Online media is a key aspect of all journalism in today's world. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television all participate in the online media environment, and contribute, particularly well, in their own aspect of journalism. The New York Times has a pivotal role in the world of journalism, breaking many news stories and having full-time journalists reporting on key events occurring around the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The news items reported on The New York Times' website are fresh, important and have a sense of urgency about them. The New York Times is updated dozens of times every day, and their counter at the top, "Last Update: 8:04 PM ET," is encouraging. Top news stories are breaking often, and they are on top of that. The front page of NYTimes.com is dynamically updated, and while keeping the same format as their newsprint edition, demonstrates their devotion to the immediacy of the news.
The site, when you first visit it, focuses you on the top and center story; much like their newsprint edition. While you can customize your content, focusing on Global editions, or changing your Feed options to load into your Facebook site or follow on your Twitter feed, it still will keep you up to date quickly and efficiently. The way their site is laid out and how they have their articles written, the news is up front and easy to read. You can get a "taste" of the article, and click through to view the rest of what you want -- if that's what you're looking for. This allows the stories to be more in-depth. The length of the stories can be significant, but due to the ability to select the stories you're most interested in and the structure of the stories having used the inverted pyramid, you don't necessarily need to read them all completely.
The stories are broken into paragraphs within these pages, with pages typically a consistant length (I'm sure they have a written policy, though I'm not sure what it is) and typically 2 - 3 pages per article. They do make use of bullet points, though only in articles which benefit from their use -- they are not used to shorten the way information is communicated through cutting down stories into bullet points. Unlike other sites, however, they do not break them down into chucks, with subheadings relating to certain aspects of stories.
Information is presented, not only in a visual and verbal way, but also in more advanced multimedia presentations. Their front page typically mirrors the print edition with the lead photo for the lead story at the top center, right below the banner. However, a significant difference is that streaming video is available for many articles on their website. It is provided via the Macromedia Flash technology, which is a standard available on most PCs and Macs, as well as Android portable devices and some iPhones (though not the iPad). The information supplied is primarily by professionals, no iReporters or YouTube submissions, so the quality is verifiable. The fonts for articles are customizable, as well, to allow for the visually impaired, and the site is ADA compliant, allowing for text readers to present the news to people who are completely blind (or just like the sound of the metallic voice).
All in all, the site is very thorough. News is reported consistantly and edited with the same style throughout. It is very up to date and informative, while not being overly burdensome or too lengthy. External connectivity is extensive, and use of techology is evident (this isn't your grandmother's New York Times), though their goal is obviously not to send you to other sites. This is a news organization for the twenty-first century.
