17
Insert Table 3 here
The notion that their view of priority issues was not changed by the structure of
newspaper Web sites was confirmed by the sections of Internet newspapers from where
the Internet panel selected priority issues. Subjects first looked at the Main Page, which is
similar to front page in print newspapers. More than 40% of the news items were
identified and selected from the Main Page, with The Washington Post 43%, USA Today
41% and The Chicago Tribune 43%. The other sections that subjects looked at the most
are World, Nation, Latest News. The total news items come from these four sections
account for 73% from The Washington Post, 72% from USA Today and 76% from The
Chicago Tribune. If we include the section for Politics (domestic political issues) and
Election 2000 (Section specifically devoted to presidential election), these sections
account for most of the news items identified as priority issues.
The result from the print panel is similar to where the Internet panel selected
priority issues from. The total news items selected from Main section in print newspapers
(section A) account for 79% from The Washington Post, 74% from USA Today, and 78%
from The Chicago Tribune.
Discussion
The findings suggest that Web design approach, information delivery and access
pattern of the Internet newspaper do have an impact on how priority issues are identified.
Convention