Comparing Online News: What is Newsworthy?
... of the site. These other sections also showcase their top stories in the center of the page, below all the main headlines. On the right side of the screen there are a few advertisements and a couple other links of interest like “Reader’s Opinion” and “On This Day”. All the headlines are done in blue or red, and all the text is in black. There’s one color picture from one of the main headlines in the top center of the page. Overall, this paper gives a very professional first impression. One picture, lots of headlines, not too much color. As far as content, there is tons of variety that you can choose from on the left side of the screen, but based on the front page headlines, you can tell what the New York Times considered to be the most important stories. The four lead stories are headlined as “Looking for Help in Iraq, Bush Meets With NATO Leaders”, “New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays”, “Latin America Fails to Deliver on Basic Needs”, and “Quake Measuring 6.4 Hits Central Iran”. All four of these stories are international affairs, and are stories The New York Times thinks its intelligent, prestigious customers would want to know and learn about. These stories all fit the typical mold for choosing a lead story, based on culture and country for the NATO story, controversy for the recruitment of gays, culture/country for the Latin America story, and action/violence for the earthquake story. But, it’s how the stories are titled and how they are written that is important. In taking a quick look at the home page of USA Today, the first thing your eyes are drawn to is the giant USA Today logo in bright blue and white, with column buttons below it in every color of the rainbow. There are about ten photographs on the front page and more advertisements than in The New York Times. The top stories for USA Today also include the story of the earthquake in Iran. Now, when we compare the two headlines it looks like this: “Quake Measuring 6.4 Hits Central Iran” (The New York Times) and “Powerful quake pounds Iran…At least 231 dead, 1,000 injuries reported” (USA Today). There is a huge difference in the way these stories are presented as headlines. The New York Times is informal, and gives a fact that might make a reader want to read the story. USA Today is pushing fear and emotions upon its readers by calling it in their eyes a “powerful” earthquake that that “pounded” Iran, and then giving the death and injury report. This tactic creates drama and fear that makes the reader want to read that article. I clicked on the link to the story on both sites, and the exact same article came up, word for word with very similar photographs. In comparing this story between the papers I found the only difference to be in the headlines, which USA Today titled in a very negative, shocking manner, and The New York Times titled pretty neutrally, just giving facts. It turns out that most of the political stories in the papers were very similar or identical, probably done by newswire, and that the biggest difference between the sites is how stories are presented, and what stories are chosen for the front page. For example, USA Today has a “Best Bets” list on their front page giving suggestions for top stories. In this list are pictures and stories about Paris Hilton and the American Idol television program. There are no stories on the front page of The New York Times about celebrities or pop culture. Something else that was interesting to look at was the quantity of stories the sites provided and in which category the bulk of the stories were in. The New York Times uses news stories for the bulk of their material. They have a news heading with 14 subcategories to choose from. USA Today has one news button with 3 subcategories, and far less stories to choose from. USA Today’s largest section is the Life section, with 6 different subcategories and loads oh photos and gossip about celebrities. In this way, USA Today resembles more a tabloid magazine than a newspaper. The New York Times has a “Features” section with arts, books, movies, etc. which holds even more stories than the USA Today life section. The New York Times, however, keep this section looking cl...