1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

Design your web resource 179
calculation; most notably, your capacity to deliver what is needed
and desired.
There may be logistical constraints on delivery. There is little
point in designing a site that your organization cannot service. This
is major issue for web content providers, particularly within the
commercial sector. If your site has a ‘last updated on . . .’ notice
which is a source of major embarrassment, take the site down. It is
doing more harm than good. Instead, spend the money on a
billboard on the local highway that says ‘Look at us. We’re useless.’
At least it will provide a little shade for the local hitchhikers.
If you have problems updating your site, the fault lies in:
not enough consideration given to content maintenance at site
design stage; and/or
inadequate commitment to content provision within the
organization.
The obvious nature of these conclusions show that these are selfinflicted
wounds that could have been avoided if hard-headed
questions had been asked at the design stage. You must be
realistic. Effective web sites that attract large readerships on a
regular basis take a lot of content maintenance. They don’t come
about by magic.
The second constraint on delivery may be conceptual. Even
sites that make the commitment still sometimes come unstuck
because they are uncertain of exactly what they are trying to
communicate. They may lose sight of their prime users or try to
satisfy two groups of users with very different, and sometimes
conflicting, interests.
We have seen that it is possible to satisfy two groups of users,
but it can be problematical. It is less of an issue if you have two
groups with different information demands, but what if two user
groups have fundamentally different expectations of their web
experience on your site? If one group wants fun and entertainment,
how will this sit with those seeking information? Sites
for car manufacturers are a good example of this dichotomy. They
feel the need to be fun, strong on image and ‘modern’. Yet many
visitors want information on fuel consumption and insurance
group. The result can be the marriage from hell.