The four sites that that I’ve looked at so far, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Denver Post, the Omaha World Herald and the Providence Journal, have been similar and different in many ways. As far as multimedia is concerned, the Denver Post made the best use of it, while the other three sites could use more multimedia overall.
In the same way, I enjoyed being on the Denver Post website more than I enjoyed any of the other sites. Both the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Omaha World Herald were run by other sites so they came off much less professional or inclusive to me. I felt like clicking off the sites the moment I clicked on them. The Providence Journal wasn’t so great either, in that it seemed very “local” or “amateur” in feel. It focused mainly on local news and sports. Maybe I would like it more if I was from there.
In regards to what they could all do differently, all but the Denver Post should increase their use and visibility of multimedia (but not go overboard with it!). The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Omaha World Herald should run their own sites and make them more exciting. The Providence Journal should make their site more social by adding “Digg” and “share this story” links. Overall, for reasons I have mentioned, the Denver post is the “best” I’ve seen and the Omaha World Herald is the “worst” I’ve seen.
-Original Link
I actually found the two websites I looked at to be completely different in terms of ease of finding information and quality of page layout, etc. The first paper I had, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, was much harder to navigate through and seemed to be run by another site entirely (Cleveland.com). Honestly, I did not really like the website. I feel like the information on the page was contained in too small of an area. The site was not using the whole top and right side of the webpage for news stories or information. Overall, it was hard to navigate through and I ranked it as a 5 out of 10 (10= best, 1=worst).
The second site I looked at, the Denver Post, was much easier to navigate through. I found this website to be pretty user friendly. I feel like the space was used appropriately. There was a lot of information available about a plethora of different topics. I had a much easier time finding the information needed to fill out the spreadsheet. Overall, I ranked it as an 8 out of 10 (10= best, 1=worst).
I didn’t really learn anything about how news organizations share information from these two sites, but they did seem to have articles about similar topics (i.e. politics) and articles about completely different topics (i.e. local news). I would much rather read from the Denver Post online than the Cleveland Plain Dealer due to the better design layout and ease of finding information.
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The article I found discussing online commerce is entitled Seller Reputation, Information Signals, and Prices for Heterogeneous Coins on eBay and was written by Mikhail I. Melnik and James Alm. This article is a study conducted to determine whether or not sellers’ reputations affect a buyer’s eagerness to purchase goods from them online. They looked specifically at the purchasing of coins on eBay. They also looked at other variables that might effect the purchasing of items, such as “the presence or absence of visual scans of the coin” and “certification of the coin’s quality by a credible third party” (Melnik & Alm 2005).
Last week’s well-organized websites were a pleasant yet distant memory as I looked through this week’s news sites: the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The State (South Carolina). Both of these sites suffer from some SERIOUS bouts of information overload. It seems like the web designers of each site made a conscious effort to just flat-out see how much stuff they could cram onto one page. With both sites, the only way I felt I could get what I needed would be with some serious practice. And in the digital world, with the competition only a click away, I don’t think I’d be willing to put in the effort.
Both sites did feature some good aspects, though. Both are frequently updated and include the timestamp next to the headline (a feature I didn’t realize I’d become accustomed to, since the Seattle Times and P-I both have been using them for so long). Now, I find that whenever I don’t see that timestamp I question just how relevant the news is. In today’s lightning-fast information age, even a gap of a couple hours means the story could be out of date.
Both sites also do a good job of appealing to their local communities, and if I lived in either state I would take the time to get used to the sites, as each seems to have an abundance of interesting and unique content in the form of local news and events. Each site places local headlines at the top of the page, which I think should become the standard for city newspaper websites if they want to scream out unique content. There is plenty of national news but each site places that near the bottom, probably guessing that you’ve already gone to CNN.com (or another national site) to get that take.
This week’s news sites were considerably better than last… I first visited the Palm Beach Post, which is a well-organized, clearly designed, and easy to use news site. Unlike both of the sites I visited last week, it is simpler and cleaner in its method. It uses large bold photos and text, organized in a logical fashion, rather than a jumble of photo thumbnails and small text links. Categories are clearly laid out and separated, and in a skill that seems to be vanishing in web publishing, they don’t try to do too much. The site has clearly embraced Web 2.0 and features RSS and mobile links right at the top of the page. Although it’s not perfect, and could benefit from even further simplification (some sub-pages get confusing), all in all it does the job.
The Philadelphia Daily News, while also a fairly well-designed and easy to use site, is most certainly not trying to be a serious news site. It has little to do with national and world news (although you can easily link to the Philadelphia Inquirer if that’s what you’re looking for); instead, it’s focused on local entertainment, lifestyle, and gossip. And it does this very well—there is not a whole lot of pretense here, so it makes for an easy and enjoyable read. I also do like the way in which this sort of site is linked to other city-related sites. It doesn’t fully embrace social Web 2.0 norms but does feature considerable local-generated audio, video, and blogs.
Much like my post from last week, there is a domain divide with these sites as well. The Palm Beach Post, while including much local and community content, still features national and international news in its prime virtual real estate. This paper probably has a long-established history in the city and is used to being the local provider of information. The Philadelphia Daily News, on the other hand, existing in the same market as the larger Inquirer, has chosen to put its effort into all things local and community-oriented, and any national news is handled in a more tongue-in-cheek fashion…
