please do your part not to fan the flames of culture war. Surely we’ve had enough self-righteous rhetoric and blind ideology to last us all a lifetime, and surely we’ve degraded what passes for civic discourse shamefully enough for all to agree that we owe both ourselves and posterity an honest attempt to be more responsible, more thoughtful, and more more worthy of respect. I would ask that you disqualify any columnist candidate who used the word “liberal” in his or her trial column. Newt Gingrich’s shamelessly Orwellian transformation of the word into an obscenity was foul enough in his day, and has by now become the hallmark of rigidly hostile, destructive, and frankly stupid discourse.
Please choose a conservative columnist who can make the case for his or her views without resorting to cheap straw-man counter-arguments, without ranting about fundamentally irrelevant far-fringe opponents, and without feeling compelled to oppose, regardless of its merits, any idea not already approved by the current dictators of far-fringe conservatism.
One can be more conservative than David Brooks and still make sense. One can be as serious as William Buckley and still be a real conservative. One can be a conservative and an actual patriot at the same time, determined to think, write, and speak in a way that is good for our country, that helps frame honest debate about critical issues, that encourages us to stop shouting and think. Faced with current proof of the bankruptcy of our lifestyles and our hyper-partisan politics, we cannot afford for a newspaper as important as the AJC is to its region to contribute any further to the breakdown of public civility and reason. A knee-jerk conservative partisan might generate strong, partisan reactions from your readers, but would we be better off? Would Atlanta be a better city for it? Would you be able to get along better with your neighbors, or expect more meaningful public conversation about the great issues and difficult solutions confronting us?
I suspect (and fervently hope) that a clear AJC decision to walk away from the culture wars, to publish points of view that clearly start from sense of shared responsibility, and to encourage its readers to work together to create a meaningful, sustainable community would actually be good for the paper’s long-term viability. We need the AJC to lead, and in doing so make its editorial page an indispensable agent of change for the better rather than just another place where the angry get angrier and the foolish feel confirmed.
Good luck and godspeed!
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Joyce
March 8th, 2009
11:33 am
I am new to this “conservative/liberal” stuff, I always was into the “Republican/ Democrat” divisions. All this seems silly. If we could stick to the truth, to the facts written in a neutral way, as for a factual school report then we could all, maybe, be happy. If opinions are needed in print, then they should be clearly labeled as such and your counting of bias makes sense. If we must read “factual” articles for bias then all facts are suspect. I would say that the paper needs to keep that old TV cop,Joe Friday, in mind and stick to “the facts, just the facts”…unless it is clearly stated that this is opinion. If all this brouhaha is about the two editorial pages of your relatively fat newspaper then we all involved in a tempest in a small teapot! After all, I, at least, read your paper for news facts, not for your collected opinions of it.
Sincerely, Joyce
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Ken Tanner
March 8th, 2009
11:36 am
You will have a tough time identifying liberal leanings when the survey is done by liberal leaning editors. The problem with perspective is that the statements are usually factually correct. Example: During the election Sarah Palin was usually referred to as “first-term Governor Sarah Palin”; I NEVER saw a reference to “first-term Senator Barack Obama.” It’s the same thing with congressmen who are suspected of improper behavior. Has anyone ever seen a reference to “Democrat Gary Condit”? Even during its proper targeting of Mayor Bill Campbell, did anyone ever see any reference to him being a Democrat? Contrast that with Republican Senator Larry Craig and Republican Senator David Vitter. AJC: It doesn’t have to be a lie to show bias.
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Fetuses With Relish
March 8th, 2009
11:38 am
This argument about bias is so stupid. This country is basically split 50-50 (or 45-45 with 10 being undecided). If you stop the so-called bias then you’ll alienate the 50% of liberal readers you have. Stopping the bias will only make it so that the conservatives are happy and the liberals are angry. That won’t help your circulation any (or very marginally since Georgia is a red state but only by 5 points). The problems with the decline in Newspapers in general is much deeper than the bias argument. And to all the conservatives who are going to chew me out I would like to point out the entry about The Washington Times on Wikipedia. Surely we can agree that the Washington Times is not biased. The Times has lost money every year since it’s inception and has had nearly 2 billion dollars poured into it. All the while having only 1/7th the readership of the Washington Post.
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Julia Wallace
March 8th, 2009
11:39 am
Bill asks why we describe Wooten as an conservative, but don’t describe Bookman or Tucker as liberals. That’s a good point! We haven’t had anyone question where Bookman or Tucker stand on the political spectrum. We do however often hear people say that we have NO conservative columnists, so have pointed them toward Wooten and some of our regular conservative columnists like Krauthmammer. They see David Brooks as a liberal, because he writes for the New York Times. You know it’s more complicated than that. In some of the market testing, we did one version of the editorial page where every columnist was labeled. The readers rejected that, saying (appropriately) that not all opinion is so easily categorized.
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Devildog
March 8th, 2009
11:54 am
The AJC needs to focus more on local stories. You can get national news, sports, ect., from a variety of sources online, yet the one area AJC can COMMAND remains the “redheaded stepchild.” You took an even bigger step backward by doing away with the zone coverage. Same with sports. Instead of covering more preps (seed-beds for future subscribers) you cut back.
And PLEASE, don’t reply with some kind of spin about how great you do local coverage. I READ the AJC everyday. I KNOW what you do.
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Jake Hondo
March 8th, 2009
12:00 pm
The politically correct format of you newspaper/website is sickening. For example, every gay news story/issue is always put front and center on your website, and stays there for days. But unlike the Gwinnett Daily Post; the almost daily stories about rape, hit-and-run, drug running, home invasion, etc., carried out by the Hispanics in Gwinnett County are almost never reported by you. By the way, when are you going to enlighten your readership with a story about the tuberculosis epidemic in Gwinnett County, and the illegal aliens who are responsible for it?
Your pathetical PC policy of selectively publishing photos of defendants in crime stories also deserves mention. Two homegrown stories come to mind. In July, 2006, a Coca-Cola executive was arrested for attempting to sell trade secrets to Pepsi. When the story broke, you reported it without showing a photo of the perp. The story, w/perp photo, quickly went national, and about four days later, you were one of the last publications to add her photo to a story update, revealing to your readership that she was black. Talk about white liberal guilt!
By contrast, in January 2009, you reported (w/ no photos) about an Obama-supporting couple whose house was torched while they were on their way to his inauguration. Days later, when it was revealed that they were the prime suspects and subsequently arrested for arson, you put their photos front and center in your story update, revealing that they were white. Again, white liberal guilt in play here.
In closing, your publication is doomed. Your intellectually dishonest approach to news reporting will continue, in spite of your best efforts, because of your irrational aversion to the truth, and the twisted liberal logic that goes into your day- to-day editorial decisions.
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Bob Proctor
March 8th, 2009
12:05 pm
I subscribed to the AJC 5 years ago when first moving to the Atlanta area as a way of getting to know this metro region. Besides being a news junkie, I always enjoyed reading newspapers and getting the facts of what is happening.
In that time, I have threatened to cancel my subscription several times only to clench my teeth and shake my head at the total lack of objectivity throughout the paper, not just the editorial pages. I can even stand Luckovich, if he was balanced on alternate days with an opposing view. Cythia Tucker……..well, she has done more harm to your paper than you seem to understand. Have you ever considered the demographics of your typical subscriber? They are not Cythia Tucker. To make a point, let me exaggerate the biased messages you are sending: 1), Atlanta is a well run crime free visitor mecca, 2), hip hop is God’s gift to the area, 3) Gay life style is celebrated and 4) individual responsibility is not important as long as the local, state and federal government are there to provide handouts. Exaggerated yes, but not by much.
