A bold new presence online

nationalpost.com and financialpost.com have become a whole lot prettier and so much more easy to use!

In the words of the editor-in-chief, Douglas Kelly:

We are proud to introduce you to a rebooted nationalpost.com and financialpost.com, two Web sites completely redesigned and reimagined with clarity and ease-of-use in mind.

The Post has never been known to hold back when speaking its mind. We remain true to form today as we make available to our Web site everything we produce from commentary to breaking news to business, arts & life and sports coverage, to award-winning design and photography — absolutely free. No subscriber walls, no complicated registration process: it’s never been easier for you to find and enjoy everything the National Post and Financial Post have to offer.

You will find the National Post newspaper peppered with mentions of online items providing background, documents and related items to our stories that appear in print.

On the new nationalpost.com, you’ll discover a commitment to delivering a more immediate, in-depth and customizable news experience that works for you and your busy life. You’ll find us telling the stories that matter to you most in new and different ways. We're introducing NP Network Blogs, which include established interactive blogs and news feeds like FP Trading Desk, Full Comment and Posted.

We're also committed to offering National Post and Financial Post content everywhere. You can experience our news and blogs on your BlackBerry or Windows Mobile-powered PDA using our free reader from Viigo.

And you’ll also find us opening the floor to different sources and viewpoints, including your own, because we know that online, we’re just one voice in the world’s most vast and vibrant community. Enjoy the new nationalpost.com and financialpost.com and all they have to offer.

For some before-and-after looks at nationalpost.com, take a look at this entry on the NP Editors blog.

CanWest restructures its metros

CanWest's metro newspapers are going though a series of wrenching changes related to newsroom layoffs and buyouts, outsourcing of page production and a shifting of editorial resources to web operations.

The restructuring, which is now being put into place, will see 20 to 30 positions bought out in Vancouver, while as many as 10 positions are being eliminated in Calgary through layoffs. About 15 positions could be affected at the Montreal Gazette's 155-person newsroom, with similar numbers expected in Ottawa and Edmonton.

At the Ottawa Citizen, design director Susan McDonough and photo director John Major have agreed to be bought out. One source at the paper described the Citizen's newsroom climate as "not happy."

The metros are now outsourcing portions of their national and international news pages, along with auto and travel sections, to CanWest's Editorial Services operation in Hamilton. Even the Calgary Herald's editorial pages are being outsourced.

One CanWest insider says outsourcing to Hamilton is causing production headaches in the home newsrooms. "It is actually taking more time for editors as they need to spend their time sending copy, headlines, photos, and then receiving it all back and sometimes needing to redo it all."

Jamie Pitblado, vice-president of promotions and community investment at CanWest's two Vancouver papers, the Sun and the Province, told the Globe and Mail recently the changes will allow CanWest to invest more resources in its Internet-based news operations, which could include adding positions on its websites.

"I think we're seeing a transition from a newspaper to a news-gathering organization. By moving some of this work out of here (to Hamilton), it will provide us with an opportunity to focus more energy and resources on driving local content, both online and in the paper."