We have CNN.com set as the default page that appears whenever we open a new Web browser window. Sometimes the stories featured "above the fold" in the Latest News list are legitimately headline-worthy, but there are often more than a few that leave us thinking we need to shop around for a news site that is more info, less -tainment.
Today, for example:
- Woman sues to keep monkey helper (Ed. Note: I'm not sure if that's a helper-monkey, or a helper for her monkey. Either way, is this a top headline?)
- Jolie leaves hospital with newborn twins (Ed. Note: The only way this might be national news is if it was someone else's twins that she left with, and she's still at large.)
- Shark jumps into surfing photos (Ed. Note: Yes, but are any of the surfers jumping the shark?)
- iReporters gush over 'The Dark Knight' (Ed. Note: A blockbuster film came out in July? That the moviegoing public find enthralling? Stop right there. Perhaps you've been using some of the...)
- Cocaine smuggled in homemade sub (Ed. Note: Whether this is an underwater seafaring vessel or a submarine sandwich was not specified, but somehow I am not curious enough to know which it was to read the story.)
I think our reluctance to go ahead and switch home pages already has to do with our nostalgia for the glory days of CNN, back when Wolf Blitzer was on the front lines in Baghdad during Gulf War I. CNN has come a long way since then, but we're not sure it's a change for the better. Anyone out there have a news site you prefer? We'll be auditioning replacements this week.
1 comment:
I will be keeping a close eye on your response from readers on this one, because I too am quite fed up with CNN! If you think the website is bad, you should try surviving on only the CNN International version of the tv broadcast - it stinks! They show the same three stories ALL DAY LONG, on a permanent loop. It's even worse because BBC World News does the same thing -- with the SAME THREE STORIES! So I get fed up with the tv broadcasts, check out the websites, and am offered such scintillating "news" stories in your examples. I too need a replacement website! :)
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