This site jumps out at you immediately the second you open the page.
This website is extremely accessible and has many "Web 2.0" features to it. The first thing that entices the viewer is the front story, which at this time, happens to be about Sarah Palin being portrayed on Saturday Night Live. Some positive things about this website are the constant updating news alerts, weather and time bug, mass amounts of pictures and video footage, blogs and RSS feeds.
One of the more enhanced features of this website is the banner.
This banner has the a lot of great features. Along with the newspapers logo, it has the weather and time bug, a link to their classified sections(cars, real estate, jobs and dating), an add that goes to a top story on the website and a search bar that allows you to search the web or their website, and even dig into their archive.
The only thing that I really didn't like about their site is the fact that it seems very cluttered and everything on the front page is mashed together. It seems like they want to squeeze every last detail of the day into their front page. Overall, this site is broken down very professional, and any average user, who wants quick and up to date information, should definitely take a look at www.nypost.com.
For my TV news choice, I selected FOX News.
This site has definetly made a huge overhaul since the last time I visited. The last time I checked this page was about five months ago. At that time, the site was terrible. They didn't have many Web 2.0 features and the site lacked structure. It was extremely tough to navigate and after going to the site a few times, it made me never want to check back up on it.
Now, this site has taken on a whole new design. It is much more clean-cut and they have added many new features.
The overall look of this site now makes it more affable for the average viewer. Features like blogs, comments, RSS feeds, videos, pictures and round the clock updating articles makes this website very user friendly. The navigation of Fox's site is extremely easy and it givers you numerous options to click on.
One of the best features on this web site is about half-way down on the page. This feature is a box with four tabs on the top: Latest News, Most Read, Top Videos and Urgent Queue.
This box is great for anyone wants quick information and doesn't have time to sift through all the articles and videos posted on the site. Fox has thought about the user rather than themselves for once.
On the downside, the two adds for Courtyard Marriot interact with each other. By this, I mean that a man pops out of the banner ad and reaches down to and points to the ad on the lower right hand side of the main page. This is very distracting and it seems a little unnecessary. All in all, I was pleasantly shocked with the way this website was constructed. The Fox website has all the great user features that I would need, and its has made itself look like a presentable website.
For my blog choice, I selected the DrudgeReport.
The Drudge gets a ton of daily hits. This site is what is known as an aggregator. An aggregator site is a site that has a consumption of many news articles from different websites and they are all put together by a blog, which in turn tells the viewer which articles are the most important to read. I for one, go to drudge on numerous occasions daily. They are one of the fastest out there for breaking news information and the site doesn't leave you with many unanswered questions.
This blog is pretty much as straight forward as it gets. There is usually a small banner ad on the top of the page and then straight links to articles after that. They always have a headline story and giant picture to catch your attention, but that is most likely the only catchy thing your going to get with this site. There is nothing on this site but links, the website's name, an average of two to three ads per visit and many news links. The Drudge doesn't give the user many Web 2.0 features, but when you are going to this blog, you should already know what you are going to get. This is a site for people who only want the top headlines. The drudge doesn't do much reporting at all(they do break news from time to time), but the site works. It's bland and stagnant look makes for a more serious atmosphere. As someone who goes to this site everyday, my judgment might be a little biased, but there is a reason that this blog gets so many hits a day, and the reason is consistency.
I don't feel like the Drudge has that much of a negative side to it. The only thing I can think of is the design. Many people don't like going to the site because it is so mundane, but I think that is one of the main reasons that I go there. I don't need a flashy website for my news coverage. I want interesting articles to read, and a few pictures to go with it.
Overall, I would have to say that all three of these websites were all well put together and they all have a ton of viewers. Both FoxNews and the Post's websites were very easy to navigate through and they had options for every and any user. The DrudgeReport, which is only a blog, has limited movement and tools, but it gets the job done.
If I had to choose the best site out of the three, I would have to say that I give the FoxNews' website two thumbs up. They went from a low tier website to a presentable and fully functioning staple on the web. Their accessibility has greatly improved and I might end up checking back on their site more often.
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