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Upon reviewing the two sites for a comparison of conventions, I was amazed at how much sites differ. Although remaining true to the general layout of a newspaper, many sites offer a range of information, links and content to the viewer. Two of which are the New York Times and the Toronto Sun. Firstly, I am using the New York Times as a model of a good online newspaper. My comparison does not imply that the Toronto Sun is a bad newspaper, I am simply trying to illustrate the differences of the two in terms of conventions and how they can be differently put to use. I am solely comparing the home pages of these newspapers in terms of the 5 elements in the function of an online newspaper and out of my own observation as well.

Although I found the New York Times to be an accomplished example of an online newspaper, the Toronto Sun remains more faithful to its print ancestor. With the advent of the Internet, however, the more cutting edge, information based, and technical New York Times is the model of online newspapers to come.

NEW YORK TIMES

CREDIBILITY: the multiple sourcing of information, the vast amount of information; objective reporting and factual concise text, the site cites Reuters and Associate Press as sources, the paper itself carries a certain credible reputation being established and successful for many years.
There is a focus on content and news, many headlines are displayed with corresponding links to the article.
The website sources Associated Press and Reuters as main providers of information around the clock.

RELIABILITY: constant updates - around the clock and documented; content reflects the entire country as well as regional not only city specific.
The middle section first focuses on the news of the day, with headlines/articles and images.
The focus goes to the week in review, with links to feature articles from the past week.
The site features news stories being worked on for the next edition - “Future Times”, travel, sports, international, services, features, jobs, real estate, automobiles, etc.
Updates are around the clock, from AP and Reuters posting every few minutes, and overall individual stories and articles posting many times a day - the times are shown after headlines.

USABILITY: multiple search engines; many links; images; indexes and archives; information easy to access; easy to read text.
The viewer is able to browse the website and readily finds information specific to different regions across the United States.
The page is divided into three portions, the margins on either side of the main section being devoted to links and further information for viewers (indexes, other sections, Sports features, opinions, AP and Reuters articles and updates.
The site also has 3 defined search engines (site specific) and archives/indexes and access to past editions.

VISUAL APPEAL: many images, bold texts of headlines, images and graphics positioned proportionately to articles and content; advertisements embedded not distracting; clutter free - easy for the eye to move across the node.
The layout of this page is very pleasing to the eye.
There is a middle portion showcasing images which serves to break up the page in terms of information and text and offer the reader images linked to articles.
Advertisements are embedded within the site, and are small and discreet.

PARTICIPATORY: members site; contact information; editorial encouragement for feedback.
There is a separate section for members, however information is not restricted to non-members, information about the site itself and the New York Times, markets, job markets, ‘on this day’, and subscription information.

On the whole I found the New York Times easier to navigate and a more information based site. With conventions such as: search engines, advertisements, images, headline links to articles, indexing, and editorials, which both sites show examples of, the goal of this comparison was to illustrate the different uses of these conventions and highlight the most beneficial to the viewer.
The New York Times allows the reader to choose what story they want to read, how they want to be informed and inconsistencies between categorization of stories does not occur.

TORONTO SUN

CREDIBILITY: the Toronto Sun focuses its effort and content on entertainment and popular news.
It seems the Toronto Sun is not as focused on content and news as the previous paper.

RELIABILITY: unlike the NYT, the Toronto Sun is only updated once a day, and is based on information from the daily paper - as cited in the disclaimer on the home page.
The content is more entertainment based, there is not as much, the updates are once a day (6 am) and based on the print version of the paper, with readers encouraged to go to another site for more updates.

USABILITY: as with all sites, links abound, however, there is no search engines for archives or as comprehensive indexing as NYT.
There is a need to dig into the site more as the headlines are not posted and linked on the home page, but the viewer has to search under different sections for the article they want. This makes the site harder to navigate and harder to find specific articles to read.
By isolating all articles, it limits the viewer to certain sections and does not promote reading all other articles.
There are 3 search engines as well, but two of them are externally based (eBay and Canoe.ca).

VISUAL APPEAL: big images grab your attention, the site focuses on this aspect more than others as its ads are distracting and larger than some of the news content. The site is more busy and not as eye pleasing as the previous which lends me to detect an air of triviality about the site and its contents.
There is a picture of the front page, however news/major headlines are not posted/linked to articles on the home page.
The site on the whole is very visually based, which suggests a less serious demeanor to the content.
It seems like there are more advertisements, however, the nature of the ads are flashy, big, and constantly changing images which draws the reader’s attention to them and not to more important content.

PARTICIPATORY: no member aspects, feedback not as apparently encouraged as NYT. Search engines for purchasing sites and others (eBay, Canoe).

The Toronto Sun online was the least efficient site, with the viewer having to dig and search the site to find the information they needed, instead of the information being organized and presented in a clean, transparent manner. By transparent I mean everything on the surface and at hand instead of beneath advertisements, images and featured stories. Having all the information available on the home site, the barrier of editorial decision is broken down, that is to say, with print, the editor and journalist makes decisions to place stories where they see put.
The Toronto Sun imposes categorizations of articles and the reader is forced to sift through each category to see the headlines rather than viewing them on the home page. The Toronto Sun more closely resembles the layout of the traditional newspaper.

References
Exploring Language: Static Images: The Front Page of a Daily Newspaper
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/exp_lang/frontpage.html
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/exp_lang/news.html
Analyzing Newspapers and Magazines
http://www.mediaknowall.com/Year9/9printanaly.html
Write All About It. Newspapers: The Traditional Structure of News Writing
http://english.unitecnology.ca.nz/resources/units/paperprod/structure.html
New York Times Online
http://www.newyorktimes.com
Toronto Sun Online
http://www.torontosun.com

Grossberg, L, E. Wartella & D. Whitney. 1998. The interpretation of meaning in MediaMaking: Mass media in a popular culture. CA; Sage Publications.