New operating model, new website: how Le Monde plans to connect with online readers

wan/ifra reporting:
With the debut of its redesigned website, French national daily newspaper Le Monde combined enhanced visual media and user participation in hopes of creating a more social news experience.
Le Monde.fr, the third most trafficked media site in France, launched its new format on Monday, as previously reported. Features of the site include more space for visual media, categorical tabs for each section of the news and a live chat window.
Editors Weblog spoke with Le Monde.fr Editor-in-Chief Alexis Delcambre about his primary goals for the newspaper in the online realm.
Social networking and the news
“The first objective is to improve the editorial formats that we’ve been experimenting with in our newsroom for a year,” Delcambre said.
One such new format is the “Live” feature, a chat window that appears on the home page of Le Monde.fr. On “Live,” users can ask questions of Le Monde journalists or make comments about certain topics, with journalists responding to their queries in real time. Delcambre said the feature is an innovation in France.
“It is inspired by chat windows that exist on Facebook and on Google Docs, just like a chat with a friend,” Delcambre said. “We sought to reproduce this format on our site so that when one participates on “Live,” one can have a dialogue with our editorial staff.”
As we previously reported, regional Swedish newspaper Norran offers a live online chat box, eEditor, in which users can suggest story ideas to journalists in the newsroom. UK daily The Guardian also recently began a Newsdesk live feature, in which journalists post breaking news and which stories they plan to cover on a daily blog for readers to see.
Delcambre said that “Live” aims to add an interactive dimension to the Le Monde website. Live chats not only allow users to question the editorial staff, but help journalists to better understand what information their readers want, he said.
The newsroom staff monitor the comments, choosing which to respond to on “Live,” he said. The task of responding to the questions posed in the chat window, while designated by time slots, is often a collaborative effort, he said.
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