We're Way Ahead

This is exactly why AUDA should have kept its ban on people registering place names as com.au domains:



It's the new website of the Gold Coast Bulletin - www.goldcoast.com.au - passing itself off as some sort of information portal representative of the Gold Coast when the publication is, in fact, an embarrassment to the majority of folks who live here.

Says Gold Coast Publications Managing Director Roy Miller:

... the website would become an international portal to the city, providing potential visitors with all they needed to make their holiday successful. There is detailed information, drawn largely from the extensive Bulletin archives, on the best of the Gold Coasts beaches, bushwalks, surfing spots, shopping centres and even the key details about relocating here.

Many do indeed like the beaches, bushwalks, surfing spots, etc and we've had international visitors say they'd love to move here, but their compliments are often tempered by the question 'what is with your local paper though?'

The answer could be suggested by the front page of Friday's print edition spruiking the new website and featuring a young bikini-clad girl who appeared to be pulling down her exceedingly brief, mound-exposing togs to demonstrate that her Brazilian did indeed go all the way.

Further answers can be found in the newspaper's kitsch replacement for cutting the ribbon when, proving the Queensland Labor Party is a pack of media tarts who'd attend the opening of an envelope and dance with a monkey to get their publicity hungry mugs in print, the website was 'launched' by Deputy Premier Anna Bligh on Thursday:

QUEENSLAND Deputy Premier Anna Bligh has officially launched the Gold Coast's newest and most dynamic website, goldcoast.com.au. Ms Bligh, a former Gold Coaster, marked the occasion in typical Coast style by pushing a giant red button attached to a surfboard.

And further proving the Bulletin's collective ineptitude when it comes to dealing with teh interweb, here's a grab of the site this morning:



It shows the only 'published' comment on the only story on the site with comments enabled after 48 hours live.

The story is a week old and the comment potentially pre-dates the go-live of the site. It's plainly a 'test' comment - on an out-of-date story that had already turned into a murder case, reported by the Bulletin, by the time the site was launched.

The Gold Coast Bulletin's positioning statement is 'Catch Up'.

Perhaps they should.

-- Nick