As predicted back in December 2015, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website has been completely redesigned to match the many sites owned by Gannett Co. Inc., and Gannett’s USA Today Network. The redesign follows Gannett’s plans to purchase the locally owned Journal Media Group back in October 2015 and the approval of that $280 million deal in April 2016. The new Journal site joins 92 other daily publications under the Gannett/USA Today Network banner, including 10 in Wisconsin.
So what’s new for the new site? In a “Welcome to our updated website” article and accompanying pointless-but-lucrative video, Journal Sentinel editor George Stanley touts faster load times, responsive formatting, more Packers coverage, more shared reporting, and, well, more. As for the redesign itself, it’s a thing! Gone are the cluttered clusters of text and headlines from the old days; in their place are streamlined sections and an overall clean layout. It’s like reading USA Today, but with more stories about new apartments in Mequon.
Oh, and somewhat buried in the announcement is the news that the site’s commenting system—switched to a subscriber-only model back in February—will now be strictly Facebook-based. No word yet on whether the many shitty JS commenters Stanley once dreamed of punching in the nose will return to the site with their shitty, shitty comments.