Communications

Where is the best place to deliver information to the people who need it? Should the information always go to the receiver, or are there times when it would be better for the receiver to come to the source of the information?

Communications

Compare the CNN website (use the desktop version and start at www.cnn.com) with the U.S. version of the China Daily website (start at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn) based on your actual experience using the two sites. Use each of the sites for at least 30 minutes on two different occasions (meaning a total of four visits of at least 30 minutes each, two to CNN and two to the China Daily site). Go ahead and pursue what tends to interest you, but try at least to look at some serous news stories, not only sports or entertainment. Keep track of what you are looking at. (One easy way to do this might be to just have your cellphone or other video device record what is on the screen or just be sure your history is turned on so you can go back and review what you looked at.) Once you are finished go back and review your use of the two sites and write an essay in which you respond to the following questions:
a. Wasthereadifferenceinthecontentofwhatyoulookedaonethetwo sites? If it was different in what ways did the types of stories you looked at differ? If the stories were on the same the same, did they differ in how they were reported? If so, how?
b. Which of the two experiences did you think benefited you most in terms of information or knowledge you gained? Why?
c. Which site did you enjoy using more? Why?
d. Wasthereanydifferenceinthewaythesitesseemedtodirectyouoff-site
(to pages that did not have cnn or chinadaily in their address)? If so, describe the difference. Was there any difference in how often you found yourself following a link that appeared to be to a news story that turned out to be promotional material or advertising? How did this differ?
Your essay should be double-spaced in 12 pt. type and two to five pages long. Be sure to use very specific examples (tell what the headlines say, what is included in the stories, etc.) to support your conclusions and to give enough description/summary to make clear you actually read the material on the sites. Do not just generalize about what you saw. Be specific.