1 | | A. Visit your favorite online news publication (or one recommended by your instructor) and evaluate it according to the following criteria:*
- What is your initial response to the way the site presents news? Is news presented effectively on the site? Why or why not?
- How does the experience of accessing news on this site compare with reading a newspaper?
- How does the experience of accessing news on this site compare with other news Web sites you have visited?
- What, in particular, makes the visual experience interesting or dull?
- What design features make stories easier or more difficult to read? Does anything interfere with your ability to access information on the site?
- In early 2006, The New York Times, which already had an award-winning Web site, was experimenting with a new digital product — an "Electronic Edition" offering Web-friendly navigation tools embedded in a visual representation of the printed newspaper. Visit http://www.nytimesee.com and take a tour (perhaps even downloading a trial version of the new product). To what extent does the Electronic Edition appeal to you? How does it compare with the site you evaluated above?
* The Online News Association at http://www.journalist.org/ conducts an annual contest to identify the best in online journalism and would be a good starting point for finding well-regarded news Web sites. |