|
Posted May 2, 2007.
Newsknife rates news sites on relevance (how),
based on our analysis of the main Google
News site.
Read more here about our current ratings. For just $US10 join the
Newsknife Members' Area
now and see full detailed lists. Click at left to join.
These ratings are based on our sample of 133,424 listings by 2793
sites for 872 news items year to date 2007.
Featured rating:
Top sites around the world reporting on Virginia Tech
Newsknife's sampling of Google News after the Virginia Tech tragedy
yielded interesting statistics.
First, we didn't pick up any items about the massacre beyond three
days after it happened.
Second, more than half the news sites we found for the topic on
the home page of Google News, were non-US sites. And they were most
often the top sources for individual news items.
Third, the US sites we did find were often local sites rather than
major nationals; sites like Toledo
Blade. Not surprisingly Virginia site WDBJ7.com
appeared. But the highest ranked US site we found was Free
Internet Press, with the motto "Uncensored News For
Real People".
Our conclusions? Your news site, however small or remote, has a
chance at Google News. But we question whether US citizens visiting
the US version of Google News, want to read first what foreign news
sites say about a tragedy on US soil. Should Google News adjust
its ranking algorithm to favor local sites for local news?
Here are Newsknife's Top 6 for reporting on Virginia Tech. For
example, we found Times Online 3 times on Google News home page
for the topic. Also shown are their headlines that Google News ranked
as the No.1 source for the particular story, (except No.2 for Free
Internet Press). You can see the full list of 30 sites (plus this
month's headlines from 2598 sites) in the Newsknife Members'
Area. Click at the left of this page to join.
1 Times Online, UK 3
7:00 pm Tue Apr 17,
Outsider
who unleashed his hatred on classmates
2 Canoe.ca, Canada 2
7:00 pm Wed Apr 18,
Poetry
professor had expelled gunman from class
3 Irish Examiner 2
7:00 pm Mon Apr 16,
College
gunman had 'ungodly' ammount of ammunition
4 New Zealand Herald 2
7:00 pm Wed Apr 18,
A
look at some of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings
5 Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia 1
7:00 pm Tue Apr 17,
Bush
leads memorial after 'worst day'
6 Free Internet Press, US 1
7:00 pm Mon Apr 16,
32 Killed
In Virginia Tech Shootings, At Least 24 Wounded
(A caveat: the top-ranked sources at Google News for a particular
news item change often. At times when we weren't viewing, US sites
may have ranked higher. And most Newsknife ratings are based on
bigger samples, which can even out the results. Nevertheless, Newsknife
finds that its ratings generally reflect what is happening at Google
News. And we strive to gather good samples; for example sampling
once a day to avoid repetition, and usually sampling at 7 p.m. New
York time.)
Visit Newsknife regularly to discover the most relevant news sites
for news of the moment. The 3-month Newsknife Members'
Area membership lets you see the ratings for each site in
amazing detail.
Suggestions and comments?
Newsknife: we rate the news sites.
Newsknife in-depth information tools:
Return to top of page...
Copyright © 2007 Industry Standard Computing Ltd. All rights
reserved.
|
