Editorial: A New Look and Outlook in Rio de Janeiro

Editorial, by Stone Korshak

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After three years we are very pleased to announce a new redesign for The Rio Times online. This is the third complete overhaul of the original web site layout we launched in 2009, and we hope our readers enjoy it.

With the rapidly changing technological landscape it is more important than ever to keep current, and stay in-line with how people view and use content. On average 35 percent of our readers now access the web site by mobile or tablet devices.

While our last version of the site was using a ‘responsive’ design, it was an early version of the technical approach to automatically re-configuring how a site looks based on the end-user’s platform. Now this new version employs the latest infrastructure and design for mobile configuration.

The new site design also makes use of even stronger social media sharing tools, revamped mega-menus, weather and currency tools, as well as modular configuration that translates to faster page load times. All that technical talk will go largely unnoticed by most of our readers but we hope it provides a better experience.

Another big change reflects our current structure in the news team. In our first five years of operation we had a larger pool of freelance reporters contributing weekly articles, who often did not stay more than six months in Rio. For the last couple of years though, we reorganized to work with a smaller core team of reporters, each writing more on a daily basis.

This increases the importance of each reporter, and so our new site design gives recognition with a short bio at the end of every article they have written. In addition, we serve up other articles by the author, and recognize them more for all their hard work. The passion and commitment they each bring to The Rio Times is what makes us possible.

A last note about the redesign this year is how it positions us for the future. While many in Rio and Brazil have been struggling to hold on through very difficult times, we wanted to show that we are not going anywhere.

As the premier English-language news source in Brazil, and a community news company dedicated to foreigners living here, we are looking forward to the economic recovery and stability of the post-Olympic Rio de Janeiro.