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.
