Monday, October 29, 2012
Hurricane Sandy Hits New York
Obviously the big topic for everyone currently is Hurricane Sandy and New York Magazine is certainly no exception. New York is preparing for a huge (and potentially disastrous) impact.
NY Mag states that there is the potential for the subway system to experience flooding. The MTA suspended subways, commuter trains, and buses as of 7 p.m. last night, but there is little that New York can do to prepare for such an occurrence.
New York Magazine's Daily Intel is also liveblogging Hurricane Sandy, which has been dubbed "Frankenstorm," complete with video and photo updates.
The Magazine also features a Hurricane Sandy slideshow.
In true New York Magazine fashion, not everything is serious. They also feature an article on the home page about where to eat and drink in New York during the storm.
While NY Mag may not be New York's most popular news source, they are doing a commendable job of providing updates and coverage for New York area.
NY Mag states that there is the potential for the subway system to experience flooding. The MTA suspended subways, commuter trains, and buses as of 7 p.m. last night, but there is little that New York can do to prepare for such an occurrence.
New York Magazine's Daily Intel is also liveblogging Hurricane Sandy, which has been dubbed "Frankenstorm," complete with video and photo updates.
The Magazine also features a Hurricane Sandy slideshow.
In true New York Magazine fashion, not everything is serious. They also feature an article on the home page about where to eat and drink in New York during the storm.
While NY Mag may not be New York's most popular news source, they are doing a commendable job of providing updates and coverage for New York area.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Monitoring Popularity
Since we talked about tracking the popularity of news articles and videos last week, I wanted to point out a section of New York Magazine's website which does just that.
We talked about monitoring page views and statistics, which were much more detailed, but that's because they were for content creators to manage. However, NY Mag's Most Commented, Most Viewed, and Most Emailed tabs let readers know which articles have been most popular in the last 24 hours.
The Most Commented tab's top three articles are political, predictably. NY Mag also features the top three stories for Vulture.com, the magazine's entertainment news and pop culture site. The number of comments on each article is identified in yellow.
Similarly, the Most Viewed tab's top three articles are about the presidential election.
The Most Emailed tab shows which articles were shared the most and whole the first article is a newer one, the last two are from at least a week ago. I would be most likely to click the links to the articles on the Most Emailed tab because not only have people taken the time to view them, but they've also shared them with others.
I know that most news sites do this sort of popularity tracking, and I think it's a good tool for readers to see what everyone else thinks is most important. Sometimes they can be misleading because the article would technically be considered "viewed" if a reader clicked on it because the headline was interesting, but then didn't actually read the article.
I think New York Magazine remedies this to some extent by having the Most Commented tab because I would hope if people are commenting on an article they've actually read it and have a strong opinion about it. The Most Emailed tab is also great because it shows that someone read the article and wanted to share it with someone else. Overall, it really helps readers who can be overwhelmed by the amount of content on the site find popular articles.
Similarly, the Most Viewed tab's top three articles are about the presidential election.
The Most Emailed tab shows which articles were shared the most and whole the first article is a newer one, the last two are from at least a week ago. I would be most likely to click the links to the articles on the Most Emailed tab because not only have people taken the time to view them, but they've also shared them with others.
I know that most news sites do this sort of popularity tracking, and I think it's a good tool for readers to see what everyone else thinks is most important. Sometimes they can be misleading because the article would technically be considered "viewed" if a reader clicked on it because the headline was interesting, but then didn't actually read the article.
I think New York Magazine remedies this to some extent by having the Most Commented tab because I would hope if people are commenting on an article they've actually read it and have a strong opinion about it. The Most Emailed tab is also great because it shows that someone read the article and wanted to share it with someone else. Overall, it really helps readers who can be overwhelmed by the amount of content on the site find popular articles.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Politics Through Photos
This week's issue of New York Magazine is the Election Issue. With the election coming up on November 6th, I'm surprised that NY Mag hasn't been pushing the political articles more lately.
However, the home page today features three interesting pieces with similar cover images.
The first is about the Clintons and what will happen if Obama gets reelected. The article states that Clinton may have saved Obama's presidency, so what will they receive in return? The article's photo is striking and clearly heavily edited, but it makes an impact.
