MSNBC.com adds flashy ‘Bltwy’ section

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bltwy

MSNBC.com has added a section to its Web site called “Bltwy” (short for “beltway”) that focuses on aggregating political stories into a central location.

The site uses a grid layout (which MSNBC appears to refer to as the “wall”) to present the top stories. Clicking on a block or blocks triggers an animated transition that reveals content, whether it be a photo gallery, story, video or multimedia. During the transition, story blocks move to the side of the main content, as shown below, and remain clickable, meaning users can continue to explore other stories easily.

bltwy1

The stories themselves tend to be short summary-style blocks of text complemented by large images, an approach that reminds us a bit of Newser.

The site also makes use of “mood voting” with the options being “LOL,” “I like,” “OMG” and “Veto” and also provides opportunities to share content on social networking sites and comment.

This is an interesting entry into the growing field of niche news sites and features that also make use of alternative and multi-faceted storytelling techniques.

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