My last 6 month’s subscription is coming due. This time, I will not renew. Despite past promises of fair reporting, it never happens. Nearly every change you make to the paper is a negative in one way or the other. Good objective investigative reporting is sadly lacking. It is time to use my laptop with my morning coffee……………
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Longtime subscriber # 2
March 8th, 2009
12:08 pm
Enter your comments here
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workinDawg
March 8th, 2009
12:09 pm
Ms. Wallace, it is true that not all opinion is “easily categoriezed”- but apparently “conservative” opinion is since it is always labled as such. I do think that having a base understanding of where the writer lies politically does help in understanding their perspective. The AJC agrees or they wouldn’t do with with Mr. Wooten 100% of the time. The likely reason your first effort at “labeling” was rejected is becuase you have largely alienated your conservative readers. I doubt very seriously you have enough of a conservative base left to offset how liberals feel when one of their own is labled. Us on the right are used to it.
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Nathan
March 8th, 2009
12:10 pm
I am white, Christian, Atlanta Public School educated, and a Georgia Tech graduate. One of my most valued and trustworthy partners is Black Muslim. Being fiscally conservative, socially liberal, I agree with most of the above comments. Not only is the news reporting slanted including the lead headlines and paragraphs, the liberal editorial headlines and opinions tend to be misleading and omit important facts. The AJC has created more bias and racism in the public through its publication.
I find it hard to believe that even Ralph Magill would approve of your editorial staff.
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Roswell Rory
March 8th, 2009
12:19 pm
I don’t read a newspaper to get confirmation of my political views. If you are so twisted with hate that you want to conduct political warfare even in your newspaper choice, I feel sorry for you. I read Tucker and Wooten too. I watch CNN as well as Fox. I’m fully capable of weeding out the news from the slant. In fact, I don’t believe it’s possible to get a perspective on the news without looking at the media from both sides of the political spectrum.
However, I want the news primarily. I find such actions as completely reformatting the online version of the AJC to be not only unnecessary but also confusing. I don’t need to go on an Easter egg hunt to find my favorite features in the AJC.
Finally, I disagree with those who want even more local news in the AJC.
The newspaper has already become so parochial that it’s necessary to go elsewhere to find a full range of national stories. The front page consists almost entirely of Georgia coverage. The Metro section focuses on petty political squabbles within the 100 or jurisdictions in the area. Finally, the Sports section is so focused on the Georgia Bulldogs, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Atlanta Braves, and the Atlanta Falcons that it’s necessary to go elsewhere for national coverage. Why can’t the sports editors recognize that millions of people who’ve moved to Georgia aren’t very interested in which state players got arrested this week?
If the AJC wants to survive, it needs to become a national newspaper.
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Houckster
March 8th, 2009
12:23 pm
Judging from a large number of the comments by the conservatives, it is hard not conclude that they consider the AJC biased whenever the views expressed don’t match their own. That’s what makes the AJC a racist, liberal rag.
Georgia is a blood-red state so even middle-of-the-road comments smack of the dreaded liberalism to most conservatives no matter the level of reasoning in the article because they are so far to the right. Ask them about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and they’ll say they get it right most of the time. For such people there is no middle ground. There is only the demented Left and the patriotic, God-fearing Right.
Therein lies the dilemna for the AJC. Does the paper wish to continue its tradition of balanced reporting pointing out the good and bad about the Left and the Right from the high middle ground or will it become a cheerleader for the Hard Right?
The choice the AJC may be facing is between maintaining its integrity and boosting its sales. That will be a very difficult choice.
Frankly, though, most of the people I refer to would not subscribe to the paper because the have Rush Limbaugh to comfort them.
What the hard conservatives here will surely reject is that with the overall bias of reporting via TV (especially CNN and FOX) being very conservative (and often distorted), a more moderate voice is badly needed.
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Longtime subscriber # 2
March 8th, 2009
12:34 pm
Ms. Wallace,
I’m not in such a forgiving or understanding mood as “Longtime subscriber”. How sad that wide-ranging decisions of such great import are being made based on your assertion that …”A few think we’re too conservative. But many more believe that our editorial pages are too liberal and that bias seeps into our news coverage. We have heard you on the bias issue and are taking deliberate steps to address this.” Count me in on the “few” who think you are too conservative (aside from your coverage of the local/state angle, do you ever stop and read the AP headlines/articles?). Why are you promoting Thomas Oliver (who I thought had been banished once before to outer Gwinnett for journalistic incompetence) for articles that encourage people to go out and buy handguns as they await the collapse of our society? Does your turn to the right mean we look forward to more like-minded tripe? I’ve never written to complain or comment (much unlike the conservative readers you regularly publish in “Letters to the Editor”), but now as budgets tighten I see no reason to continue to throw good money at the AJC as it gives greater content legitimacy to these factions. You are the journalists and the professionals and you should be making decisions based as to the accuracy, quality, and immediacy of the AJC and not based on whether you are being judged as “fair and balanced” on the content. Bottom-line, I realize you have to run the AJC as a business, but in the future you can count me in on the Atlantans who will cancel subscriptions based on your decision to kowtow to the very vocal and misguided right-wing base. Reading the obits and the comics will no longer be enough to entice me to renew my subscription.
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"C"BERRY
March 8th, 2009
12:36 pm
I DO NOT LIVE IN GEORGIA, BUT READ THE AJC EVERY DAY ONLINE. YOU SEND ME ALL THE BREAKING NEWS ALONG WITH ALL THE REST. AS A DELTA RETIREE, I ESPECIALLY
LOVE YOUR COVERAGE OF DELTA AIRLINES. IT IS FIRST CLASS. IT HAS KEPT ALL OF
US WELL INFORMED THROUGH THIS BANKRUPTCY AND MERGER MESS.
NOW, IN MY OPINION, YOU ARE TOO LIBERAL. YOU HAVE TWO ON YOUR STAFF THAT MAKE ME CRINGE. CYNTHIA TUCKER’S COLUMN APPEARS IN OUR NEW ORLEANS PAPER TOO. HER WRITINGS ARE NOT FIT TO LINE THE BOTTOM OF A BIRD CAGE. THERE IS ALSO YOUR CARTOONIST LUCKOVICH. HE IS TALENTED, BUT LEANS WAY TOO FAR LEFT. HE WAS JUST AS BAD WHEN HE WAS WITH OUR LOCAL PAPER. I CAN’T SPEAK FOR ALL OF NEW ORLEANS, BUT MANY OF US DON’T MISS HIM AT ALL.
WE NOW HAVE A TALENTED AS WELL AS BALANCED EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, THANK YOU. I DO HOPE YOUR PAPER SURVIVES IN SPITE OF THESE TWO LEFTISTS!!!!
