Carolina Journal Online

client: The John Locke Foundation
relationship: 2002 – Present

The John Locke Foundation is an independent non-profit North Carolina think tank. Since 1991 they have distributed the Carolina Journal, a monthly print newspaper which reaches an audience of approximately 180,000 and publishes stories on local and national political issues.

Since its inception, the John Locke Foundation has diversified the methods of distribution for the stories that appear in the Journal through a email newsletters, CJ Radio, CJ TV, and CJ Online. Stories broken through the Carolina Journal have had significant impact on the landscape of North Carolina politics. The John Locke Foundation continues to expand their reach through new projects such as NC Transparency, a website resource used to evaluate transparency of governmental entities in the state of North Carolina.

As the Foundation moved forward with adding CJ TV and CJ Radio to their online portfolio, they realized the appearance of the two new sites were out of sync with the aging Carolina Journal online website. It became evident the older site required an update with a style that would complement the new John Locke Foundation extension websites.

Re-launched in early 2009, the site has a more vibrant, modern design, with a less cluttered appearance as it incorporates newer technology that manages the content in a more visually appealing fashion for the viewer. Most importantly, the Carolina Journal Online site, CJ TV and CJ Radio now maintain a consistent appearance. The use of updated, standards compliant code has allowed the site to more accessible and lightweight with fewer tables. Under the John Locke Foundation header, the three sites are now aligned together with clean, unified design.