JamaicaObserver.com V2.0 is live, we love it….but

We waited over five years for the Jamaica Observer, the youngest of Jamaica’s two daily newspapers to upgrade and change the look and feel, navigational features and interactivity of their website. Its new site went live about 48 hrs ago.

What we now have is a site that is spacious, light and bright in its look and feel; well organised content that’s easy to see and get to; they’ve made smart space to accommodate advertising and video and in the age of sharing and social media tools, they’ve loaded up the site with more than 20 options. But still, they’ve not scored a touchdown in my mind, they’re still clutching the ball, toes just on the other side of the big win. Why? They continue to deny us of the one thing we want…to leave a comment and added to that the desire to read and share in the opinions of our fellow readers.

In my book it’s an oversight that needs immediate correcting. Now while I know managing the comments on a blog or media site can have its issues (time consuming, people saying not so nice things etc) this is no excuse to forget this two way communication that is crucial in this age when consumers, Jamaica Observer readers are in control and have so many other online places to get their news and information.

I do hope it’s a coming very soon feature, but I’d ask them to surf over to huffingtonpost.com an internet newspaper site, which is really a huge media blog. Now that company is not whimp and understands the role comments now play in online and offline media. Huffingtonpost.com has mastered the ability to let reader interactivity reign, they know it’s a big part of the dynamism that is online media and expected by online readers. They did not try to control what people say about the people and companies covered in their stories, they are facilitating and managing instead.

So it’s one and ¾ thumbs up to JamaicaObserver.com, but when you guys turn on your comment feature, it would mean you’ve decided to give up control, welcome the jump in traffic and time spent online and the inevitable jump in ad dollars that will follow. It’s time to let your readers reign.