critique of 5 media websites

NAME: Olagbuji Francis

MAT. NO: PGD/10/04/2105

LEVEL: PGD PUBLIC RELATIONS & ADVERTISING III

COURSE: ONLINE JOURNALISM (MAS 777)

ASSIGNMENT: DO A CRITIQUE OF FIVE MEDIA WEBSITES RADIO, TELEVISION, NEWSPAPER, JOURNAL AND ANY OTHER AND NUJ.

A CRITIQUE OF THE FIVE WEBSITES

1)      http:/www.stv.com/global – Silverbird Television

·         Homepage: Does not contain enough information about the Station.

·         Aesthetics: Attractive color graphics and combination. A good blend of red, white and sky blue (the Channels TV color).

·         News Style: formal, well structured sentences, use of “Nut graphs”, “Straight-news lead” usually starts with “WHO”.

·         News Presentation: Good use of News elements; balanced and fair reporting but late update of news on site (24hrs late). Good representation of various sectors of the economy and the segments of the offline news on Television (Local News, Election News, Politics, Business, Health, Sports, Infotech Update, Travels and Entertainment). Use of Headlines, Sub-head, Lead or Intro (Lead-and-Summary Design). Good use of News in Brief, News Bar, Wrap up, Slugs and Datelines. Fair use of Advisory line (EDS NOTE or Trash line).

·         Pictures: Good use of pictures (a picture to every story), good motion (active) pictures, but not so bright pictures.

·         Links/Transition: Effective links to other pages/sites. Quick auto- transitory images. The Live Broadcast online un-accessible (continuous loading)

2)      http://www.nextng.com – Next newspapers

·         News Style: formal, well structured sentences, fair use of “ Nut graphs”

·         News Presentation: Application of the elements of News (especially timely update of news online), fair use of slugs, a good representation of the segments of the hard copy.

·         Pictures: A fairly good use of pictures to stories. Creative use of active (motion) pictures in “photos of the week”. Bright pictures.

·         Links/Transition: Links open directly to fresh pages rather than first display on the homepage. A creative use of Blog. Experiences transition delays.

·         Aesthetics: Bright pages but not so colorful (less color graphics). A good use of punch red (dominant).

·         Homepage: Contains enough information about the organization and links.

3)      http//www.broadstreetjournal.com- Broad Street Journal

·         Style: Well structured

·         Presentation: Logical arrangement of information

·         Pictures: Good picture quality

·         Links/Transition: Effective links with quick transition. Excellent use of Social Network platforms (Skype, Face Book, Flickr , youtube, blogger)

·         Aesthetics: Less attractive, Use of dull color, over dominance of brown color

·         Homepage: Sufficient information. 

4)      http://www.rythmn.com – Rythm 93.7FM Lagos

·         Pictures: Lacks pictures

·         Links/Transition: A good number of links but with security checks, making online listening to Live Radio from the desktop not easily accessible

·         Aesthetics: Not attractive

·         Homepage: Mainly text containing links

5)      http://www.lagosnuj.com – Nigeria Union of Journalists

·     Presentation: Creative use of audio National Anthem to usher the Homepage. Lacks sufficient information and links.

·     Pictures: lacks pictures

·     Links/Transition: Few links with sluggish transition.

·     Aesthetics: Not so attractive/colorful. Over dominance of Green color.

·     Homepage: Contains enough information about the organization.

CONCLUSION:

It should be noted that a good Website contains the following elements; URL (web address), Category/classification (.za, .net, .org, group.com etc), Homepage, Aesthetics, Content, Content Information, regular update etc.