Media Blog - 500 words

If you take a look at today’s front page newspaper (Wednesday November 11, 2009) in the print edition for the New York Times, you will see one particularly large picture of a soldier kneeling with a story to the right in bold print. Below that there are a few less important but altogether interesting stories with one smaller picture of two children. Beneath all of that, the newspaper designer tries to grab its audience with a variety of articles in hopes of grabbing any type of reader. If you want to know more about Obama and his latest plan, turn to page A21 to find out. The layout of the front page has quite a bit of previous thought put into its picture placement and article types for its reader’s ease of enjoyment. In comparison to the online version though, I can attest that the younger readers are more inclined to type it into their google home pages and find out what’s occurring around the world from their laptop. The online version of the New York Times is categorized by subject. So at the top of its home page there is a list of subjects that one may be interested in. Now the beauty of it lies in the “just a click away” mentality of my generation. Instead of being bombarded with political jargon and force fed photos of rich men in suits or warring soldiers, they can skip that and immediately find out what is new in the film regions of the world, or the art galleries, or the latest technology. Granted, there are exciting arrays of colorful and flashy advertisements that invade every other word being read, but they are usually more exciting than the failing future of railroads. There is beauty in knowing that any slight piece of information on what the world looks like off campus can be immediately accessed with the click of a button. No waiting, walking, flipping, or wind blown pages are there to deal with.
Now, when I compared the online version of the New York Times to the online version of the LA Times, I was surprised to see a shocking difference. Where the New York Times has a picture and a list of articles and links one can peruse throughout a story, the LA Times is a bit more user-friendly while also employing better marketing techniques. The reader first and foremost is provided with a plethora of photographs of a variety of people, places, and ideas - obviously immediately catching his attention. Instead of placing the categories at the top of the page, one must scroll down to locate the desired text. The weather, Hollywood's latest gossip, sports, and politics are all presented not as informational, but as entertainment. The LA Times wants its reader to enjoy his time spent browsing that website in hopes that one day he will return. Simply put, the LA Times is geared toward young adults, whereas the New York Times appeals to my parents.