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Derek
March 8th, 2009
12:54 pm
I used to subscribe and then quit for three reasons 1. It was much better when there were two papers, If you had the Journal and the Constitution again the more conservative one would bury the other. 2 When it came time to re-new, you automatically doubled, tripled or quadrupled the rate! 3. Too much left leaning editors, opinion articles, cartoonists and mega-maniac race-baters. Your subscribers are those who vote conservative in GA, you are losing these and the ad dollars that follow them. Your paper cannot survive on the liberal, and majority black south Atlanta metro area. THEY DONT SUBSCRIBE! You are the major paper in GA, outside of the 285 loop and south Metro, THEY VOTE CONSERVATIVE, they are conservative and whether you believe it or not, they are Atlanta and GA’s money base. They don’t want to be constantly bombarded by your liberal editors opinions and views on issues. Thats why they don’t subscribe or advertise. Even so called “non-bias” news media, must be operated as a business and cater to their customers. And but for a few exceptions (mid-town), the liberal, or majority in ATL minority, are not your customers. The liberal papers in LA and New York can survive because of their subscriber make-up, THE AJC CANNOT!!!
PS> Hey Vent Guy, and ONLINE Vent Guys; Since you won’t post this comment I’ll post it here!!
SEE WHAT HAPPENS ATLANTA, CLAYTON COUNTY, DETROIT, WASHINGTON DC, OAKLAND; WHEN YOU VOTE COLOR INSTEAD OF A PERSONS CHARACTER, INTEGRITY, EXPIERENCE AND ABILITY…..OR IF YOU VOTE FOR A PARTY INSTEAD OF A PERSON. ALL THESE ARE DEMOCRAT AND FAILING…..
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Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
12:58 pm
I would like a response to having another cartoonist balance the scribblings of Luckovich for the online readers.
Here is another case in point as to bias. Cynthia Tucker writes glorifying Barney Frank who is most likely one of the people who should be held accountable for the economic mess we are in by his repeated assertions that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were solvent. He blocked the repeated attempts to overhaul these institutions and head off the coming problem.
I would like an answer to the cartoons for online readers.
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Houckster
March 8th, 2009
1:10 pm
CARTER IS A FOOL writes: Here is another case in point as to bias. Cynthia Tucker writes glorifying Barney Frank who is most likely one of the people who should be held accountable for the economic mess we are in by his repeated assertions that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were solvent. He blocked the repeated attempts to overhaul these institutions and head off the coming problem
____
This is just so much Hard Right propaganda. The policies that lead to the housing bubble very much belong to Mr. Bush who espoused home ownership as a means of building Republican majorities. Mr. Frank is on record as having warned that not everyone will have the income to own and that quality rental housing should be a priority. Mr. Bush’s policies originated during his first term when Mr. Frank was not chairman of the Congressional committee.
CARTER IS A FOOL’s comments illustrate the myopia afflicting so many. We’ve just finished eight years of Mr. Bush and we’ve had Mr. Obama for a month and a half yet the Hard Right is trying to pin all the fault for our economy on Mr. Obama. That’s why a moderate voice is needed so badly.
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John
March 8th, 2009
1:19 pm
I totally appreciate the albeit late response from the AJC and the willingness to afford change in their approach to bringing us the news. I wish these changes had been prompted more by a desire to be fair and balanced than a reaction to economic conditions but I’ll take this anyway. For a mighty long time the AJC has slipped down the path of liberalism and bias in their reporting and quite frankly lost the respect of many. Without real competition in the Atlanta market, the AJC has been allowed to go their own way because readers had no other substantial choices. Only now, with the economic times, does the AJC see the benefit of trying to appeal to all of its potential readers. Like I said, it’s a late but welcomed change. I look forward to seeing these changes unfold in the near future. It is my hope the AJC has once again realized its position in the city and in the state and in the south and will focus on delivering the news in an unbiased and credible manner. I’ve been disappointed in the focus and the content of the AJC in the past but will embrace changes towards fair and unslanted coverage if those changes truly materialize.
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Steve Johnson
March 8th, 2009
1:20 pm
Someone needs to say this out loud.
No matter how you reformat the paper,
reformulate your news content or
redesign your logo, Cynthia Tucker is
your “brand.’
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Will
March 8th, 2009
1:23 pm
Mrs. Wallace,
If I want to read Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd or David Brooks, I’ll read The New York Times, not the AJC. While adding another local columnist is a step in the right direction, the commentary section needs to and should focus much more on local news, issues and problems that face metro Atlanta, not giving prime real estate to syndicated columnists from elsewhere due to a lack of printable content or space that needs to be filled. Write more local news oriented editorials, have a larger, more diverse or more specialized commentary staff or have your current columnists write more.
Also, I think using terms like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ to describe your commentary staff undermines them intellectually, and their audience by the way. That’s an easy way out to appease critics of bias. It basically pigeonholes them in such a way prevents them from writing commentary that could lean both ways. The issues that affect people today are too complex to be rigidly labeled as ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. That kind of language furthers the partisan divide at a time when Atlantans (and America) can’t really afford it.
The worst thing a local newspaper can do is misinterpret their audience and not specialize, especially in the commentary section. The AJC does a good job to a certain extent, but as readers, we want (and need) more local opinion, because that’s why we read the AJC. If we want national or international news, we’ll pick up the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or turn on CNN.
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Carter is a Fool
March 8th, 2009
1:26 pm
Read the following for a well thought out discussion on Barney Frank’s significant contribution to the economic problems. Houckster is incorrect. The requirement for loaning money to those who could not afford to pay it back is NOT Bush’s dictate. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (another Foolish Carter problem) was revised during the Clinton years to force lenders to lend money to those not qualified or face additional federal regulations.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=321237362312361
Nowhere did I say that this Obama’s fault. It is the fault of those who did not fix the problem in Congress when it was brought to their attention. Not only did Frank not attempt to fix the problem, he blocked these attempts.
This is not a HARD RIGHT position. Liberals love to jump up and call names to make their case. The issues are far more complicated than calling names and making wild accusations.
A fair and balanced view of the world through reporting is needed. Not a biased view that said Bush is at fault for everything and is Bad.
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Marie
March 8th, 2009
1:27 pm
Ms. Wallace, first of all, liberal or conservative is in the eye of the beholder. I recall when some professional women decided to be known by their own first name (e.g. Mrs. Mary Johnson instead of Mrs. Frank Johnson), that was considered liberal and those women were derisively called “modern women”. Then, some women decided not to take their husband’s last name at all and THAT was considered downright militant by some people. My point is that anything the AJC does is going to be labeled by *some*one as biased. Balance is a good goal but given how fickle people are, I doubt that it is a destination that can be achieved.
Second, on any given day, I will read a number of things in the AJC which I think are liberal or a number of things that I perceive as conservative. I would not assume that changes in subscriptions are reflective of anything other than the impact of electronic publishing on the print medium. (I didn’t understand the concept until I bought a house with built in shelves but, since most of my reading is done electronically, I have nothing on my shelves.) People don’t subscribe to what they can get online. So, in addition to agreeing with the comment that people who don’t subscribe now aren’t likely to subscribe because of an attempt to be “unbiased” (whatever that means), I think the AJC should look at other business models instead of trying to meet a nebulous and (in my opinion) unattainable standard.
One suggestion I have is to allow more opportunities to comment on stories in the online version. I think people might be surprised to know what other people are thinking about the news in Metro Atlanta.
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Raul
March 8th, 2009
1:33 pm
I ended my subscription to the AJC because the paper kept getting delivered to my neighbor. Every day it was on the neighbor’s driveway. Every stinkin’ day. Complained three times to the AJC. Each time they promised to get it right. They never did. Unbelievable. I now throw their solicitations in the trash without even opening them. Who needs the aggravation.
