COMM 3353:
Communication
Web
Technologies I
Chapter 5b:
News and Sports
on the Web
www.class.uh.edu/comm/classes/comm3353/ppt/_Pres5b.html
News and Sports on the Web,
Continued…
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History of News Delivery, /Cont./
Bringing it all together on the Web
Examples of Media on the Web
The Future of Online News
History of News
Delivery, Continued from lecture 5a…
 Television News to Broadcast Netcasts
 Entertainment and News programs
dominate TV Programming.
 Early news gathering difficult because of
bulky, heavy equipment and poor quality of
delivery.
 1960s: TV News gains major public
acceptance with coverage of JFK
assassination.
History of News Delivery, Continued…
 Television News to Broadcast Netcasts, Continued.
..
 JFK’s Funeral responsible for 93 percent viewership,
highest ever for a single event.
 1970s: Vietnam War and the public’s increased approval
for TV News.
 Coined “First Television War” because of smaller cameras, video
tape, and satellite relay systems.
 TV News helped elevate consciousness at home, paving the way
for increased public awareness and anti-war protests.
History of News Delivery, Continued…
 Television News to Broadcast Netcasts, Continued.
..
 Other major news events which helped to increase
public acceptance of TV News:
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1969 Lunar Landing
Watergate
Iran Hostage Crisis and Carter’s Actions
TV’s 60 Minutes
Ted Turner and CNN, CNN Headline News, etc.
History of News Delivery, Continued…
 Television News to Broadcast Netcasts,
Continued. . .
 By 1992, 70 percent of all Americans
reported using TV as their primary source
for News
 TV News cited as being far more credible
than newsprint or radio news.
History of News Delivery, Continued…
 Television News to Broadcast Netcasts,
Continued. . .
 Netcasting
 TV Stations that establish themselves on the
Web get added benefits of non-web news
promotion.
 Free advertising
 TV News Stations use the Web to “publish”
overflow news that will not fit in the normal
broadcast timeslot.
Coming Together on
the Web
 Media Characteristics
 The many different aspects between media types
disappear on the Web.
 Newspapers and Magazines are no longer primarily “text.”
 Radio is no longer primarily aural.
 Television no longer primarily visual.
 On the Web, all media have equal capability of
providing News using graphics, text, audio, and video.
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Media Characteristics, Cont.
 Conventional Media advantages and disadvantages
disappear on the Web.
 Motivations for news-type selection become less distinct on the
web because people’s preferences differ.
 Traditional Media differentiation:
 Mode of presentation, depth of content, ease of access, portability,
and convenience.
 Cyberspace Media differentiation:
 No one medium has an inherent advantage over another
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Media Characteristics, Cont.
 Pavlik’s Three Stages of Online News Content:
 Dr. John V. Pavlik, Columbia University
 Stage 1: Posting repurposed content taken directly from printed
or over-air media
 Currently the most dominating format used.
 Stage 2: Posting repurposed information augmented with
original content.
 Stage 3: Enhancing the cyberspace community while
establishing a willingness to experiment with new forms of
storytelling.
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Editorial Standards
 The Web’s “structure” promotes detailed news
coverage, including some original content that can’t fit
into conventional space and time constraints.
 Many journalists consider the online posting of
controversial content an editorial double standard.
 Want “Taste and Space” Web print guidelines.
 But. . .this would create censorship. Good or Bad?
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Editorial Standards, Cont.
 Online users “browse” or “surf” for web content, and
have the ability to pick and choose what they see.
 Not the unwitting victims that protestors make users out to be.
 The more popular Web Media becomes, the greater the
double standard dispute will escalate.
 It’s likely that mass media will develop its own set of
guidelines for web publishing.
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Media Preferences
 Pleasing the Web audience is the KEY to
creating sites with a competitive advantage over
other online venues.
 The Web offers a unique opportunity for news
junkies who like unembellished information
which is often tainted by biased gatekeepers.
 Likely that most Web News buffs will learn to
navigate directly to the source, rather than accessing
edited netpapers.
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Effectiveness and Recall of Online News
 While there are many benefits to cybercasting,
media experts are unsure of its effectiveness.
 This is causing heightened concern about how well
people will be able to recall information received from
online sources.
 Early data strongly supports online news sources as
being equal to or greater than that of newsprint; and
much greater than broadcast news. (TV and Radio)
Coming Together on
the Web, Continued…
 Compiling Online News
 Many news compilation web sites are showing up
all across the Internet.
 Can challenge the legal boundaries established in
contemporary media law.
 Ex. TotalNews
 Settled out of court, agreeing to separate advertising from
linked news agencies.
 Publishers are not against linking news stories to
compiling sites; rather, they oppose other’s making
money off their copyrighted material.
Examples of Media on
the Web
 The Internet offers thousands of
newspapers, radio and television
stations, and news magazines for news
retrieval.
 Although fundamentally the same, these
sites offer unique content, navigation,
and search methods.
The Future of Online News
 The World Wide Web is quickly
becoming the wave of the future.
 The Internet provides news in a clear,
concise, and easy to use way
unsurpassed by conventional news
reporting.
 The Web is by far the best place to find
the latest news.
The Future of Online News,
Continued…
 The web, with the help of “Push” technology,
enables users to gain customized news
reporting in formats comfortable to the
individual.
 Web Media is becoming active in the online
competitive arena, attracting millions of online
dollars.
 Online media is developing new tactics in the
WWW advertising arena.
 “Free Web Sites. . .”
The Future of Online News,
Continued…
 Journalists are constantly struggling to
find their “web niches.”
 They face a difficult battle for generating
original and reliable news information and
presenting it to the a growing online
community.
 They also struggle with mis- or
preconceived notions about the WWW.
The Future of Online News,
Continued…
 The WWW as we know it today is in it’s
infant stages of development.
 Sources and Receivers will continue to
work to resolve many issues.
 Repurposed vs. Original news.
 Copyrighting rules that relate solely to the Web.
 Primary vs. Supplementary News.
The Future of Online News,
Continued…
 As a consumer of Web News, people
have the freedom to pick and choose
what they read, how and when they
read it, and how much to read at any
time.
 Text, Graphic, Audio/Video, or a
combination or compilation of all three. . .
The Internet and the
World Wide Web
• End Chapter 5,
Part II.