You be the editor
December 31, 2003
This interactive feature lets readers pick the top stories of 2003 — with a neat twist. After users rank the stories, the interactive builds their own MSNBC.com cover based on their choices.
Top searches of 2003
December 30, 2003
Another new year-end tradition made possible by the ‘Net is year-end search summaries. Yahoo and Lycos have posted excellent summaries of the top searches of 2003. In addition to overall searches, they’ve broken down the searches by category — everything from the Top Jennifer Searches to the Top Iraq-related searches.
Yahoo’s top news searches were:
- Cloning
- Hurricane Isabel
- Saddam Hussein
- Laci Peterson
- Affirmative Action
- Elizabeth Smart
- Jessica Lynch
- Iraq War
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Rush Limbaugh
And here is Lycos’ top 10 news stories of 2003:
- Iraq War
- Kobe Bryant
- Space Shuttle Columbia
- Federal Do-Not-Call List
- SARS
- Michael Jackson arrest
- MS Blaster/Lovsan Computer Virus
- First Human Clone
- Super Bowl XXXVII
- Laci Peterson
Amazing how different the lists are, eh?
Most e-mailed articles of 2003
December 29, 2003
The New York Times has mined its 2003 e-mail data to create a smart series of slideshows showing the Most E-Mailed Articles of 2003. Iraq and Jayson Blair were among the popular stories, not surprising, but so were from tales of sushi memos and yarns about talking fish.
And the Times was kind enough to waive the usual charge for archived articles and let users read these treats for free.
The slideshows include: Most E-Mailed News Articles; Most E-Mailed Opinion Articles; Most E-Mailed Magazine Articles; Other Fare From the Top 100.
It was disappointing that the slideshows only included a small selection of the top stories in each category. It would have been nice to see a full list of the top 10 or top 100 e-mailed stories as well.
Still, it’s a great idea and expect other sites to imitate it in the future.
Parody site dupes the pros
December 29, 2003
Two nationally syndicated radio sports shows and The San Diego Union-Tribune got duped by a parody site. They ran stories about a fictional Jason Smith, a 5-foot-6, 128-pound honor student from Yorktown High School in “Muncey,” (not Muncie) Ind., being signed by Purdue to play basketball. Problem is, they got the story from www.hoosiergazette.com, a site which carries this disclaimer on its home page: “Indiana’s first source for inaccurate news and commentary since 2003.”
The Union-Tribune gets an extra black mark for not even citing the bogus Web site, but instead listed the credit on the story as “Union-Tribune News Services.”
Here’s what the paper’s reader representative had to say about this.
Top news sites for November
December 24, 2003
Here are the Top 20 Online Current Events & Global News Destinations for November from Nielsen//NetRatings.
Read more »
History of Flight special packages
December 24, 2003
Several sites recently produced impressive packages timed with the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk.
The New York Times
MSNBC.com
DiscoveryChannel.com
El Mundo
What’s on the horizon
December 24, 2003
OJR’s Mark Glaser and online news leaders look back at the year that was, and predict what’s coming in 2004: Be prepared for a continuation of the explosion in blogging; the Net to play a strong role in politics; and an increase in the important of participatory journalism and RSS feeds.
Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2003
December 23, 2003
Why do some sites change URLs when they archive content? Why do others fail to date stories? Jacob Nielsen’s annual list of Top Ten Web Design Mistakes points out some fairly obvious mistakes that are still all too common — and is worth reading, as always (He’s written more than 1,000 Web usability guidelines!). “Sites are getting better at using minimalist design, maintaining archives, and offering comprehensive services,” he says. “However, these advances entail their own usability problems, as several prominent mistakes from 2003 show.”
Media Notes Extra
December 22, 2003
As if Howard Kurtz doesn’t work hard enough already… now he’s blogging! That’s on top of his regular pieces for The Washington Post, his appearances on CNN, his daily Media Notes column on washingtonpost.com, his live chats with readers on the Web site every week…
Media Notes Extra, the new blog, “occasional updates as media and political developments warrant, or when I am suitably inspired, or just sitting around with nothing better to do,” Kurtz says.
“You’ll still get your daily dose in the morning (though the time may vary a bit), and then we’ll stack some new material on top of that (which you can whiz by if it doesn’t grab you). All in an effort to keep up with the relentless 24/7 cycle. And if it doesn’t work, we reserve the right to bag the idea. So I’ll be interested in your feedback.”
Poynter Institute timeline
December 22, 2003
Here is a Flash timeline about Nelson Poynter, the founder of The Poynter Institute, and the former owner and editor of the St. Petersburg Times and Times Publishing Company. It also records the history of the Institute and Times after Nelson Poynter’s death in 1978, and includes an interesting video of an interview with Nelson Poynter in 1977.