I was talking to a friend today about how political the cable news networks have become as of late (this is a another blog post that I will probably just keep to myself). I was telling him how I used to keep the television in my office on web developer by trade I immediately pick up on design and usability flaws on just about every news website I go to and it drives me a little bit. I have only found a few dedicated News portals that I will actually go out to visit, most news sources I just get RSS feeds into my reader, but there are a few that I will actually go out and visit.
One of these news portals is CNN, even though their broadcast assignment priorities are out of whack they still have one of the best websites on the web. I usually hit cnn.com in the mornings while I am waiting on my email to download.
For statewide and local news I absolutely love the newly redesigned KTHV website. Not only is it very user-friendly but I have discovered over the past few days that it’s also very interactive. The web team at KTHV did a great job incorporating web 2.0 social networking and interaction into their redesign and it has surprised me how people from around the state are really starting to embrace it.
For example, late last night I posted some comments on a news story about rising gas prices and price gouging. This was about 10:30 or so while I was watching hurricane updates before bed, and it was only a few minutes before someone had posted a response. That kind of interaction on a news website is unheard of in my opinion, especially in this market…
A few of the other Little Rock stations have also made strides toward social networking and interaction on their websites but I don’t see any of them catching up to KTHV anytime soon. I spent some time today inside my user profile on KTHV’s website and I was very impressed with all of the functionality they have built in. As a developer I can appreciate all of these modules more than the average user.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out todaysthv.com, while you are there be sure to stop by and check out my todaysthv.com blog…
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