Josh :: Group Project Pt. 3

Overall, I have to say that I was impressed with the use of new media in the six sites I reviewed (Daily Herald (IL), Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, The State (SC) and The Tennessean).

Josh :: Group Project Pt. 2

So far I’ve reviewed the Daily Herald (IL), Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer. Three of the sites have a dedicated multimedia page, while Dallas Morning News has a photos/videos drop down menu in the main navigation.

Josh :: Group Project Pt. 1

I just completed my Google Docs forms for both the Daily Herald and Dallas News sites. The Daily Herald site, which caters to the suburbs of Chicago, was pretty straightforward and contained relevant community based information. They were lacking in the social networking area, but I would expect people in this region who want these features to read the Chicago Tribune.

Heather: Third Post for Group Project

Out of the six sites I looked at (the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Denver Post, the Omaha World Herald, the Providence Journal, the Oklahoman and USA Today), USA Today and the Denver Post stick out as being the best at using new media technology and the best overall, in my opinion. These two sites used space much better than the other sites and they incorporated multimedia, podcasts and other new media the best in their overall layouts. I was also much more comfortable moving through their sites than I was with the other sites- I feel they were laid out logically and I found things easily. The multimedia options enhanced the sites rather than took away from them. Overall, they seemed more professional and more “well-done.”

One of the things that these sites could do differently, in the case of the Omaha World Herald and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, would be to run their own sites that contain information just for their specific newspaper. Not only was it harder to find these two sites, it was much more difficult to navigate through them than the others. I realize that using a different site to run your newspaper might be much cheaper for these smaller, more local papers, but I feel the investment would be worth it if there were enough online viewers.

As far as what these sites are doing well, I would have to say the “social” aspect of these sites, for the most part, is very good. All the sites I looked at had some sort of “social” aspect to them where people could comment on stories, email stories to friends, “Digg” or rate stories, etc…They should all keep this up. Letting readers get involved can only help these papers, in my opinion.

In my opinion, USA Today was the overall “best site” because it was laid out the best, it was easiest to navigate through, it utilized multimedia and new media the best, it had an overall “professional” look and out of all the sites, I would go back to this site on my own at a later time. I might have felt more connected to this site because it was more national rather than local news, but surfing this site still stands out as the most enjoyable out of the six.

–Original Link

Heather: Second Post for Group Project

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