The Eye-Catching Times
The New York Times is one of the "gadgets" on my igoogle homepage so I get a lot of exposure to their website. Often times one of the news links is actually a link to a video. Today, on their site the first thing you see is a slideshow of President Obama's meeting in China. I love viewing news online for the fact that there are many different types of media on one news site. Although you also get big, colorful, moving ads on the side, something you wouldn't find on the front page of a print newspaper. Which begs me to ask the question, do sales increase for the ads found on the front page of a news site? Today it was an ad for Cadillac. Which I think represents the demographics for those who read the NY Times online.
So overall, the videos and the pictures definitely add to the view-ability of the NY Times online. Not only is it more appealing to a technological generation it's very convenient for those who don't have time to watch the nightly news on TV. The important pieces of video are right online and you aren't stuck watching a "filler" story about Mrs. Mumford's cat stuck in a tree.
I agree, Michelle. Reading and watching the videos on the site makes it more convenient to keep up with the news. The layout of the webpage is definitely eye-catching, but slightly overwhelming since there are many stories displayed. However, that can be a good thing for people who don't want to have to skim through a newspaper, but instead can skim over the whole webpage on their computer screen. I liked viewing and reading the news on this site.
About the advertisment, I think that Cadillac must have paid good money to get it on the main page so the newspaper/news site would make more money off of this ad then one within the layers of the site. Because everyone who comes to the site will see it, it's visibility is high and it is a coveted spot.