NBC Relaunches NBCNews.com
NBC News on Wednesday relaunched its flagship website NBCNews.com. The relaunch is the site’s first major redesign since NBC News took over full control of its digital properties a year-and-a-half ago.
After untangling its joint venture with Microsoft in July 2012, NBC News says it conducted extensive research into digital and mobile news consumption habits. The new site was designed to cater to its findings, the organization says.
The site features a new video player, responsive design and an increased emphasis on original digital-first storytelling, NBC says.
The new NBCNews.com also features a new vertical focused on original reporting and analysis relevant to the Latino community. The organization plans to launch a similar vertical covering the Asian Pacific Islander community within the next few months.
“NBC News now has a digital presence that is a proper storefront for the best of our journalism,” Deborah Turness, president of NBC News, said in a statement. “The new site doesn’t feel like TV content chopped up for the Web — it is actually born of a seamless collaboration between TV and digital. We’ve already begun the stages of tearing down the walls that traditionally have divided the two operations, and this new stream that we’re launching today is the foundation stone of our future division strategy.”
Gregory Gittrich, VP of news and product and executive editor of NBCNews.com, says the relaunch marks a change in the way the organization tells stories. “This is a full relaunch, from the back-end technology to the unique user experience and design — all fueled by a totally new content strategy. Our goal is to focus on original journalism, take advantage of the full extent of NBC News resources, and invest in coverage.”
New features include:
- Infinite scrolling for an endless stream of headlines and news.
- Mobile-first design that is responsive across all devices.
- A significant investment in original video, including several new series:
- “Show Me” — animated shorts that explain complex numbers and data in a light-hearted, straightforward way.
- “The Debunker” -- details conventional wisdom and then shows why certain widely-held assumptions don’t stand up to scrutiny.
- Stories that take many forms — from standalone images, tweets, or animated gifs; to lists or one-line summaries; to fully produced articles marrying text, video, and photos.
- Rich imagery, including full-bleed photography, illustrations, and infographics.
- Emphasis on highly shareable content, including new “Know it All” tip sheet.
- Increased original reporting from top NBC News anchors and correspondents such as Brian Williams, David Gregory, Chuck Todd, Pete Williams, Andrea Mitchell, and Richard Engel, along with a team of notable digital journalists hired over the past year from The Daily Beast, Now This News, Yahoo News, Slate, among other outlets.