Newspaper redesigns — both print and web — are a dime a dozen, as media companies try desperately to figure out how to balance the needs of their print readers with the shifting demands of a real-time news universe in which they no longer own the platform. The Postmedia chain in Canada is trying to move beyond that with the launch of a “reimagined” version of its flagship Ottawa title, an attempt to rethink not just print and digital but what a mobile app is (or should be) and how people consume content now in a multi-platform world.

The print and website parts of the Postmedia relaunch are fairly straightforward, as these things go. The site is supposed to be cleaner and easier to navigate, and the newspaper looks more modern and focuses on big images and call-outs to the reader that are supposed to draw them in, etc. (whether…