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For two weeks, students tracked a variety of stories related to the 9/11 attacks. They compared stories in both digital and print media, making note of differences and similarities in writing styles and coverage. Analysis of online articles included the use of advertising and the ease of navigation.

Northern Alliance & Afghanistan's New Government

  • The Washington Post writing is stylized and almost cliched but it does keep me interested.
  • The cnn.com writing is colorful, engaging and conversational without trivializing the information.
  • Msnbc.com organized the story very will utilizing multiple sections and links.
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Coverage of Pakistan & Kashmir Region in Regards to War in Afghanistan

  • The photos of houstonchronicle.com are small enough that the page loads quickly, but the use of colors is effective and makes all the text easier to read.
  • I hate how the ink from the New York Times paper smudges and comes off on my hands when I hold it too long. It makes me want to put the paper down.
  • Plain text articles in Time magazine are not a good idea in today's short attention span society.
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Security in the Air

  • I have noticed that the titles that CNN uses are more dramatic and eye-catchier than those of the print.
  • Maybe I prefer the digital publication for its speed? The best thing about the web.. SPEED!
  • In general, I prefer digital publication for its to-the-minute coverage and multimedia features, but except for ads!
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Flight 587 Crash in Queens

  • I find that the New York times is very conscious of their audience and makes their words more concise.
  • The article in the newspaper did not only present all the facts, but also gave a touch of humanity to the tragedy using the printed word and I really didn't feel that from the online article.
  • Wonderful use of links and sources I was quite pleased.
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Bush & Putin Get Together for Three Days of
Missile Talks

  • CNN's hallmark is to have an easily read website
  • The CNN.COM coverage is very similar to the print report, and as usual the only advertisement is free AOL hours in the far right column.
  • All in all, the online coverage that I monitored never changed due to update, it was just filed away to be found by a SEARCH.
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Tracking America's Economy Following Sept. 11

  • So far, MSNBC is confusing and uninteresting, and not using the medium very creatively, no videos, no good pictures.
  • CNN articles are broken up with bold section titles, but involve a lot of scrolling and don't have interactive aspects to them, no polls or exciting charts.
  • The BBC so far does not impress me with its use of the medium at all. The articles are the same as print articles - text and a picture or two.
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Anthrax Investigation

  • The tone of the print story was more feature-like than that of the online story.
  • The digital publication is updated constantly, and like NYTimes.com, the up-to-the-minute coverage sometimes results in lean stories.
  • MSNBC.com is updates fairly regularly, which makes the massive amount of coverage impressive.
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America's Search for Osama Bin Laden & His Troops

  • I'm slowly beginning to think that the paper is more of yesterday's events than current events!
  • Cnn.com had a list of the latest developments and more updated information, something the paper cannot provide it's readers.
  • Instead of having readers click, I think it would've been better to let them finish reading the story in peace and as they scrolled down they would see the map.
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Social, Political, & Economic Recovery After Trade Center Attacks

  • The picture took up as much room as the text, and the text was arranged around the picture attractively. This large amount of whitespace made the article very easy to read.
  • Having each story on a different page online has the advantage of providing more ad space than in print.
  • The print coverage tends to be a lot more factual, very detached, whereas online coverage has focused on feelings, thoughts, emotions, and psychological impact.
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Afghanistan After The Taliban

  • The story in the Times just seems more complex and less reader friendly than on BBC.com.
  • The digital medium tastefully used ads, off to the side, as they did not interfere or distract my eyes from the article.
  • I found that the language used in Slate.com was in fact much more conversational as opposed to the language used in the Daily News.
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War & Violence

  • USA Today is flashy and the articles are quick and almost entertaining. Lots of pictures and images and graphs and different things to look at.
  • Slate.com is orientated for self-promotion more than reader enlightenment it seems to me.
  • CNN.com offers video, audio, and visual elements straight from the home page. I think they do an excellent job at prioritizing stories.

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Daily Life in Post-Taliban Afghanistan

  • If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the coverage in today's New York Times was the best yet.
  • BBC has really taken advantage of the organizational potential of the web with a "war on terror" section providing links to breaking news, analysis, and guides on just about every aspect of the war you can think of.
  • The Slate article also features a message board, which is a welcome bit of interactivity for a story where the ending remains unclear.
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The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden

  • CNN.com includes interactive features such as message boards and it also has audio and video feeds which make the digital publication a more effective medium.
  • The tone of the story has changed from one medium to the other but I believe that that is an editorial choice and does not relate to the type of medium.
  • This time the advertisement didn't interfere with my experience as a reader because it was very discrete (bearably noticeable).
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The State and Movement of the Taliban

  • The Daily News piece was almost rejoicing the apparent begging for a surrender.
  • Slate reports that coverage of the Taliban's status in Kunduz is conflicting. News sources like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal have been giving conflicting reports on the surrender at Kunduz.
  • The difference in the two is that the Slate article is bland, getting information from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and others. The Daily News' article starts out with this exciting declaration from our Defense Secretary, with picture. Then it gets to the info on Kunduz.
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Northern Alliance's Offensive Against the Taliban

  • I preferred the digital medium because of the extra information that was a mouse-click away.
  • The digital medium utilized effective links to full coverage on related stories, video clips, and my favorite was an interactive link to our community's thoughts on the war on terror.
  • The story seemed more important in the Daily News because it had a huge graphic and headline on the front page as well as a cartoon-looking map.
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