Strat5

My favorite print newspaper is The Independent Florida Alligator, and my favorite news website is The New York Times. I compared the stories published in the Jan. 13 edition of each paper and concluded that the differences in the news judgments of each are what make them my favorites.

The Alligator is my favorite print newspaper specifically for one reason: I am its main target audience, and it chooses its content based on what appeals to me. The Alligator combines just the right amount of Gainesville news, campus news and Gator sports news to keep me up to date on my social sphere. It is conveniently distributed outside of my apartment complex and outside each of my classes.

I use The Alligator only to read the local news. I use The New York Times website as a more serious source for national and international hard news stories. The New York Times is my favorite news site because its articles are well-written and thoroughly reported. I also like the way it subdivides its tabs into narrow sections. For example, the “world” tab subdivides into Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

The front page of The Alligator had the following headlines: “Vigil honors Haiti victims,” “Poster sales down at Reitz” and “UF freshman arrested after bar fight downtown.” These are stories that are not important to anyone but the members of the UF community. I don’t think The New York Times would run an article on poster sales in its front page. On the second page, there is a five-column personality profile on a UF groundskeeper who is also writing a science fiction novel. His story only appeals to UF students because he is a part of our community.

The headlines on the front page of The New York Times are the following: “Girl Is Mourned; Giffords Makes Progress,” Mixed-Party Seating Urged for State of the Union” and “F.D.A. Plans News Limits on Painkillers.” These stories all appeal to me because they are stories that are important to the entire U.S. population. These stories are chosen with the broadest possible audience in mind. Instead of having a personality profile on a local person, the Times published a story about Ellen Stewart, the founder of La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York, who passed away. She is recognizable by a much larger segment of the population than is Dan Scholes, the UF groundskeeper.

These newspapers are similar in that they both consider what their readers want to know and think broadly in terms of their target audience members. For example, The Alligator is written for students as well as for faculty and staff members at UF. The New York Times is written for an all-ages audience. Both of these papers allow for reader reaction and input through online posts.