Evaluating Online News Sources: Huffington Post

Huffington Post
In my digital communications class, our teacher assigned us a group project to evaluate an online news source based on a list of questions. My group looked at the Huffington Post. Below is our evaluation of its digital effectiveness.

Evaluation

What is your first impression of the site? Think of the “3 second rule.”

Attention grabbing headline and photo; they catch my eye and allow me to easily scan their featured article or the most breaking news of the day.

How does this site establish credibility? How does it establish trust? Or does it? 

This site uses minute-to-minute updates in a scrolling runner at the top the links to articles within their site and gives the time that the news was updated. This helps to establish credibility by seeming on top of breaking news. They also link to other news sites with articles that address the same topics so as to show that their articles are credible.
Authentic voice? The blog posts that Huffington features definitely have authentic voice because they use first person to relate to their audience.

Genuine? This first person usage makes the article and opinion of a blog seem genuine.

Transparency? Faces and names of the blog authors are easily available. The comment area under the articles also allows for readers to ask questions of the writers. The names of contributing reporters are also given at the bottom of the article.

What is the general writing style?

Biased? Links to featured blog articles may show bias by the columnists blogging their own opinions on news happenings

Objective? An attempt to be objective when reporting the news by their staff writers

Does the writer IDENTIFY with his or her readers, or not? How (or why not)?

The blog posts try to identify with the readers by writing in first person and pulling from some of their own experiences. The news articles just seem to relate the happenings and events, but they do pertain to information that American readers would want/need so in that way they identify with the readers.

Does the writing style get to the point?

The writing style of the news articles do get to the point because they lay out in shorter sentences what the article is about. They try to relay fact as quickly as possible. The blogs give the general gist of their ideas at the beginning/introductory paragraph and then later on, if the reader continues to read, they give their opinion of the news matter.

How is it arranged? Is it arranged in reverse pyramid style?

The site is definitely arranged in reverse pyramid style because it starts with a big headline that a reader can click on to see the actual article. Then within the article there are links to other articles that are relevant to what is currently being read.

Is content shaped for scanning? How is the content layered? (p 32)

The content is shaped for scanning because the headlines are on the home webpage with what they seem to believe will be most popular at the top. As stated before, a reader can navigate to the actual article by clicking on it.

Is the tone or rhythm of the site consistent throughout?

The tone is not the same throughout because they have such a wide variety of news coverage that there are silly or weird articles advertised next to more serious articles.

How does the site use headlines?

The site uses headlines to catch the readers’ attention and in turn, lure them into reading the following article. The head story for the page is the first headline you notice because that story takes up the entire computer screen when you first arrive at the sight. The rest of the headlines are clear and in bold, black font. The content of the article is clearly presented in the headlines so that the reader knows what the article is about.

How does it use links? Effectively or not?

Links are effectively used because readers can not only navigate to the article they wish to read but also have hyperlinks available throughout the story to other articles that are relevant or might interest them. In this way, the reading is not constrained to being linear.

How is multimedia used? Is it distracting? How is it displayed on the site? Does the multimedia tell the same story as the text, or a different side of the story?

In multiple articles there are YouTube videos at the top of the article either showing news coverage of the event from a news source or a video of the actual event itself. The multimedia is a supplement to the text and helps to validate the article that is written below. I would say that it is not distracting because it’s just another option for information, but doesn’t automatically start playing.

How does the site “package” stories? 

The site will give links back to cited sources if needed. They also give the option of reading other articles to supplement the article. There are links internally, links externally, and multimedia options in each article.

How are graphics used?

Too cluttered? Are the graphics consistent through out the site, and consistent to the brand? Do they encourage or discourage use, and how?

Within the article, there are images such as graphs to help give a visual to the numbers that an article may reference as well as pictures taken from the event. The images are not too cluttered. Along the sides are pictures and headlines to help introduce other articles. The image presentation is consistent with what the site is trying to sell and is in the same format throughout. I think that they encourage users to read something because the color helps to add contrast to the text.

Can each page stand on its own?

Each page can stand on its own because it has a clear title for what the article is and allows readers to still navigate their way around the overall site from each page by using the toolbar at the top of the screen.

How is the navigation? Do you get lost? Do you always know where you are? How (or why not)?

The navigation is fairly easy by using the toolbar at the top of the screen. A reader can choose which section they want to read or can easily return to the home page if desired. The featured blog posts that are offered to the left of the page on the home screen were a bit difficult to navigate/understand where I had gone. It wasn’t clear where these featured blogs took me nor did I know how to find them again. Everything else was fairly simple to understand because it was clearly labeled. They also have a search bar if a reader is looking for something in particular.

How does the site incorporate/interact with its audience? How does it embody the social aspect of the internet (or does it)?

The site allows for readers to post comments at the bottom of the articles to voice their opinion or to question/verify facts. They also have a Facebook page, Twitter account, or email subscription as ways for a reader to stay connected and interact with the site. This employs the social aspect of the Internet because it enables readers to give opinions or comments and to spread articles by sharing them  on Facebook or retweeting something on Twitter.