F1 Fanatic news trial update
30th November 2008, 12:38 by Keith Collantine 13 Comments »
For the past two weeks I have been trialling news content on F1 Fanatic supplied by GMM to see if it has value as a source of content for the site.
When I first announced this some people expressed misgivings. These concerns were chiefly how reliable the content is, and whether it would reduce the amount of time spent writing original material.
Reliability and accuracy are very important which is why I will continue to check each story supplied and not run it unless I am satisfied with the quality of the sources they are based on and whether the story is worth having on the site. I have not used some of the material that has been offered, other stories have been edited. All stories used are comment-enabled, which I think is an important point of difference between other sites offering similar content.
The news section is not a substitute for original content on the site and never will be.
As well as providing a means for me to quickly add a selection of stories beyond those I have time to research and write myself, having a news section on the site brings other advantages. The traffic data generated by visits to these stories means I can see which topics are attracting the most attention. This helps me decide not only which stories I should run in the future, but also how I should prioritise the production of original articles.
I am broadly happy with how the trial has gone so far. I discarded slightly more stories than I expected I would, but more people read and commented on the stories than I anticipated as well. I’m going to continue running the news section through December, and then take a decision on 2009.
As ever, please do share your feedback. There were some requests for a ‘non-news’ version of the F1 Fanatic feed and you can now find that here: Subscribe to F1 Fanatic.
Andy said on 30th November 2008, 13:20
i think its a positive addition to the site, keep it up Keith
Andrew said on 30th November 2008, 14:12
I already consider your site to be my source for F1 news so this addition really just fills in whatever gaps were left.
It is a good addition.
yorricksfriend said on 30th November 2008, 14:29
I like the news updates, at first I didn’t – but it’s good to have a few extra bits to read through each time I visit
PJA said on 30th November 2008, 14:37
I don’t mind the news updates either way as I still check Autosport’s site for news aswell as this one. But the good thing, compared to regular news sites, is being able to comment on the article. The original articles and the debates which follow from the readers are the main reasons this is my main F1 site.
One question, is the news in brief box at the top of the page solely for news from GMM or does it still include original articles? Personally I would keep them seperate so it is easy to tell from looking at the front page which are your original articles and which are the general news.
Shashi said on 30th November 2008, 18:44
Keith, I like the news but I think once the season begins the amount of news will be overwhelming. I certainly won’t read everything (because a lot of it will be duplicated on autosport) and I hope it won’t be too taxing for you, especially given all the time zones from which news arrives. Just my 2 cents…
_Ben_ said on 30th November 2008, 21:55
I enjoy the news section Kieth, Just out of interest how many other F1 websites do you visit? I only visit 3
F1fanatic
Autosport
F1.com
Am I missing out on any other great F1 sites!?
Toby said on 30th November 2008, 22:58
Keep the news up, Keith. It doesn’t seem to be affecting your original output. Just make sure you leave some time at home for yourself!
_Ben_, Check out pitpass.com. I reckon you’re missing out if you don’t. It’s independant, and it’s particularly great for testing times and other data during both the on and off seasons. Also, the features are more than often fantastic. There’s a forum too, and best of all, it’s all free!
Keith Collantine said on 30th November 2008, 23:49
Ben – Pitpass like Toby says, and Grandprix.com, motorsport.com and f1-live.com. On top of that there’s loads of blogs, podcasts and forums, and I flick through as many of the British papers I can each day. Perhaps I should do an article on the content of my RSS reader someday?
Anonymous said on 1st December 2008, 1:27
You can’t see it, but my thumbs are up.
D Winn said on 1st December 2008, 1:33
I would add Planet-F1.com to the above sites.
It’s not what i would call a quality site, but they do have a lot of snippets earlier than other sites – which means they jump the gun and get it wrong sometimes !
Manatcna said on 1st December 2008, 2:12
I always read the news section – so my vote goes for keeping it
As for other websites, I read all of those mentioned above, plus the ITV website (more from habit than anything else) and now the BBC’s F1 site, but I spend more time on this one
It would be interesting (to me) to know the nationality of the websites
DG said on 1st December 2008, 9:23
Its a good idea to have a separate news feed, even if you have to check the accuracy, as it will even out those who think you are being biased in your reporting, since the GMM feeds are obviously written from a different perspective and in a different hand.
Also keep the articles from other contributors going, as they also help to keep the Blog unbiased – and in fact anyone who complains about it should be asked to contribute something…….
W said on 1st December 2008, 11:30
Please, do not run GMM.
His business model is forcing many hard working journalists out of work. GMM is by far one of the most dangerous “news services” around in motorsport today. The news is rehashed from a variety of sources, more often than not those who have shelled out great expense to attend events, tests and races, to bring people this news in the first place.
He is making money from other people’s hard work.
But the more people who pay GMM for content, and the more powerful he becomes, the greatest irony is that he will force the very people he relies on for his stories out of work.
I realise its a saving grace to have such an easy source of news and information, but he is forcing many journalists out of work.
Please do not use him.