January 18, 2007
Why CNN.com sucks

I check the news several times a day on the internet. In the past I have defaulted to CNN.com. They seemed to have good selection in lead stories and were never late with breaking news.

But now I'm looking for a new site to get my news from. Why? Here's why:

The written word is gettting trounced by internet net video.

On the list of 12 Top Stories, only 7 of them can be read, 5 of them are video only.

I want to read my news, not watch it on video. Not to mention the time it takes. After clicking on the link, the video window pops up and the video starts streaming, then the advertisement plays. It takes 30 seconds to get to the actual video news story. That's half a minute to wait for my link to complete, an eternity in web site design.

In 30 seconds, I could have probably read the entire news article if it was written, or after the first paragraph, decided I didn't want to finish the story. Also, when you watch the news, you cannot highlight text and Google search to learn more about things easily.

I cannot understand why CNN is pushing video so much over text. Maybe they make more on advertising. Maybe they think it's what people want.

So, I'm looking for a new news site to check. Any suggestions?

Posted by michael at January 18, 2007 04:27 PM



Comments

Preach on!

Posted by: Mister P. [http://misterp.blogspot.com] on January 18, 2007 5:08 PM

Also their damn video player doesn't work on a Mac at all. ABCnews is the same with all the video content, but at least the player works on Mac.

Posted by: Scott [http://embiggen.blogspot.com] on January 18, 2007 5:19 PM

I like MSNBC.com. They have a good selection of news stories, lots of major headlines and not too many videos...although some stories are video only, they seem to be contained in the "video" section. Plus, I think that overall, MSNBC.com is a bit more balanced...not so left or right.

Just stared reading a few days ago...but I'm here to stay. Aren't you thrilled? :)

Posted by: Liz [] on January 18, 2007 5:31 PM

I really like the Marumushi newsmap of Google News content:

http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm

Another (perhaps obvious) observation: Newspaper websites tend to have less video stories.

Posted by: Brad [http://www.flyingw.org] on January 18, 2007 5:56 PM

I couldn't agree more! Every time I want an American perspective on news, I hit cnn.com then realize that half the stories I am interested in are video links....weak!

I recommend BBCnews.com. Call me biased but I really think their news coverage is first class. Not mention that a public broadcaster there is no advertising whatsoever. You can choose a UK or International edition (same as cnn) so fears of coverage being to brit-centric are allayed.

Posted by: Miles [http://www.milestonkin.com] on January 18, 2007 6:34 PM

I know it's old school, but why not just customize a My Yahoo page the way you like it? Yes, you have to log in, but if you're accessing mostly from the same computers, then it's no big deal.

Posted by: paul [] on January 21, 2007 9:19 AM

Yeah...that drives me nuts too. And while the video seems to only work occasionally, the frickin' commercials work everytime!

Posted by: Kevin [] on January 22, 2007 11:46 AM

Yeah, CNN blows. ESPN sucks too, the way it starts streaming video the instant you pull up their main page. There's no way to stop that behavior, even if you subscribe.

news.google.com

It's not perfect, but it works.

Posted by: BillB [http://squidly.com] on January 24, 2007 4:33 PM

I gave up on CNN a few months ago for THE SAME REASON. I think that the average American is so accustomed to television that they find it difficult to process information in a written format. Sad, isn't it?

Posted by: Laura [http://www.journeyoflife.goof.com] on February 2, 2007 7:11 AM
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