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Mark
March 8th, 2009
1:34 pm
The AJC is a far left drivel of a newspaper. I will never subscribe to it as long as Cynthia Tucker runs her anti-white/anti-Jew/anti-American/pro-Islamic Obama propaganda.
Shame that the Cox family is too stubborn to allow their affirmative action mouthpiece to drive this newspaper to the ground.
Good riddance. May the AJC soon join the Rocky Mountain News
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Matt Kempner
March 8th, 2009
2:03 pm
I agree with Will’s comment about making sure the opinions pages put focus on local issues. AJC staff opinion writers do address national news, but local commentary is a crucial part of their jobs. It also will be so for the new conservative columnist, who generally will be expected to write about local and Georgia issues 60 percent of the time.
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Dana
March 8th, 2009
2:19 pm
I am amazed at the number of respondents to this issue who want more conservative issues discussed and who think the AJC is extremely liberal. I am middle of the road, used to be Republican, now somewhat liberal and newly turned Democrat. I don’t want to see more conservative columnists in the paper. Mostly, they lean too far to the right. If you can find a conservative columnist who keeps to the facts, and reports constructively, then fine. I don’t think this can happen. As for the liberals like Cynthia Tucker, I agree with most everyone that she is too extreme. I personally don’t read her or Jim Wooten most of the time. And I also agree with some of the other people who wrote in, that we need to see less of those writers who write for New York papers or Washington papers as their views hardly pertain to issues here in the South. Since you are essentially a Southern regional paper, can you not report on issues here in the Southern states? I would like to see more well-rounded bias free articles and I do like some national and International news. You can keep the comics and I can do without the Living section. Just give me the news, the plain news will do without bias and without embellishments.
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D. Rodriguez
March 8th, 2009
2:19 pm
I haven’t paid for a subscription since 1989. The militant left-wing hate machine (Tucker and Luckovich) would have to disappear before I would consider buying an issue of AJC again.
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Mikey
March 8th, 2009
2:22 pm
I don’t subscribe to the AJC any longer for three reasons (1) Jay Bookman (2) Cynthia Tucker (3) Luckovich. For Bookman all things big government and socialist are wonderful and anything restricting government intrusion into a person’s life or encouraging self responsibility are bad. Tucker sees everything in black and white, black is good and white is bad or worse. Luckovich is neither amusing nor thought provoking merely pathetically bitter towards anyone or anything with which he disagrees. I read the AJC on line for local news but quite often skip certain articles when the headline is blatantly biased one way or the other. I don’t just blindly drink the conservative kool-aid but I also don’t want the liberal “big government knows best” baloney force fed to me by some reporter with a personal save the world agenda. Most of the racial uproars in the Atlanta area are stirred up and kept roiling by the all media outlets especially if it concerns some of our immense number of illegal residents. I do not feel the least bit of sympathy or remorse when an illegal is deported or locked up, they aren’t supposed to be here that is why they are referred to as “illegal.” Tear jerker articles about their plight should be published in the Mexico City paper.
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Diane
March 8th, 2009
2:34 pm
Here’s an idea – how about the media promoting MODERATION instead of liberal or conservative? I am convinced that the root of every problem we have in this country is a result of our polarization of ideas. At least, that is how we are portrayed in the media and by politicians. However, I am equally convinced that the majority of the population falls somewhere smack in the middle of the bird, and not just on its right or left wing.
But controversy sells papers and gets ratings. If we were all holding hands and singing Kumbaya, a lot of media types and politicians would be out of a job.
Granted, it is over-simplification to equate this to a sports analogy, but in some ways, politics and racial issues in particular are a little like sports. It’s only natural to root for your own “team”. But the more the other side gets in your face and taunts you, the more hostile you become. Before long, a brawl breaks out and you can no longer just enjoy being a sports fan. It becomes personal.
We are a nation divided, and the blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of the media and our politicians, because you all have chosen to portray the extremes of every subject, forcing the populus to feel we have to pick sides and go to war with one another.
The fact is that most of us, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, want the same thing – a good job, a nice place to live, good education, equal pay and equal opportunity. But we have been led to believe that in order to accomplish this, the other side is standing in our way. If the media focused more on what we all have in common, instead of polarizing our differences and labeling us as one side or the other, we would all stand a better chance of reaching our goals.
Frankly, I stopped subscribing to the AJC years ago because I felt that none of the articles represented my place in society. As a white, lower-middle class working person, all I could read about was the unfortunate plight of African-Americans and how whites are bad and blacks are victims. This type of journalism is grossly unfair to both races, and is just another example of portraying the extremes and pitting us against one another. Whites are tired of being labeled as racists and being made to feel that no matter what we do, it’s never enough. Is it any wonder there’s a growing resentment on our “side”? It’s not racism, it’s self-preservation. And I feel confident that there are just as many African-Americans who are tired of being portrayed as the race of victims and would like to go about there business without skin color being front and center of every conversation.
So how about more articles that portray BOTH sides of a situation and give the readers credit for being able to think for ourselves. Right now, the only options we have are to have our collective blood pressure skyrocket at being perpetually forced to side with diametrically opposed opinions. It would be refreshing to have both sides tone down the rhetoric and find ways to bring us together. But as I said before, what’s in the best interest of our nation doesn’t always equate with what’s in the best interest of media and politics, i.e., money and power.
So how about starting a trend in the media… everything in moderation. Try it. We might like.
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PAIGE
March 8th, 2009
2:52 pm
Now living in a area that was deemed by the newspaper to be “too far out side the metro area” to have delivery, I will say that I miss my Sunday paper. You say that the ad dollars were down and that is why you couldn’t deliver the paper out to Habersham any longer. My family used to get the ads and drive into Gainesville or to Buford depending on what the sales were. Now we have no way to know. How does that help anyone? Seems like a shorted sighted way to save a few dollars.
On the recycling issue…when I was in elementary school, every month there was a news paper recycle contest. Every class room had a sign out by the sidewalk and every famliy lined up their news papers behind the correct sign in brown grocery store basg or tied with a string. The class with the most papers got to have an ice cream party.
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Houckster
March 8th, 2009
3:08 pm
CARTIS IS A FOOL’s weak response to my comments is noted.
To supply an IBD editorial as any indication of the real state of affairs is simply asking too much. I would as likely buy the Brooklyn Bridge. It is one distortion after another. The true state of affairs will have to be determined by a much more rigorous analysis. Suffice it to say it is stretching the imagination to pin so much blame on a congressman as opposed to the President of the United States and the majority Republican party.
Nor did I say that CARTER IS A FOOL blamed Mr. Obama for the current state of our economy. I was speaking in the broader realm that the Hard Right is busily trying to build this very case and even a quick look at the blogs (heavily Hard Right in number) will confirm this. And yes, Barney Frank (because he’s a Democrat and especially because he’s gay) is a juicy target.
The reality is the Mr. George W. Bush was president of the United States during the time the housing bubble began to emerge. Hard Right adherents like to, as CARTER IS A FOOL has done, point to Mr. Clinton’s attempts to get more people to qualify for loans by relaxing the standards under which the ability of the borrower to pay back the loan was adjudged. They fail to note however, as CARTER IS A FOOL does, that the economy was in a different condition then and incomes were still expected to increase making the higher risk tolerable.
