WBRZ - Baton Rouge

WBRZ-TV, the ABC Television affiliate in Baton Rouge, LA, today announced the launch of its new "Continuous News" website, www.wbrz.com. The site is the first of its kind in the community and is specifically designed to meet the online news and information needs of people throughout their workday.

"Our study of online news audience trends," said WBRZ-TV General Manager Rocky Daboval, "reveals that people who get their news from the Web generally do so Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and this new website specifically targets that substantial group of people." Several studies, including those by Dallas-based media strategy company AR&D, reveal that more people are online during those hours than any other form of media.

"News is evolving at a rapid pace," noted WBRZ-TV Director of News Chuck Bark. "People want to know what's going on while it's going on, and this new website is designed to let people into our world as we're actually covering the news leading up to our evening newscasts. Continuous News is a new form of online media that looks at stories through their individual elements and doesn't try to piece everything together in one finished product.

"That's the job of our newscasts," added Daboval. "We take a great deal of pride in assembling the news of the day for people and presenting it in packaged form at various times of the day. At the same time, however, we realize that times are changing and people have grown to expect more from news organizations, and so we're adding this ongoing continuous news service to our line-up."

Most media companies use the Web in a "supportive" role for their broadcast editions, but the new WBRZ-TV website exists apart from the station's other products. News items are presented in a blog format, with the latest always appearing at the top. Users can scroll down the page to see items or search the site based on keywords provided in the copy of each item.

The site also includes interactive elements, so users can actually involve themselves in the gathering of the news. Each item allows for comments from users, and regular polls will tap the overall thinking of the audience throughout the day.

"The popular metaphor for this is 'news as a river,'" according to Daboval. "It's like people are standing along the banks of a river of information, watching it flow past," to which Bark adds, "It reminds me of the days of the old UPI or AP news tickers, and it's oddly addictive."

The new website is built on a software platform provided by Synapse Multimedia of Shreveport. Synapse builds content management system software for local televisions stations across the country, and its cutting edge technology enables instant adjustments and the ability to create different looks and packages for a wide variety of news and information needs.

WBRZ Web Director Hunter Manship says, "It's important people know that WBRZ is not leaving 2theadvocate.com. WBRZ will continue to support and provide it with content," Manship says. "We hope that people will frequently visit both sites."