MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/)
The top story was a political story (the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama). I definitely see that political stories and world interest stories are the most prominently placed at this time. The site was set up in a list like format with local news and weather below the top story, followed by U.S., world and politics, then business, then sports, then entertainment, then health, then tech and science, and finally travel.
Comparing just the space provided for each section of the news, it seems like the site has balanced the amount of stories under each category. I did not have time to go through every story, but looking at the top story I did see at least one “unbalanced” aspect. The picture of Hillary Clinton during her campaign in Indiana was much larger than the picture of Barack Obama. Both candidates had links to video clips which I thought was fair and interesting.
The sites primary audience is an older generation, probably with some form of higher education. People interested in politics and world news. The site was kind of bland in its appearance and color scheme, as well as contained a lot of text, which also suggested it aimed to capture an older and more educated audience.
Boston Harold (http://www.bostonherald.com/)
The top stories were about politics, local coverage, sports, and entertainment. The largest story was about sports, the NBA playoffs. The Democrat presidential primary was at the very top of the page, and the local and entertainment stories surrounded the large picture of NBA basketball players.
The site uses about the same amount of space for each type of story, but emphasis is definitely placed on sports. Particularly basketball and baseball. The balance between political party coverage is not even, but that is to be expected in a Democratic presidential primary this close.
The site’s primary audience is most likely the citizens of Boston and the cities supporters. I think it is geared at an audience with an average education, mid to late thirties. There is more color and more advertisements.
The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/)
The top stories, those with the most prominent placement are technology stories. There was a story about blogs, one about podcasts, and another about picture pixels all at the very top of the site. There was a reference to books, finances, inventors, and finally the campaign. The left side of the page seemed to house the most information.
I think the site is not concerned with being balanced. It appears that the stories are not all serious and do not try to be fair.
I think the site’s primary audience consists of people with a standard education, maybe a bit older, and who have a sense of humor or at least are not too interested in the unbiased versions of news.
I would probably chose both MSNBC and The New Yorker to read because I do want to read about the Democratic race and issues present world wide, but I also like to read the more cartoon like version of stories to get a fresh angle. I think looking at two fairly different sites and comparing and analyzing the content helps to formulate a more educated opinion.
All of the sites I chose were fairly different. I wanted to look along the news spectrum. MSNBC focused on politics, the Boston Harold leaned toward local issues and sports, and The New Yorker gave most of its space to technology and cartoon depictions.