Under Mr. Bush, however, incomes stagnated and American debt climbed. This changed the situation and Mr. Bush was responsible for tightening up on requirements if that was what was prudent to do. With a majority in the House and Senate (with a few southern conservative Democrats almost sure to go along, why didn’t he?
Nor during Mr. Bush’s years did we have an effective SEC keeping watch on investment bankers. Christopher Cox, a Mr. Bush appointee, put in place a voluntary supervision program for Wall Street’s largest investment banks that he stated had contributed to the global financial crisis. It was another case of a Bush appointee doing “a heckuva job”.
From 2003 as energy prices began to escalate and as the teaser rates began to expire too many people who got bad loans could not keep up with the payments and it all reached a meltdown point last year with panic on Wall Street making things a dozen times worse.
The AJC has discussed these issues.
The meltdown of our economy is directly attributable to Mr. Bush’s policies. No credible case can be made to deny it. The only alternative the Hard Right has is to make as much noise attacking Mr. Obama and Mr. Frank as possible. Where’s all the personal responsibility that the Republicans liked to remind us moderates that we didn’t have?
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fed up
March 8th, 2009
3:56 pm
I agree with most or at least the majority of posts, the AJC if waaaayy to far left. I wouldn’t read Cynthia Tucker if I was paid to. I cannot believe AJC would keep such a racist, race baiter on their payrolls. For the person who posted, “Please choose a conservative columnist who can make the case for his or her views without resorting to cheap straw-man counter-arguments, without ranting about fundamentally irrelevant far-fringe opponents, and without feeling compelled to oppose, regardless of its merits, any idea not already approved by the current dictators of far-fringe conservatism.” You need to read Bookman, that comment sounds like your describing his left leaning articles. I also agree that if there is anything to report about a Democrat that has done something illegal, immoral or both AJC doesn’t say “Democrat so and so” but if it’s a Republican that does something illegal, immoral or both AJC says “Republican so & so.” For the post that says the housing market is Bush’s fault (you must be Bookman or Tucker because almost everything they write about says that), you don’t know your facts. It was Barney Frank that pushed us into this mess and Frank should not only be kicked out of Congress he should be in jail.
I do appreciate the paper trying to be more fair and balanced but as it’s been said before it might be too little too late. AJC shouldn’t have waited until they fell on hard economic times….who knows if they’d have tried this sooner they may not have as bad of hard economic times.
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Susan
March 8th, 2009
3:58 pm
I cannot understand why people are getting so upset. We ALL need to think about cutting back during this economy and the newspaper is no different. OK, so they need to combine parts of the paper…big deal. The paper is too liberal? Well, for the conservatives in the bunch, maybe it is a GOOD thing to read what “the opposition” is writing and thinking. (Remember, keep you friends close, keep your enemies closer!) After all, what else can you buy for 75 cents? Some people spend more each day on one cup of coffee or are willing to shell out $4.95 for the latest gossip rag. Give me a break! Stop complaining. The money I save in the Sunday paper’s coupons more than pay for my subscription PLUS I get to read whats going on and get to read opinions other than my own. (I simply say a quiet prayer for that person.) It’s a win-win situation.
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fed up
March 8th, 2009
3:58 pm
Ditto to Diane @ 2:34.
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goofball
March 8th, 2009
4:42 pm
The biggest thing lacking at the AJC is a little salesmanship. This is no longer 1995 when you could sit back and wait for advertising to pour in and readers had no good choices for getting a daily compendium of world/national/local news and sports. They have plenty of choices. You have to make them think yours is the best, and I don’t see any effort to do that. It’s bizarre to me.
I’m sure you think the AJC “brand” is still strong and you’re half-right. Lots of people still know the brand. Problem is, they just don’t GIVE A CRAP ABOUT IT, and fewer and fewer read it!
You need a good ad agency and some pedal-to-the-metal campaigns. I’m talking billboards, drive time radio, the whole deal. Forget the crappy house ads and stupid shopping destination campaigns. You need to yell at people that they NEED the AJC — print or web, their choice — to know what the heck is going on in metro Atlanta. Doesn’t matter if it’s not totally true. You gotta make em believe it. My 2c. Good luck.
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Enoch
March 8th, 2009
4:44 pm
Every newspaper has a right to an editorial position. I personally think that Tucker is a radical and Bookman is a lightweight hypocrite who gets his column emailed to him from the DNC. Who cares?
The damage, though, to the AJC’s perception of fairness comes from your news coverage. The damage comes from what you choose to cover and the stories you choose not to. If you would fix the perception of bias in your stories, make sure that your newsroom and your editors represent a wide range of views. Make sure your headline writers do too. Only when your newsroom reflects a wide range of views can you be able to cover stories without the natural bias that comes from having a point of view.
I applaud your decision to talk about the subject of news bias openly. Most papers are following the deny, deny, deny mantra to their graves. I will rejoice if the AJC will become an even handed voice of fact and accountability in this fair city. I will even buy a subscription.
Thank you
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Enoch
March 8th, 2009
4:55 pm
To the troglodytes of the far left who want to use this space for your political rantings. Bag it!
The AJC has asked a question about bias. If you don’t think there is any, God bless you. There is short bus coming by for you in the AM.
The AJC, like many papers is in economic trouble. Unlike many papers, they are opening addressing the fact that a large part of the market perceives them as captive to the left. They have become more liberal than their market but more liberal than the market,a prescription for economic death. We are talking about how the AJC might address that issue. In many markets this issue has become a matter of life and death for the newspaper.
If you want to be sure that you keep your liberal echo chamber I am sure you will find many to agree with you. However, you will not be reading local newspapers with all your progressive friends, There won’t be any newspaper.
For it’s survival, the AJC must find a way to be relevant and valued as a source of news and opinion by a broad swath of the market. The progressives among us would have the AJC become the Great Specked Bird.
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Pierce Randall
March 8th, 2009
5:05 pm
I think that the AJC shouldn’t listen to questions of “bias,” and should instead focus on improving the quality of its composition and facts–what should be the goal of all newspapers. Some people are going to complain about the political stance from which you report, or appear to report. Who cares? You’ll never satisfy these people, unless you’re American Conservative or the Nation. I regard current events from the political left, but I would rather read an AJC more biased towards the right if it were a better paper.
I’ve noticed the paper can have problems with technical terminology–it uses the phrase “heavy rail” to describe “city-to-city rail,” for instance–and I found Tim Eberly’s headline (and the response I received after pointing this out) describing a 17 year-old African American male as a “boy” (as opposed to “teenager”) to be of questionable taste. Otherwise, compositionally, if the paper were a little less “dumbed-down” feeling, it would be nice, but I can take it as it is.
My advice: Stick all your money in reporting, and kill the vent, and moderate comments so that overtly racist remarks don’t post. I’d look at the AJC.com more if reading it didn’t make me feel like I’m reading something that panders to rednecks. My perception is also that the website specifically opens racially-charged stories–MARTA, Clayton County Schools–for comment more often than other subjects, which is worrisome.
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null
March 8th, 2009
5:13 pm
Dano, I’ve only lived in Atlanta for 9 years, but in that time I can tell you, only about 4% of Atlanta’s population could handle the AJC resembling the Journal. The lack of pictures and the above-5th grade reading level required would pretty much stump 96% of the idiots who live here.
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Earle in Florida.
