The Final Idea

In your face interface/News Views/City Window/My View/Our Town(working title)
An interface designed for online publications to use in order to provide news and community involvement in an interactive and hyper local format.

Idea: A panoramic computer graphic based view of a user's city/town that allows the user to get their news. It would be like getting the news by looking out of a window. Through the use of icons/symbols, the city's landscape reveals headlines. As the user navigates throughout the city and into specific communities, they will be able to view stories and interact with the rest of the community by posting bulletins and keeping other members of the community informed about local events. The user will be able to become a part of the story.
Content will be generated both by users, and from the town's proffesional journalists. The plan is for two overlays to exist: one for citizen journalism and another for staff-written journalism.
"In Your Face Interface" will not only allow people to acquire information but will also enable the exploration and discovery of the city through hidden easter eggs and games. For example, at night there will be stars in the sky and if you click on the astrological sign you will receive your horoscope.
The site is interactive, entertaining and informative. The image of the city itself will provide a sense of the current conditions of the city. If it is raining outside, it will be raining on the site. Airplanes will fly by as if the site is living. People will enjoy exploring the site and seeing not only news updates, but community involvement as well. The site can still be sponsored by advertisers on billboards throughout the city. In order to give the interface a much more interactive feel, the site will be comprised of computer graphics/animation. This may also attract a younger audience as well as adults.

Collaborative Portal
This will be an element of the interface which creates an environment where people can work on stories together. Users can provide different elements (pictures, videos, text) to a single story which will be rated or commented on by the community and then posted to the front page or inside different pertaining overlays. This element should meld seamlessly into our inteface and be reachable through most screens. This would also facilitate new sources to come forward on new stories and add to a developing story though comments or other interactions. Moderation of user based content would come with the ability to "blam" bad or incorrect articles from appearing on the site and elevate better stories to a correct place on the main site, similar to Newground's method.

Reasons Why "In Your Face Interface" Will Work:
1.) As media consumers, people want to know what stories will impact them the most. This service will deliver that information to users in an innovative, efficient and stimulating interface.
2.) Users would be able to see what news stories will impact them the most, due to their geographic proximity. The website would strengthen neighborly bonds through heightened community awarness.
3.) Through navigating the city's landscape the user will become engaged in the news.
4.) The "news" will consist of more than just hard news stories...but will keep a community tied together with what's news to them.