|
The site has been transformed into a portal with numerous new product offerings. O Globo Online was the first news site to invest in blogs as a journalistic tool in Brazil, and strengthened its brand with the creation of special sites belonging to some of the main columnists from the O Globo newspaper: Míriam Leitão, Ancelmo Góis, Ricardo Noblat and Jorge Bastos Moreno. The main revolution at O Globo Online was the investment in interactivity and participatory journalism, with the section “Eu-Repórter” (that means “I, Reporter”) (http://oglobo.globo.com/participe/), where web surfers are responsible for the production of news content. Here, synergy with the newspaper is very strong, as the material sent by the internet users, in addition to being published on O Globo Online and possibly earning a chance to be showcased with a front-page article, may be used by the Infoglobo print newspapers: O Globo, Extra, Expresso and Diário de São Paulo. This functionality allowed, for example, a web surfer’s scoop to become the front page of the O Globo newspaper strengthening the importance of this tool for a greater cross-media effectiveness. The newspaper Extra, in turn, created on its Page 2 a fixed “Eu-Repórter” space, where everyday news sent by a reader gets published. Interactivity become the key word on the site: Resources such as “Comment”, “Recommend”, “Send”, and “Denounce”, allowed web surfers to actively participate in discussions and to “regulate” / create the content “posted” by the readers themselves. With “Comment” the reader can give an opinion on a specific area within each news item published on the site; thus creating real-time debate forums. The project furthermore considers the creation of a site for the organization’s popular newspaper, O Extra Online, to reinforce the portal concept and to serve a different public (popular). Additionally, the concept of this site, different from those other Brazilian news sites associated with a print newspaper such as O Globo Online (linked to O Globo newspaper), is not to offer all of the news, but rather to establish a link between the print newspaper and the online version; making the reader use both versions in a complimentary manner in order to take full advantage of interactivity. Today, the content of the O Globo Online portal may be distributed by RSS, podcast and is even delivered to PDA’s and cell phones. Three innovative launches, in addition to Extra Online, which has already reached good audience ratings, consider the product with their Web 2.0 concepts: 1) “Globoonliners: to retain people and achieve younger audiences (http://www.globoonliners.com.br/). The Globo Online community site, whose goal is to become more than just a relationship site, but rather to be a meeting point and news debate arena where web surfers can talk about what goes in their daily lives. Readers registered on “Globoonliners” automatically earn a blog; 2) “My Globo Online” (http://oglobo.globo.com/meugloboonline/), where readers, through a friendly interface (visual mashup) can put together their own Globo Online home page, by choosing subjects that are of interest to them: A true personalization of the site’s home page; and 3) “News Alert”, which allows web surfers to be pro-actively alerted when breaking news that are of interest to them are available on O Globo Online. |