March 8th, 2009
5:26 pm
Let’s face it. In the last 4 decades Atlanta has gone from a white city to a black city and the AJC has evolved from a paper that reflected a white conservative perspective to one that reflects Black liberal views. Why are we surprised? Every major newspaper in black majority cities espouses the same liberal, Democrat, entitlement, big Federal Government, Obama values.
No effort, no matter how well meant, will succeed in changing the cultural values of the AJC. It reflects the community, and Cynthia Tucker personifies it. Good try, Ms.Wallace. You couldn’t change it if you wanted to.
On a more important survival issue, if you want to save the AJC, fix the horrific online version. Living in Florida, I read the AJC online, and it is AWFUL. Separate the AJC from Access Atlanta, and create a newspaper. The format is terrible, although recently marginally improved. The stories stay on the site for literally months. If you want to see what a great newspaper website looks like, look at the New York Times.com or the Wall Street Journal.com. Instead of hiring a useless conservative columnist, go get a first class web designer and catch up with the future of information.
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Alan
March 8th, 2009
5:32 pm
I gave up my subscription years ago as did most of my neighbors and friends. The content and opinions were so out of touch with Georgia values that I could barely bring myself to read it. The irrational opinions of the editorial page (ie: editor Cynthia Tucker) was one of the biggest reasons for my leaving the paper. I miss reading the paper and hope you are truly making an effort to turn the paper around to reflect the interests of the majority of Atlantans & Georgians. If so, I’ll be one of the first to subscribe again.
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HCS
March 8th, 2009
5:57 pm
Your article is fully BSPR. That’s what we have come to expect from the AJC. The main investigative reporting is about places to eat or drink. You are becoming the Southside Sun. Facts, not BSPR is the only way to pull this paper out of the hole it has put itself into.
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Earle in Florida.
March 8th, 2009
5:59 pm
Having read most of these posts, I’ve spotted a trend. Have you seen it MS. Wallace?? Cynthia Tucker is KILLING your newspaper.
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goofball
March 8th, 2009
5:59 pm
Earle is right on the web site. The recent redesign is at least cleaner, but you look at the main page and you really don’t get any clue what you’re looking at! Again — it’s like you guys are still in the old days where everyone “had” to get the AJC. News flash: THEY DO NOT! Information has been commoditized and if you’re going to sell it successfully you gotta sell yourselves not just wait for people to come crawling back because they will not! Instead of a little AJC logo the web page should scream “Atlanta’s #1 24/7 news source!!” or some such. It would tell readers where they are and it might even remind your staff what they are supposed to be doing.
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Jay
March 8th, 2009
6:23 pm
Used to subscribe to the AJC years ago but canceled my delivery after many years due to the liberal nonsense coming out of both news and editorial pages. Conservative readers have been jumping ship for years and telling the AJC the reason which has fallen on deaf ears (”we’re losing readers because of the internet” – wrong!). As long as Cynthia Tucker & Luckovich are on staff, then your sudden enlightenment and promise to be fair will not impress folks like me. You could dismiss both tommorrow and your readership would probably double in a month. I would subscribe just out of principle alone to vote my affirmation.
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Anne
March 8th, 2009
6:40 pm
Add me to the list of people who stopped subscribing because the liberal slant just angered me every time I read the paper. Not just on the editorial page, but the liberal slant of the news. I can choose not to read Cynthia Tucker if I don’t want to, knowing that she is about as far left as is possible, but when I read news stories — not editorials — the writer should be objective, and if the writer can’t manage to keep his or her own personal opinions from flavoring the article to the right or left, then the editor should do his or her job and reword it so the piece is objective.
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SuzeyQ
March 8th, 2009
7:08 pm
Ms. Wallace, Thank you for your willingness to listen, as you maintain journalistic standards needed by the metropolitan area, and those from the rest of the country, who visit you online daily. Many are former Atlanta residents, as well as subscribers, who have relatives and friends in Atlanta. We appreciate fast updates, pictures, and opinions from all sides. We are a thinking people, who recognize how difficult your job must be. Every last article does not need a label, to indicate political slant. That would hobble columnists and cartoonists. To the well read, it all balances in time. Those readers who insist that only their views are correct, and thus more important, are attempting to get you to drop certain employees’ work, because they do not share their view of the world. How boring would that be, if all did? For every threat to stop reading the AJC, someone is offering to limit their own horizons. There are some people who cannot be pleased. I depend on you, to do your best. Thank you for your efforts, and I wish you much success.
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Beverly Wittler
March 8th, 2009
7:50 pm
I’m all for decreasing the size of the publication as much as possible without losing too much of the content. Less for me to take to the recycle bin, plua I’m sort of a ‘Reader’s Digest’ scanner. But don’t want to give up my favorite comics, any of the editorial page and the vent. GREAT column today by Wm. Egart re getting back to basics and glad the AJC is getting more basic.
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Beverly Wittler
March 8th, 2009
7:54 pm
I’m all for the AJC down-sizing without losing too much of the content. First, I’ll have less to recycle; but also speed-read a good bit and like shorter columns, Reader’s Digest version? GREAT column today from Wm. Egart about getting back to the basics, and glad to see my AJC getting a bit more basic too.
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NRB
March 8th, 2009
8:18 pm
Too little too late!
After years of printing anti-white, anti-conservative, anti-police, anti-american GARBAGE in not only your op-ed columns but your “news” sections, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU CLOSE DOWN!!
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dutch
March 8th, 2009
8:46 pm
To the idiot who ”corrected” Ms. Wallace for using the verb “has” with “none.”
She is correct.
None is singular. So is ‘has’ – so take a break.
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Dondee
March 8th, 2009
9:02 pm
Diane (like the name: )……at 2:34…..You hit it on the head……..By the way, don’t kill the vent…..it’s one of the most thoughtful and entertaining parts of the AJC…….If that’s gone, I most definitely would never resubscribe…..
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Kenny Autrie
March 8th, 2009
9:15 pm
It’s just too bad about newspapers in general. I used to love to get my evening paper and read it during dinner. When the evening paper stopped, then I just didn’t have time in the morning to read the morning paper, so I discontinued it. But it’s really uncomfortable curling up with my laptop.
Now I just fall asleep watching Bill O’Reilly and hoping that Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow would get kicked off the air for their lunatic rantings.
Where’s Lewis Grizzard when you need him?
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RB from Gwinnett
March 8th, 2009
9:19 pm
Julia,
I really think you’re COMPLETELY missing the issue people have with bias, which might be the root of the problem. You can have equal numbers of columns published from the far right and from the far left and call youself balanced when you take the average, but what you’re missing is that people want to read column by columnists who are capable of being fair and balanced, not far right and far left. You’re liberal leaning columnists don’t have the mental capacity to fairly evaluate national issues. EVERYTHING they see and write on is far left. We’re sick of it. It’s wrong and it’s harmful to the public at large. Wooten has called out Republicans on many issues when he’s disagreed with their actions/policies/behavior. While he’s obviously conservative, he’s also fair in his treatment of foul behavior by all of them. THAT is the model we expect from all of them, not some mythical average of left and right leaning columns.
Also, go back and do a tally of the people and parties your paper has “endorsed” in elections. How many R’s and D’s do you have? I’m guessing the ratio is somewhere close to 95% D’s. You’re problem goes beyond column counts, Julia. Why can’t you just present the candidates and not only let, but encourage the people to make up their own minds. Stop being so arrogant you think your opinions deserve a place in the public forum that is this states major newspaper.
