Last week we wrote extensively about sources for local news in Thornton.  We don’t live in Denver, we don’t live in Highlands Ranch.  We do live in Thornton, the state’s 6^th largest city and we always want more news about our community.  

So what is wrong with the choices we have now?  A few things. 

• More content.  Thornton is big enough that there is plenty of news to report – let’s hear more about it! 
• More frequent publishing.  Once a week simply isn’t enough for a city our size.  Oftentimes a story is ‘old news’ by the time it is reported by our current alternatives.  Twice a week or daily would certainly be an improvement.
• Give us news online.  If you can’t print more often, at least make the news timely by putting it on a website.  Print news is hurting, some have said it is dying.  I for one like to sit down and read my newspaper on paper however there are times when you want it online. 

In many ways, we long for something akin to the Longmont Times-Call.  While servicing a city smaller than Thornton, the Times-Call appears to thrive with a daily publishing schedule with tons of content and a great website.   The site features locally generated news stories but also has an AP news feed for national and world news thus providing added value for visitors.  Local advertisers flock to the site knowing the opportunity is there to cater to a local audience.

As I have said before, we truly like the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel and believe all area residents should subscribe to the paper.  But, we do have to take a jab at their website again.  As we mentioned before, the design is something akin to what we saw on the Internet 10 years ago – hardly something that is fitting for a modern news organization.  Oftentimes images don’t display instead displaying a ‘missing image’ icon. 

Only a few, select stories from the current print edition are available and once the next week’s paper comes out, those stories are gone.  Further, the site re-uses the story URLs so if you send someone a link to a story on Wednesday, the next day that link points to a totally different story.  Baffling! 

The publisher has said they have no desire to grow their online presence and that is a shame.  I can’t help but believe they are really missing the boat. 

Maybe that opens the door for some new venture?  We have heard of a new local news source that may be in the works.  Rumors are it will be a strictly online venture and more of a ‘news aggregator’ that will provide mostly excerpts and links to other news sources.  That could at least fill the online hole currently found in Thornton news coverage.

2 Responses to “And now back to the news”