What is interesting though, it that another article featured on the home page uses the same type of photo for an article about Romney and Obama and what will happen if either takes the oath of office.
However, the home page today features three interesting pieces with similar cover images.
The first is about the Clintons and what will happen if Obama gets reelected. The article states that Clinton may have saved Obama's presidency, so what will they receive in return? The article's photo is striking and clearly heavily edited, but it makes an impact.
(Photo: Christopher Anderson)
What is interesting though, it that another article featured on the home page uses the same type of photo for an article about Romney and Obama and what will happen if either takes the oath of office.
(Photo: Christopher Anderson)
Both images are powerful and it's almost ironic that both Clinton and Romney are making the same face. But NY Mag doesn't stop there.
In yet another featured article in the Election Special, the magazine shows an image of Jeb Bush in the same style as the other two photos.
(Photo: Christopher Anderson)
As shown from the credits, each of the photos was taken by the same photographer, but I think the magazine should have varied the images a little bit. Each photograph does make an impact, but the same type of photo should not have been used to head each article.
All of the articles featured different types of images on each page and I think it might have been more interesting to use those different photos for cover images.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Daily Intel
The Daily Intel is New York Magazine's online news blog.
On the home page, the Daily Intel is located on the top left corner. It is clearly labeled and features headlines for four news stories, then prompts readers to click the link for more.
Once readers click the Daily Intel link, they are directed to this page:
The Daily Intel features news stories on various subjects and is updated fairly frequently. In the above photo, the first two articles were posted just three minutes apart. The Daily Intel is a great way to keep up with both hard news stories that NY Mag features, but also its sarcastic clips that usually poke fun at politicians and pop culture figures.
Readers can also follow the Daily Intel on Twitter. (@DailyIntel)
Although, I think that on the Intel homepage on New York Magazine's website, the Twitter link should be more prominent and towards the top of the page.
Overall NY Mag makes things easy to find, but sometimes its pages can be a bit cluttered. The Daily Intel's homepage is organized and chronological, but since its Twitter page is popular, it should be better advertised.
On the home page, the Daily Intel is located on the top left corner. It is clearly labeled and features headlines for four news stories, then prompts readers to click the link for more.
Once readers click the Daily Intel link, they are directed to this page:
The Daily Intel features news stories on various subjects and is updated fairly frequently. In the above photo, the first two articles were posted just three minutes apart. The Daily Intel is a great way to keep up with both hard news stories that NY Mag features, but also its sarcastic clips that usually poke fun at politicians and pop culture figures.
Readers can also follow the Daily Intel on Twitter. (@DailyIntel)
Although, I think that on the Intel homepage on New York Magazine's website, the Twitter link should be more prominent and towards the top of the page.
Overall NY Mag makes things easy to find, but sometimes its pages can be a bit cluttered. The Daily Intel's homepage is organized and chronological, but since its Twitter page is popular, it should be better advertised.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Teen Girl's Tweet for Help
One of the stories that New York Magazine featured today has a high news value for me because of it's proximity since I'm also from New Jersey and worked near Clark Township this summer.
It started this morning when I checked Facebook and saw that a few people had posted a link to an article about a girl named Kara Alongi from Clark Township in New Jersey who had apparently gone missing.
I checked NY Mag's website and sure enough there was an article about it there as well. They reported that Kara sent a tweet last night that said "there is somone in my hour ecall 911."
What happened after that, as NY Mag points out, was a flurry of activity on Twitter and other social media platforms. The hashtag #helpfindkara was trending on Twitter and it allowed many people to become involved in the search for this missing girl.
Unfortunately, the police have reported that Kara was not in fact kidnapped, as there was no sign of struggle in her home, a door was left unlocked, and there was confirmation that a taxi had been called to her address around the same time she sent that tweet.
Police now say that Kara has just run away. But what happens now?
It seems that kids (and many adults) don't understand the power of social media. With each retweet, Kara's call for help circulated to more and more people.
Authorities still have not located her, but she sure will have a lot of explaining to do.
Social media has become so important and it's such a valuable tool for spreading information, but certainly not when it's abused this way.
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