Another issue other posters have already touched on is your editorial cartoon. Luckovich is a big problem. He, like your liberal columnists, is incapable of being fair and balanced. You’ve either got find another cartoonist to balance him out or replace him with someone who’s capable of balancing their own thinking. I would bet he alone is responsible for a big chunk of your subscription losses. We’re sick of seeing the same one trick pony every day.
Good luck with your efforts, Julia. I really do wish you well. A challenge you will have to figure out at some point is whether you want to appeal to the metro Atlanta population at large, or your subscription base at large. There is a difference and finding the balance is the key to your survival. Good luck.
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Jarrett
March 8th, 2009
9:23 pm
I think there is a clear bias in terms of the regions of the Atlanta metro area. I do not believe that all of Atlanta, South Fulton County and Clayton County are as bad as people believe. However, there are so many negative articles that are put out about these areas. These areas, while they have their problems like any other area in Atlanta region, in some cases, are being unfairly targeted and the only stories you read are bad. How about some good news from these areas?
I also think the newspaper needs to make more of a concerted effort in incorporating more of the news from the southern suburbs, notably Henry and Coweta, as these pages seem to hardly be updated as frequently as any of the other pages. Henry County is becoming a critical player in the metropolitan area and Coweta has a rapidly growing population- both on the Southside but neither gets the attention it should get. The AJC has sections like ‘Around Sandy Springs’ and ‘Northside.Talk’… how about ‘Southside.Talk’ and more blogs about things that are happening in the southern suburbs? The southern suburbs are very important to the metropolitan area too.
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steve
March 8th, 2009
9:30 pm
“None of these choices HAS been easy” is proper Engilsh. The subject is “None”, not “choices”. The AJC has grammatical errors daily. This is not one of them.
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Geraldine Carter
March 8th, 2009
9:53 pm
As I started to read your article in this mornings paper I was so afraid that you were going to cancel printing the comic section but I was relieved to see that was not the case. I do wish that “Peanuts” would not be so small in the daily paper. I do read most of the editorials and I agree with Cynthia Tucker aometimes and not other. Today I enjoyed Thomas Friedman and Willam Egart.
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Shawn
March 8th, 2009
10:10 pm
If you are always making the paper smaller, why does the subscription price keep increasing? I won’t be renewing after my subscription ends.
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Kelvin
March 8th, 2009
10:13 pm
After reading these comments, I almost don’t know where to begin. I guess I will rely on my own instincts and not read all the hatred espoused by members of a South that will not return, no matter how much they wish for it.
As a journalist who has moved to on to web content, I hurt plenty for the plight of newspapers. I worked at the major daily in Montgomery and I used to look up to the AJC so much when you had more experienced journalists and you did more crusading and investigative pieces. You easily had the best sports staff in the South, evidenced by how Len Paquarelli, Chris Mortensen, et al have moved on to national significance. You can’t replace that kind of talent easily. (I must say, however, that your best columnists — save Cynthia Tucker — are still in sports. Steve Hummer, Schultz and Mark Bradley should be used like Mike Lupica (New York Daily News) and Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press) are at times and be allowed to write general interest columns.)
I think you do a decent job of being fair and balanced. (Ignore the cultural backwater that is most of the posters to this particular story. THEY ARE SCARY! They probably think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president and think Fox News is actually fair and balanced.)
Cynthia Tucker is a treasure and role model for the city. She won the Pulitzer for a reason. While, truthfully speaking, I don’t think she rises to the level of Leonard Pitts, Eugene Robinson, etc. she is definitely second-level among top tier black columnists in the country.
I will be quite happy when Jim Wooten leaves, so I want even waste much copy on him. This paper allowed him to make the single black mother the bogeyman for the past eight years while he could see no wrong in a Bush administration (cronies, contractors, crooks and ne’er do-wells) that ate happily at the public trough for the last eight year and brought this country to its knees. As you can probably tell, I have somewhat liberal views but I can stand an honest conservative (a la David Brooks of the NYT) that tells the truth and shows solid, consistent insight. That was not Wooten. He did as much race-baiting as Tucker was accused of and rarely got called on it until the people started to see him a straw man toward the end of W. administration.
I wish you much luck, AJC. Time waits for no one, and technology and change has wrought much to our beloved industry. But there is always a place for hard-hitting journalism — as evidenced by the WaPo series that did more to find Chandra Levy’s alleged killer than any police force. Keep up your watch as the fourth estate. Don’t let these knuckle-draggers in here obsessed with race and stupid, disproved policies (Reaganomics in the dusty salesbin of history! Trickle-down theories, 10 for a buck!) change your beliefs and foundation of as a servant of a beautiful, progressive city. Keep innovating to stay alive and keep us informed.
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Lulu
March 8th, 2009
10:23 pm
I came in to comment on the None Has/Have but catlady beat me to it!
I am tremendously impressed with the focus and well thought through statements here. Usually things get absurd in these reader comments. I think that reflects on the seriousness of the prospect of a major city in danger of losing its newspaper. As Atlantans we can’t have that happen.
To me, fairness is an easy thing to monitor and I can only assume that the management hasn’t prevously selected to do so. It is why journalists had a much reapected profession and what the founding fathers had in mind when they established a constitution that encouraged freedom of expression and press. Both sides make good points here but as the so-called conservatives have been MORE slighted, truth seems to me to be on their side. I also, however expect opinion journalist to stir up controversary and give them credit for being outlandish at times in order to do so.
There is a particularly good point made of the use of selected terms in writing a supposedly straight news article. Such terms as elitist, lower anything… class or educated etc. are slipped in well into the article but have no place at all unless quoting someone else’s words. They are an opinion and a judgement.I realize that’s harsh but so is the prospect of losing a major newspaper. Atlanta needs an objective daily print source for its news.
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Lulu
March 8th, 2009
10:36 pm
I, and am sure journalists, would appreciate the moderator correcting my error of reapected to respected. Obviously I’m a poor typist.
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Jon
March 8th, 2009
11:04 pm
Ms. Wallace,
First of all, let me say that I am (as Lewis Grizzard said) a southern white male. Also politically independent.
Please do not cave to idiots because of the economy. They can always dial up Limbaugh if they crave to have their egos stroked. No matter what or who you print, these fools will always complain unless it falls in line with the prominent GOP propaganda of the day. Please do not allow those who refuse to evolve dictate policy for the AJC. There are those who will find racism and liberalism in anything that does not conform to Jim Crow era thinking.
Atlanta is the Metropolis of the south, filled with diversity and culture, not to mention being home to many fine academic institutions. I think our newspaper should reflect all of this.
For those who don’t like it, tune in to Boortz or Oriely or Limbaugh if you really have the desire to be lied to for entertainment.
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Mr. Anderson
March 8th, 2009
11:15 pm
Sorry to hear about the cuts. We are entering the inevitable part of the internet. I come from a household that always had a subscription to the AJC. My parents still do subscribe to the AJC. My folks are old school that way. I’ve never ever subscribed to the AJC. . . but when I moved from my parents house, I didn’t stop reading the AJC. I simply look at it online. I don’t care if you become the mouthpiece of the GOP to satisfy all the sayers of “the AJC is too liberal”, you will never deliver as many paper copies as you did 5 years ago ever again. The news is online now and the old school paper folks are, sad as the truth of mortality is, aging. Most new readers will be online readers. How the AJC, or any other major newspaper, deals with this forthcoming reality is anyone’s guess. Online ads don’t cut it like the paper ads.
