Comparison Between News Delivery Sites

The news delivery styles of the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post are very different, portraying the information held on their sites in separate ways. The two sites differ mostly in the organization of the content displayed. Another difference that can be seen between these two sites is the layout and types of stories that are added. Despite these differences, the Huffington Post and the Drudge Report do contain some similarities. They both include stories mostly supplied from outside sources and report on some of the same information. Another factor they have in common is that while both sites, for the most part, hold information that is true to the headline, both sites’ bold headlines make the stories seem more important than they actually are.
When looking to see if either site leaned toward a particular political stance, it was easy to see that they in fact do. This was very evident when I looked at the Drudge Report. It is clearly supporting a more political view. When I first clicked on the website, the advertisement flashing at the top of the screen was advertising conservative t-shirts. Also, this conservative viewpoint is expressed very interestingly in the titles given to the articles to click on. For example, I saw an article on the Drudge Report titled “Barrack Beware: Republicans See Rising Star in Wisconsin”. In addition, on of the first pictures connected to an article was of Hillary Clinton and was titled, “Bill Clinton Offers Himself as Lottery Prize to Pay off Hillary’s Debts”. When reading the article, it was clearly positioned against Hillary, and implies that the Clintons are stingy saying “…apparently they would prefer American voters to settle Ms. Clinton’s remaining $771, 000 debt rather than paying it themselves” (Times Online). The articles that the Drudge Report chooses to display are against the democratic viewpoint. The Drudge Report supplies very little entertainment articles, however its choices in articles appears to make politicians the source of entertainment and the articles like this seem like the belong in a tabloid.
The Huffington Post is much more entertainment news based with colorful headings and pictures that the reader can click on. Its layout is much more appealing and it is easier to find articles. The site separates its stories into many categories and covers a much wider range of news than the Drudge Report which most likely attracts more and diverse people. There is a slight lean towards the democratic viewpoint on the Huffington Post as it contains stories such as “Top GOP Candidates Skip Sarah Palin’s Republican Fundraiser”. However, this site is just as guilty as the Drudge Report in using politicians for entertainment with one of the stories reporting on a feud between Obama and Limbaugh, “Obama Rejects Rush Limbaugh Golf Match: Rush Can Play With Himself”.
These sites definitely have the power to influence the public. I am sure that those who visit the Drudge Report tend to have a more conservative political stance and those who visit the Huffington Post may have more democratic viewpoints. Also, the more someone goes to these sites for their source of news will probably affect how they view what is happening in the world and what is important. Each site reports on what they view as most important. For example, the main headline for the Huffington Post was regarding the oil spill and the main headline for the Drudge Report was about the economy in the U.S. and Greece. The way these two sites relay information to the reader affects how the reader understands and perceives the issues being reported on.