Columbus vs. New Zealand; the not so common comparison

The two sites that I chose to look at were websites for The Columbus Dispatch and The Ashburton Guardian. Right away, the differences are obvious. When it comes to sports coverage, these two sites are far from similar. In the Dispatch, there is a section for OSU Sports and then a section for "More Sports". It is not hard to see where this newspaper states its allegiance. More or less every professional team in Ohio is covered in the "More Sports" section as well as high school sports and the Columbus Clippers. In the Guardian, there are simply stories posted rather than sections to click on. I did not need to search any further than the first few stories to see how different this newspaper was. The first story deals with bowling, the second with netball, the third with rugby, and the fourth with hockey. Rugby can be argued as a growing sport in America but the first two headlines deal with sports that are rarely covered in mainstream newspapers; certainly not as top priority.

The advertisements on the Dispatch were for a new Ford Fusion, Audi A6, local classified ads, monster.com, columbuscars.com, columbusrealestate.com, and the opportunity to follow the dispatch on facebook, my yahoo, and twitter. In the Guardian, the only real advertisement was for other publications. These included Other than that, the only non-stories on the website's page were a weather gadget and polls on a bridge that was built and an anthem.

The links on the Guardian are essentially to get around on the site and really nothing else. The Dispatch does have some links that take you to other sites (Ohio Summer Fun Guide, BuckeyeXtra.com, Scholar Athletes) but it appears that all these sites are sponsored by the Dispatch itself. If I had to guess, it appears that the Dispatch site is simply the site for a more well known newspaper with a larger reader base. There is not the need on the Guardian's site for some of these things because it does not reach out to quite as many people. However, it was a good visit and if I am ever curious about the New Zealand Secondary School's netball team I know where to go!