Print vs. Web

The newspaper I chose was the The Spectrum, which included similarities and differences with the paper on February 6th. The first thing I noticed was that online there was a front page link that if you clicked it, it would bring you to an identical version of the front page of the spectrum. I saw no differences here in that they might want to give you the front page news of the same paper that’s in print. The front page usually contains the top stories and whether online or in print I would think the University would want to show it either way. For instance there was a story about UB celebrating Mardi Gras and another story of how the drug Celebrex can have a very dangerous side effect. I think they have these both in print and online because they like to show the varying stories and issues going on with the campus and outside life. They don’t want to take away from the main part of the newspaper no matter if you look at it in print or online.

If you didn’t click the front page link and just went to the main page of the website you wouldn’t see the same stories as the front page of the Spectrum in print. Online it showed the “most important” stories. Such as UB researchers finding a drug with dangerous side effects and an event held at the Student Union which forced African-American students to sit in segregation. The online version at the main page seemed a bit more condensed and pointing out the more important stories such as these. The Web-Specific content seemed more to the point in that it’s more about how we’re advancing and trying new things as a university then having a front page news article about a party held in the Student Union. This is likely because mostly students would pick up the paper in that it’s in and around classrooms and halls. Students want to see the fun around the campus and advertisements for good deals on certain items. With the web you never know.

I didn’t see any advertising in the web document compared to the print document. This is likely to be because the web document seems like more of a straight forward way to get the news across without the added advertisements. People are so used to ad’s online that they forget about them. With mostly students picking up the paper it’s easier for them to get suckered in then if you’re going online to see the same paper. The bottom line is more students are likely to pick up the paper at the school itself then search for it and look through the different stories online. The publishers of The Spectrum obviously seem to know that because there isn’t a single advertisement in the online version of the paper. In the print version there are advertisements for different places to eat off campus, hair salon off campus, who’s going to appear at the school as a speaker. It wouldn’t work online the same way as it would work by having the print version of it. The print version of the Spectrum is geared towards students and by having advertisements that reach out to them would be useful. Anyone can search the web, having advertisements for students that go to UB would be a waste of time and money because why put your money into something the students will probably see when you know most will see the paper version, which I why I think we see the advertisements more in the print version. Regarding the Spectrum, with print comes more opportunity.