It’s launch time for three more McClatchy titles

It's time for three more McClatchy dailies–The Charlotte Observer, (Raleigh) News & Observer, and The (Rock Hill) Herald–to launch a new look and philosophy of presenting the news .

We at Garcia Media are honored to have been a part of a project that truly rethinks how newsrooms operate, considers new strategies for storytelling across platforms, and develops new products for mobile, tablet, responsive web and print. All 29 of McClatchy Compay newspapers will eventually launch following the changes of design and philosophy that have been part of our 16 months of work together.

The changes include new print, responsive web, mobile app, and tablet app products already launched in California—Sacramento, Modesto, Merced, and Fresno. This project focuses on developing up-to-the-minute and in-depth storytelling for digital first, producing a stronger visual impact with more varied digital storytelling tools, and promoting video as a key medium.

From the start we set out to redefine storytelling, particularly emphasizing the roles of print and mobile. To that end, we created prototypes using actual storytelling situations to define how each platform would cover everything from breaking stories to more in-depth analyses.

Front pages from launch day

The iPad and Android phone apps

Looking back at The Charlotte Observer

The Observer's Retro Charlotte has a photo gallery of front pages from 1915 to today—including the 2001 redesign that García Media helped develop (above)!

Charlotte Agenda also provides a before and after comparison of the print section fronts.