| Review Of On-line Publications Essay, Research Paper
Review of On-line Publications
Because of the prevalence of the internet in today’s society many
thousands of papers now publish an on-line edition. It is through the use of
this medium that they wish to make in roads in the communications market. It is
seen as a necessary step by many because of the loss of readership due to the
internet, broadcast journalism and radio. In my review I will examine an on-line
edition of a newspaper from each of the continents. I will comment on some of
the technical aspects each employ. I will also discuss the tools many of the
papers are using, that not only make them a hybrid of broadcast, radio and print
journalism but also establish them as the only medium that is using interactive
reporting.
Representing the continent of Asia and the city of Hong Kong is the
South China Morning Post. It is one of only a few English language news papers
in the republic. The post has an air of journalistic freedom the other news
papers do not seem to have. One of the lead articles outlined this concern and
dispelled the rumor that China would censor the paper when the city is turned
over in July.
The Morning Post is a very up to date paper that features an updated
breaking news sidebar. A very useful and inviting feature which enables it to
keep up with and often scoop the broadcast media. The newspaper also had a
technology section which caters to the on-line user. The post also utilizes the
use of java script to make it seem more like an interactive medium.
Of the papers available from the continent of India the Times of India
is the one of the finest. It features an archive that is quite extensive, a
metropolis section which features two cities a day, an easily accessible reprint
section for syndication of articles and a career opportunities in India section
that is aimed at the overseas applicant. It has some draw backs though, the
world section although very extensive is more of an overview of the continent
and the region rather than the entire world. It is not as inviting as some of
the other on-line news papers it has a uninviting look to it which lends it to
be a little less reader friendly.
Business Day is the best offering of dailies for South Africa. It takes
a little longer to load the page but that is due to a very dominate graphic
which clearly outlines all of the major markets of the world. The major market
graphic is the most impressive of the elements of this on-line newspaper. Coming
in second is business days entertainment section. It has well written and
intelligent reviews of cinema, books, theater, wine and food. As a whole the
paper has some major drawbacks, there are no pictures, essentially no world news
and the front page contained a spelling error.
The Times of London is the signature paper of Europe. It is not only
very easy to use it is also very insightful and timely. It has a crossword
puzzle, a first among all of the newspapers that I reviewed for this assignment.
It has a true world news section which has comprehensive coverage of the world.
It has a very slick look that is complimented by many color and black and white
pictures. Many of the stories incorporated graphics which lead to a very
contemporary wed designed look. The most compelling aspect of the paper was the
feature ?personal times?. Personal times, is a customized news paper designed
from the readers general interests. The feature was one of many which
distinguished the times from any other I reviewed. Overall the times was a very
exciting newspaper and one which is very insightful into its readers needs.
An extremely modern looking design dominates the Christchurch Press, one
of the three on-line papers from the small island. It has the distinction of
being the only paper I could find that had a photo gallery. The gallery was a
very welcomed find amongst the many papers on the internet that all but abandon
photojournalism for more graphics and text. Surprisingly, it does not have a
world news a section. It has some unusual fare for an on-line news paper, such
as, a motoring section, a teen section, a TV guide and a computer tools section.
It also distinguishes itself from other on-line news papers by offering sound
files. The sound files demonstrate how the medium of on-line news and broadcast
will probably be a merging and gray area in the future.
The Vancouver Sun is my installment for the North American continent. It
is a very efficient news paper that maximizes all the space it uses and loads
very rapidly. I has distinct departments such as: a net guide, a personal
finance section and a trivia page. It is similar to other western papers in that
it has an extensive world news section that is very comprehensive. In the world
section is a scrolling synopsis of the days news that is very attractive to the
on-line reader. Overall the Vancouver sun represents some of the finest North
America has to offer in the form of the on-line newspaper.
In my search of the news papers of South America I did not come across
one that was printed in English or gave you the option of choosing one in
English. I choose The Gazeta of Brazil to review because it seemed to be the
most modern of the South American newspapers. although I could not read the
features or the news articles it seemed to have an extensive listing of all
categories as well as a large world news section.
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