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Fiona Bingley Blog

8/29/2022

3 Comments

 
Fiona Bingley
Blog #2 - National News VS OnMilwaukee
NPR- https://www.npr.org/2022/09/12/1122238140/queen-elizabeth-ii-death-commonwealth-countries-colonial-history
When looking through articles about the late Queen Elizabeth, NPR’s article stood out to me the most. I only saw one other article talking about the link of colonialism to the Queen and how that is affecting the way people mourn (or don't mourn). It’s extremely important to talk about these feelings and why they have taken root and avoid sweeping them under the rug out of ‘respect’. Many people think something should be acknowledged when it comes to the crown's history with colonialism and outdated, dehumanizing ideals. The crown still holds many crystals stolen from countries that were under their rule at one point, and the British museum holds a large number of stolen artifacts. For one family to hold access to these jewels and feel so entitled as to not have a second thought about returning them to their rightful owners is astounding and disrespectful- especially when considering the majority of these rightful owners have suffered at the hands of Britain. I appreciate the closing line NPR utilizes, "It is time that we come to terms with that history of enslavement, that history of colonization." It is time we think about the monarch more critically and less in a way that most Brits do, not as an emotional outlet for the people to relate to but as a residue of an older school of thought- perhaps one we do not need to acknowledge anymore. 
​


In regards to the design of the website, I appreciate its legibility and clean hierarchy. NPR’s main audience is 30-40 year old men, though they try to keep the design relatively gender neutral as well as class neutral. They make it very easy to find other resources through them that relate to the topic you are reading about, including pop up ads for podcasts and other articles. There is a lot of intentional white space so you are forced to fully take in the text and not be distracted by bright colors or large text.

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OnMilwaukee- https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/queen-yacht-milwaukee
OnMilwaukee’s coverage of the Queen’s death is sparse, though they did acknowledge it through a republishing of an article covering a point when the queen’s boat drove past Milwaukee. This is the more accepted way of covering the Queen’s life, going over charming or honorable acts she/the crown took part in and ignoring the rocky past. This specific piece is interesting looking at through the lens of a Milwaukian but past that there is nothing exemplary about the event. It is important to take the ‘wonder’ out of the perception of the crown as none of them really did anything to deserve the pedestal we put them on. None of them will ever truly care about their subjects or anyone that they view as beneath them. Maybe if one of the younger generations was next in line this could be different and there could be some sort of change but with Charles ascending I highly doubt he cares about any of the crown's mistakes or affiliations.


Aside from this neutral coverage of the Queen’s death, OnMilwaukee has a very distracting website. It is very difficult to focus on the article as multiple pop up ads flicker from one state to another and the entire website has a very colorful and bright color palette. Even the pop ups for other articles are difficult to read, text is placed on a light blue background with an image that competes with this color palette of oranges and blues. Overall it is a functional website but there are many areas that could be improved upon.


Blog #1 - Notes on Local News Websites
Onmilwaukee
  • Milwaukee news and moe global news
  • Weekend review is a roundup of events in milwaukee- i'll definitely be using this
  • Guides page to give brief roundups of milwaukee businesses and other useful info
  • Seems to appeal a bit more towards tourists, the highlighting of milwaukee's attractions without any news coverage
Shepherd Express
  • Left leaning source
  • Coverage of local events and attractions
  • Slightly more opinionated pieces
  • Neighborhood section has interesting reports
  • Puzzles and podcasts- seems like this one is aiming towards a slightly younger audience
Urban Milwaukee
  • More focused on local politics
  • Real Estate section, I don’t really understand mixing this in with such a politics heavy website
  • Seems to not necessarily be aligned with the label Democratic, more so just opposing Republicans
Milwaukee Mag
  • Faces of section is very unique- highlights local businesses in a more intimate way
  • Style section- 
  • Outdoors section seems like a more in depth version of the other more tourist oriented lists- giving reports and also recommendations
Milwaukee Record
  • Crazy ad placement
  • Mandatory Milwaukee- another section of local attractions
  • Awful hierarchy in website design- so overwhelming to look at
  • Comedy Film Arts sections
  • Weirdddd navigation 
Milwaukee Courier
  • Very opinionated
  • Religion section- Jehova’s Witness focus 
  • “The Newspaper you can trust” 
Milwaukee NNS
  • More community based than others
  • Highlights local organizations 
  • Pieces on issues in the city as well as areas where it is thriving
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  • More global than some of the other sites listed
  • “Packers” section
  • More like Milwaukee and all cities surrounding it and all of Wisconsin
  • Community tab isn't really Milwaukee community alone
3 Comments
Rocky Ho
9/12/2022 01:06:18 pm

I like that you compared NPR and OnMilwaukee and that you're heavily in favor to NPR because of the legibility and how clean compared to OnMilwaukee. I also glad you discussed Queen Elizabeth topic, since I have a lot of friends, who are from England, are shocked and impacted by her death, and it's very cool that you discussed about it from NPR article.

Reply
Sam Rhymer
9/12/2022 01:07:25 pm

"OnMilwaukee’s coverage of the Queen’s death is sparse"

The website is about Milwaukee. I wouldn't expect it to cover something from another country.

Reply
Catherine Currie link
9/12/2022 02:15:49 pm

Hey Fiona!
This is a very well-informed and eye-opening dissection of the range in coverage on the Queen's death. NPR chose to inform and remain all forms of sugar-coating for the sake of reality while OnMilwaukee focused on more surface level and positive-motivating details surrounding the royal family. It's interesting how both sources are reliable, yet can cover completely different realms surrounding the crown. Learned alot.

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    Fiona Bingley

    MIAD senior, Communication Design Major, Illustration Minor

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