As to the liberal/conservative schism, whatever. Tucker’s black liberalism is highly offensive to me whereas I find Bookman’s liberalism to be smart and insightful. Wooten. . . Wooten is the kind of conservative columnist a liberal would hire to make conservatives look stupid. Bob Barr is excellent. The only one of the above I’d like to see go is Wooten so he could be replace (I guess you guys are already kind of doing that) with a conservative with some cognitive ability.
The paper in general has, and I know this to be a fact, left important facts out of stories because the facts were politically impolite. Facts such as the race of a perpetrator if the perp was black. The copy-editing is horrendous. There have been headlines badly botched on a fairly regular basis (online edition). Coverage of world events is poor which is fine because I get that news from a combo of sources ranging from the NYT, The Economist, Al Jazeera, Wash Post, and WSJ.
Local social coverage is great. I know about registering for the Peachtree Road Race because you guys have it as a headline. The restaurant reviews are excellent, travel, and weekend things to do, it’s in there and I think that’s great. It’s good coverage. This does not speak to the “Access” pamphlet you people put out. I want to punch Access in the face. Access is a story by itself. State and local politics, however, get pushed to the side and that makes your local coverage in general average.
My solution: First: Figure out a way to make money online. That may be impossible. Second: Keep national and world coverage where it’s at. People like me go for that kind of stuff from other sources anyways. Third: Keep your lawn and garden, and restaurant reviews, etc., where they are at (get reid of Access because it is horrible) because they are good. Fourth: MORE state and local politics. Fifth: this goes to the above two; GO LOCAL IN A BIG WAY. The AJC should be about Atlanta. I want to see the politics of the Dekalb sheriff/CEO mess in depth. I want to know the big arguments in the Capital. I want to know about Chief Pennington going to a neighborhood meeting. I want to know any big news coming out about HD or KO. When I read the AJC, I want to know about all things Atlanta. That’s the social stuff, yeah. But it’s also the politics and business.
Otherwise, I think you guys have a wonderful local paper. It’s not a Wash Post or NYT. But I think the AJC is a lot better than the naysayers love to proclaim.
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Ron
March 8th, 2009
11:34 pm
Ms. Wallace,
The AJC is in love with politics and spends a significant amount of resources on both reporting and offering editorial opinion about politics. Well, here is something political for you to ponder… Everyday there is an election in the market place. There, people vote (with their money) for the goods and services that they need. People vote for goods and services that have value, quality, and integrity. And, they vote for goods and services in which they trust and believe in. In the vote for news media you are loosing the election.
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Ron
March 8th, 2009
11:50 pm
Diane at 2:34 may just have a new campaign strategy for your “market place vote”. You should take a very serious look at her comments. You have beat us up enough already. And, we’re not going to buy your products any longer.
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JUST THE NEWS
March 9th, 2009
12:37 am
Why does everything have to be labeled conservative, liberal, white, or black? The real purpose of a newspaper should be to report the news using undiluted facts instead of injecting the political opinions of the writers or editors. The failure to do this is causing many once good newspapers to fold. The world of today is not the world of 30 years ago and the printed newspaper is not the primary news source anymore. I hope the change you say the AJC is making will restore faith in it but it very well could be too little too late. I hope not. As long as Cynthia Tucker is associated with the AJC it will not be seen as a fact centered news source. She is the one bad apple that spoils a whole basket of good apples.
HCS comment very well reflects the general distrust of the AJC.
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Bruce
March 9th, 2009
12:53 am
So the AJC is having to downsize their paper due to lack of readership. Do not blame technology nor the internet. There are numerous publications out there that may not be growing leaps and bounds, but are financially strong and have a balanced editorial staff.
I have been here almost 20 years and am sick to death over the garbage that the AJC spews from its own employees. Tucker, Bookman, and Luckovich cannot be more left-leaning than the Tower of Pisa. When are you folks in the mgmt dept going to wake up and see the bias??? Do any of them actually have to go out of the AJC building to see what is happening in the real world? Do any of them actually have to interview folks for honest opinions. If you want an even balance, then have a counter opinion for Tucker, Bookman, and Luckovich next to their rhetoric diatribes. This would make equal, but fair reporting.
I seemed to recall that most of the Democratic Candidates being selected for President Obama’s staff have failed to pay most of their taxes for the past few years. Yet, the AJC staff and editorial board seemed more interested in bashing Rush and other Republicans for questioning Mr. Obama’s actions. How dare you chastise them when all you did for the past 8 years was spew political and pure hated towards the Bush Administation. Your articles appeared to cheer that the Iraq War was being lost. Now you whine about the Republicans picking on Obama. Boo Hoo! Give me a break. Is there anyone in your office with any common sense to report on all sides? Quit trying to make the news and just report the news. This is all that I want and if you want my continued subscription, then lay off the personal attacks and fire most of the editoral staff. A letter from the editor really does not impact my life, so if you are making more cuts, start with the Editorial Staff.
Next, keep the Business Section and expand on it with employment stats and stories from the other 8 metro counties. I do not see anything on Forsyth or Dawson Counties yet these places are still growing leaps and bounds. Why don’t you commit a half page to each of the 18 local counties to report building activity, permits, sales, foreclosures, and new business ventures. I am sick of hearing mostly about metro Atlanta and Clayton County. Also runs stories as they are told. Many times, I have read a story off an internet site only to see the same thing printed several days later in the AJC. This is not news, just recycled print.
Also get rid of the lame, Living Section and the Movie-tar sightings. Who care which star had an overpriced dinner at some Buckhead Diner? This garbage does not positively affect a person’s life. Leave the celebrity garbage for the Enquirer or Star. Just this morning, you all printed a front page story on Jane Fonda and her acting abilities. This is pure crap and should not be in Section A. No one cares about Fonda or her thoughts. This is the problem with your paper. It appears that most of the staff is just out of touch with reality. Also learn how to print color. All I get is a blurred copy and cannot read the story. Do you know how to fix your type settings? This does not take a college degree, just competence!
Expand the World News, Business, and the Local County News and I will keep my subscription. The comics are nice, but you all have just wasted too much time and print on your recent favorites contest. Maybe you should have the same contest for your Editorial Staff. This would be a good use of ink.
I am in marketing and sales and could actually do a better job than half of your staff. Would you hire me, probably not, because I am not from Atlanta, do not care for keeping the old ways, and would demand accountability from all staff members. I would actually require the Editorial Staff to provide proof for the stories that they are running. I would also reduce the price back down to 50 cents and concentrate on only the news that really affects the readers and residents. Your love for us really does not matter, just figure out how to run a quality paper. This is not asking too much. Or, maybe it is???? Time will tell!
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Bruce
March 9th, 2009
1:42 am
Hey AJC! Either include the words Democrat or Republican next to all names, including the AJC staff members so that we will know their slant, or leave out all labels and just report the story. Leave out the phrases; I think, I feel, We should, You Should, or anything that signifies the feelings of the columnist. This would provide a more equal, maybe not fair, but balanced article. As a matter of fact, why do we even need a picture or name of the columnist? Just write the story and do not give the credit to any staff member. Oh that’s right, you cannot do that! It would not give Tucker or Luckovich their much flawed Pulitzers. We all know that is the true meaning of being a journalist.