The first thing that I noticed at the MSNBC site is the design of the page. The top looks similar to the flag of the front page of a newspaper. When I think of historic events such as this, I think of the headlines and the front page of copy that gets shown on television. It seems to me that the editor recognized the historical significance of today's events and wanted his page to reflect that.
When I clicked on the lead story, I noticed another thing out of the ordinary. The lede contains a quote. Using a quote in the first sentence is something that I've been told to shy away from. In this case, however, the quote is an excerpt from one of President Barack Obama's poignant speeches. It seems as though the history of this occasion was not lost on the writer either.
In viewing the Fox News site, I was surprised to learn that personal politics can play such a role in news coverage. The site seems to give as much significance to Senator Ted Kennedy's recent health issues and barely makes reference, in its side stories, to Obama swearing in today as the 44th President of the United States, the first of which being of African-American heritage.
It does feature a story on Michelle Obama's fashion sense. Everyone looks to Fox News for fashion tips, right?
Perhaps, the editor was not considering his own politics when deciding which stories to cover today. Maybe he was considering his audience but it seems to me that this event was worthy of better coverage.
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