First Assignment

New York City is one of the oldest cities in the world, it is an economic, cultural, historical and architectural hub. As such, it is no wonder that the city is one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world. With such diversity, media outlets cannot always cover what is important to the multitude of different groups, thus a need for more diverse and specific representation emerges. Newspapers are the oldest, and most well-known mediums for informing people about local, national and international news. Naturally, an ethnic group will turn to print journalism to learn and spread important news relative to their group. The New York Post is one of the largest American daily newspapers whereas The New York Carib News is a weekly paper concerned with providing news to Caribbean New Yorkers, and The Filipino Reporter reports news based on the Philippines and Filipinos abroad.

The New York Post is a mainstream paper which reports on international, national and local New York news (with more of an emphasis on national news) daily. In general the paper utilizes sensationalist headlines which are attention grabbing and are meant to attract the public. The paper is also known for being easier to read due to its simpler language compared to other New York newspapers such as the New York Times. It focuses most of its coverage on local stories, entertainment gossip, sports, and op-ed pieces. In particular, the paper’s “Metro” section offers extensive coverage on matters pertaining to the Greater New York Area. Moreover, the paper’s “Page Six” section offers coverage on entertainment gossip; this section is perhaps the paper’s most well known section as it is cited by gossip blogs, television shows, and magazines worldwide. Additionally, the paper has a strong op-ed section. However, this section has a clear conservative/Republican bias; pieces in this section are often highly critical of the Obama government’s policies. As such, this section of the paper could benefit from the inclusion of more politically diverse perspectives.

The New York Post’s online presence is incredibly strong. Its website is user-friendly, interactive and well-designed. In comparison, The New York Carib News and The Filipino Reporter could benefit from a website redesign. The Post’s website matches it’s print version— both print and online versions of the paper have cover pages with attention grabbing headlines and splashy images. Although both ethnic newspaper’s websites are user friendly they could gain more readership by making their sites more aesthetically pleasing.

The New York Carib News focuses on the Caribbean community as a whole instead of individual Caribbean countries. The paper’s stories mainly pertain to those living in the Caribbean islands as well as to those who emigrated from them to New York City. The New York Carib News tends to report more international news due to the fact that its readership hails from a plethora of Caribbean countries, but mostly resides in the Greater New York Area. While The New York Carib News has a sports section, it is minimal and is dedicated to sports particularly popular in the Caribbean, for example cricket. Additionally, the paper’s entertainment coverage is also minimal, concentrating less on celebrity gossip and more on the achievements of Caribbean peoples in such industries as fashion, food and music. The tone of the articles are less conservatively biased and more objectively and factually reported.

Readers of The New York Carib News have the ability to view the paper’s print edition directly online for free. The online version of the paper is set up like the print version of the paper – users are able to flip from the cover page to the last page. The New York Post’s online version is not set up in this way; users have to click onto the section that interests them and then click on headlines within that section in order to read articles. The online version of The New York Carib News also allows for the advertisements that are featured in the print version to also be featured in the online version. The other papers could benefit from this innovative feature.

Furthermore, The New York Carib News includes two sections that the other papers do not include – an education and a health section. The education section primarily focuses on issues related to the education of Caribbean youths in New York. This section provides information for students and highlights the achievements of hardworking students in the community. Meanwhile, the health section reports on health issues affecting Caribbean peoples living in New York. The other papers could also benefit from the addition of separate education and health sections to their newspapers. Particularly, if The New York Post added these sections to its paper it would be able to include all residents of New York in its coverage, not only Caribbean residents, and thus be able to spread awareness of pressing issues to all communities in New York.

The Filipino Reporter is a small newspaper concentrating on Filipinos in the Greater New York Area which also includes parts of New Jersey. It concentrates more on international news from the Philippines, with the same simple factual tone of writing as The New York Carib News. The paper also reports on international news much like The New York Post, except without the sensationalist headings and coverage. The paper also has a sports and entertainment section. The sports section specifically focuses on sports popular in the Philippines such as boxing and on Filipino athletes who have made or are making a stride in athletics on the world stage. The entertainment section is smaller compared to the other two papers.

The Filipino Reporter has a very unappealing website. It makes the paper look amateurish. As stated before a redesign to their site would create a more visually pleasing look. Regardless, the online version of the paper does feature a particularly interesting portion called “Filipinos Abroad”, which highlights the endeavors of Filipinos around the world. The New York Carib News could also benefit from a Caribs abroad section.

In conclusion, The Filipino Reporter, The New York Carib News, and The New York Post are vastly different in readership, content and sometimes even tone. The New York Post focuses its coverage on all residents of the Greater New York Area, but uses sensationalism and visual aesthetics to gain and keep readers and has a conservative bias. The New York Carib News focuses its coverage on news about the Caribbean and the Caribbean community in New York and features a distinct sections on education and health. The Filipino Reporter focuses its coverage on news about the Philippines, with a unique feature on its website about Filipinos living abroad. Both the New York Carib News and the Filipino Reporter have a more factual and less politically biased tone than The New York Post.