Robot Loves Kitten

Reviewing a news site in its first few days is almost unfair, given how the staff is still gearing up for business, squashing bugs, and putting out fires. But just looking at how the site decides to treat its headlines gives me, at least, some confidence that the team at TBD.com has got it going on.

TBD.com homepage headlines

There’s a lot of possible metadata you could choose to clutter up an article link. Most sites, even big sites, don’t pay attention to this minor detail, but this is exactly what sets the tone and context for readers, helping to draw them into the story. TBD.com sets a clean, clear, friendly tone by eschewing typical metadata junk with only a headline, a time, and a source.

Because it’s a news site publishing often, TBD can simply state the time the story was published, setting it in green (from their color scheme) — both the brevity and color convey freshness to the reader. Including the source under the headline seems to be a nod to the multi-source journalism you’ll find on the site, which will hopefully include lots of local blogs. This leverages the brand appeal of the larger sources (Washington Post, AP), while working as a nod of respect to their smaller contributors (who wouldn’t want their blog post next to a Washington Post column?). It also says to me that they are committed to providing as comprehensive a local “presence” as possible, regardless of source. That’s what I, as a reader, want from my news source.

So, with only two pieces of metadata accompanying their headlines, TBD conveys timeliness, reader-friendliness, trust, presence, and a nod to the participatory, community-sourced journalism that they’ll be growing in the future. Maybe I’m getting over-excited, and reading too much into it, but I’m always impressed when I see examples of less doing more. Simplicity is always harder than it looks.