The first online TV News source was www.channelone.com. This source was directed towards the younger audience, ranging from junior high to high school.
They had several news worthy stories that other top news providers were running, such as on November 11, 2003 their feature story was “Who Really Killed JFK?” (http://www.channelone.com/news/2003/11/17/jfk/index.html). This story was very interactive, gave the facts, then allowed the students to decide who killed JFK. Another informational link was presented as a fun quiz often times seen in magazines. This was a word quiz that asked for you to give the definition of the word. When you answered it, correct or incorrect, it would give the new worthy quote that it was pulled out of and another example of the word used in a sentence (http://channelone.com/school/2003/03/03/word_play/).
Just like other news sources, this one has features directed towards their audience. With this being for the adolescent audience some of the features deal with superstars that are close to their age, Kareem Rush and Dierks Bentley 12/2/03, the election, and how to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. This site is very different that what one would expect because its news headlines draw from all areas of news. Their top two news stories for 12/2/03 are of Iraq and of Homeland Security. Their second in line is about rallies for World AIDS Day. The last important headline is about the premier to the third movie in the “Lord of the Rings” series.
This site has few flashy things. There is one advertisement that flashes the message and makes viewers follow along if they want to know what the advertisement says. The only other moving objects on the page is at the top and the bottom. The top one is in their banner. All it does is has the words fly in a few times, then a sponsors advertisement plops down on it. The bottom one is a link where you can go download buddy icons and wallpaper with the Channel One logo on them.
The next web site that I chose to look at is directed for a more general audience. The Today Show (http://www.msnbc.com/news/TODAY_Front.asp?0ct=-340&cp1=1) is viewed by millions of people daily ranging from any age. I know that I love to watch the show, but I find that my mother and grandmother watch it on a daily basis as well.
This site has many news stories going on. Their first news story is of Playboy’s 50th Anniversary. Once you click on the link (http://www.msnbc.com/news/1001160.asp) you are taken directly to a cover picture of their first issue in December of 1953. Marilyn Monroe is the cover girl, fully clothed. There is a video clip and a full transcript of the conversation between Matt Lauer and Hugh and Christie Hefner. Within the transcript there are two boxes that have nothing to do with the story that have links to other NBC news stories and stories from Today.
Their second headline article was on senior eye care (http://www.msnbc.com/news/1000877.asp). It was informative for those people who are 65 and older. It listed off all the eye diseases and the causes of them, the common symptoms of them and how to treat these diseases. This article also gave information on eye care programs, national programs and eyeglass programs. This article obviously does not pertain to someone my age, but it is still information that someone can use.
I think that this article and the previous show the diversity that a general news site has to have. To appeal to the majority, you have to have something that targets all audiences. Other audience grabbing stories are how to cook meals in your dishwasher (http://www.msnbc.com/news/1000974.asp),
As I browsed other news stories their format was much the same to the Playboy story and some of them had advertisements through the transcript and some of those had flash advertisements.
Other web sites that I took glances at were:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/48hours/main3410.shtml
These are other examples of news web sites. MTV News is for the more “Gen-X” age group. CNN News is for those that are serious into their politics and 48 Hours is more of an in depth, research news show.
These days some people are finding it more convenient to surf the web while at work to get their news. As I observe my surroundings and the people I work with I notice that they check local news sites daily because their kids have them running to activity after activity. Web sites offer a quick browse of what was on the TV. Viewers now don’t have to sit through and hour show to find out what they are looking for. Now they can scroll through the site, find what they want and read away. Networks are also realizing this convenience and we are beginning to see more and more news on TV. Local TV news stations are also realizing that people want a quick idea of the daily weather on their computer, therefore creating WeatherBug http://wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=527488&nav=0Ra8Iacm. This allows for the local forecast to be quickly brought to people without having to sit through the news to find the weather.