Wit its 5th anniversary in site, The Black World Today stays true to its mission

New Crisis, The, May/Jun 2001 by Gilbert, Cam

Dot-com Chat/TECHNOLOGY

DON ROJAS, a long-time print and radio journalist who has served as editor of the Amsterdam News and director of communications at the NAACP, is the founder of The Black World Today (TBWT) an online Black community that went live July 1996 at www.tbwt.com. This summer, TBWT will mark its fifth year online. TBWT markets itself as "a place where [Blacks] can come each day to feed their minds and souls with uplifting information and inspiration." The stated mission of TBWT is to "chronicle the daily social, political, cultural and economic realities of Black communities and countries." CAM GILBERT chatted, by phone not online, with Rojas about sustaining an internet site and standing out among competitors.

What circumstances led you to launch The Black World Today?

When I was at the NAACP in the mid-- '90s, I was developing the communications infrastructure at the time, and it was just at the point where the world wide Web of the Internet was coming into its own. I began to recognize that this new technology gave us an opportunity to publish a national online newspaper. The internet provided us with a platform for cost effective national publishing.

Over the years it has evolved into a fullservice portal Web site, but it has not lost the core competency of its daily journalism.

In light of current market conditions, how has your Web site managed to survive and continue with its mission?

We avoid excess and run a tight ship. What separates your Web site from similar African American online news and information providers?

We've strategically planned and controlled our growth as we've listened and adapted to user feedback- That's precisely what differentiates us from other "dotcoms" that have failed to meet demand successfully without compromising quality

What advice would you give others planning to launch a Web site in the already over-saturated cyberspace?

Find a niche and provide progressive, interesting information and services that keep your unique visitors coming back

How have you managed to build your Web site in spite of weary investors and market woes?

Because we are self-financed we can run things the way we want and provide a better quality service to our audience. Our fiscal responsibility has enabled us to expand our Web site gradually with additional channels and news sites. For instance, Black Woman Today will deliver news and information directed to the women in our community On the same token, Harlem Today will, as the name implies, report on the culture, news and lifestyle of Harlem.

How do you measure success?

We measure our success by two important [standards]: 1) number of unique visitors, and 2) the amount of time spent on the site. We have about 250,000 [unique] visitors and 10,000,000 hits per month. The key to keeping someone on your site is providing tools and information that will keep him there. Research shows the average amount of time a person spends on a site on the Internet is 3-5 minutes. Our visitors stay on our site for an average of 15 minutes. That is no easy task. We give them what they want.

What's in the future for tbwt.com?

Look for even bigger things from us. We are finalizing a strategic Web initiative with Tom Joyner, combining our audiences and our efforts.

Cam Gilbert is a Washington D.C.-based freelance writer.