CNN Site Critique

What is your first impression of the site? Think of the "3 second rule."

First impressions of the cnn.com site: It looks easy to navigate, it does a good job of using big pictures to pull the reader in, and it is very political.

How does this site establish credibility? How does it establish trust? Or does it?  It is easy to use and navigate with high quality graphics.  It also uses links that are relevant to the site, and because it's easy
 to use and the journalist seem credible that makes it easy to connect with and in turn more trustworthy. Due to the transparent nature of CNN to discuss more liberal themes it makes the site seem more genuine.

What is the general writing style? CNN tries to maintain a certain level of objectivity but at the same time it has more liberal biased. For example when looking at the headlines most involve democratic issues.

Does the writer IDENTIFY with his or her readers, or not? How (or why not)?  CNN is a more general news oriented site so it is a lot harder to identify with its readers as opposed to a blog or more opinionated text.

Does the writing style get to the point?  Yes, because there is an introduction paragraph that tells the reader the premise of the article and the author immediately goes point by point on his or her facts.

How is it arranged? Is it arranged in reverse pyramid style?  It is arranged in reverse pyramid style which helps capture the reader allowing him or her to receive the most important information first.

Is content shaped for scanning? How is the content layered?  It is easy for scanning the way the article is laid out with many bold subtitles and bullets.  It uses much of what Nielsen recommends for scan-ability so it is layered well.

Is the tone or rhythm of the site consistent throughout? Yes, because CNN has "naturally practiced journalist" which means they know to use short sentences, direct statements, and inverted pyramid style to keep the reader interested.  There aren't many if any outrageous claims to turn off the reader.
How does the use headlines?  CNN uses headlines for the various topics like politics or entertainment with a list of headlines related to those fields within their respective section so it doesn't cause the reader confusion.

How does it use links? Effectively or not? They use links effectively for the most part but there were a few curious links that were not related to the specific story.

How is multimedia used? Is it distracting? How is it displayed on the site? Does the multimedia tell the same story as the text, or a different side of the story?  Multimedia is used down both sides of the page during the articles so it is kind of distracting to see links to other articles and videos when trying to read an article.  It does not tell the same story as the text.

How does the site "package" stories?  Every story starts with a big picture but remains text for the rest of the article.  It has hyperlinks sparingly in most articles.  It includes story highlights and each article comes with related articles and pictures down the side bars.

How are the graphics used? Graphics are cluttered throughout the site but the are consistent. It can encourage use because they help a reader read more in depth into a topic but it's also distracting because there are so many.

Can each page stand on its own? Yes, because each page has a big picture and headline that draws you in.

How is the navigation?  Do you get lost? Do you always know where you are? How (or why not)?  It is easy to navigate and hard to get lost because they have separate categories for the reader to look through and it always has the navigation bar at the top of the page.

How does the site incorporate/interact with its audience? How does it embody the social aspect of the internet (or does it)?  It always has a picture and it has many categories that try to appeal to a broad audience.