I’ve never been a big broadcast news person. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch television. Ok, it’s definitely because I don’t watch television. My mother always told me it would rot my brain. Ironically enough, when I’m home, the television is always on. And, at 6 p.m. I sat down to watch Tampa Bay News 9 with my Mom and Dad. The news show is good. But, that could be because the broadcasters are attractive and there’s always something scandalous or weird going on in Tampa. So, I decided to check out the Web site to see what sort of quality they had to offer.

The font is big and the page is user friendly (this is more than likely due to all the old people in Florida). Navigability: check. “Watch Videos” was displayed big and bold on the right side of the screen. Video camera icons littered the page, posted next to story links letting you know you would be taken to a video. Multimedia: Check. There were also “Post a Comment” links next to most stories and internet polls was a main navigation bar option. Community: check. Bay News 9 lives up to its claims, it is “Your News” both on t.v. and on the Web.

I love Austin. The city is bursting with an eclectic mix of culture, people, politics and more. And it’s online newspaper, a branch of The Austin American-Statesman, does a good job of attending to the diverse needs of its population without being too “weird.”

The Statesman.com’s top toolbar is perfect, it provides news, business, sports, life, opinion, weather, blogs, multimedia, customer service, advertise. I haven’t seen a site that has made both its multimedia and customer service so readily available. It’s a simple thing, but no one else has managed to get it. Also very helpful- Austin’s weather forecast is right on top with a link to traffic. If you want sports, on the right, just click on Statesman Sports for “All Sports, All the Time.” That’s nice, because, I don’t care about sports and frankly I don’t want it clogging up my news. But those that do can click away. On the right side there’s a Santa countdown followed by a Photo and Video Gallery.

The site makes good use of thumbnails and links without being overwhelming. What’s more is next to links there is a photo or video icon so you know what type of media you’re about to receive post-click.

Statesman.com also does a great job of establishing community. Today they offer video stories of what local residents went through on Black Friday at the area’s malls. They have reader photos and reader blogs, removing the journalist entirely. Like many sites, users can comment on stories. They even have a Top Jobs section for those in need of employment. The site does a good job of localizing Associated Press content, into five key categories: Texas, Sports, Business, National and World, making it easier for the reader.

Wow, USA Today is trendy. If journalism was like fashion, then USA Today would be mod. The Web site is littered with user comments and recommendations- anyone can tell they are striving to create a communal feeling. You can comment on everything- Holiday Travel, Sports, Online Shopping, Movies, or, surprise, National News.

In case you haven’t noticed- they’ve strayed from giving normal, or expected, titles to their coverage areas, choosing instead to prominently feature things like “In the Cafeteria,” “Going Green,”  and “People” (which, naturally, features celebrity news).

 The top toolbar is designated “The Essentials.” And what exactly are the essentials, you ask? Well, for USA Today they are: Markets, Scores, Politics, Games, Lotteries, Video, Photos, Subscribe, Reader Services, Blogs, Site index. Well, as a reader, I’m glad to know I should consider the lotto scores essential to my daily news intake but not the war in Iraq or the genocide in Darfur.

USA Today loves its community. In addition to user comments, recommendations and blogs there is a prominent dynamic lead of reader comments on the top right. . And they definitely encourage the online membership option

This could all be considered creative and innovative, or, for the cynics out there, another case of dumbing down the news.  

Updated Monday Nov. 26, 2007: Syria announced Sunday that it would attend the Middle East Conference, which begins tonight, after officials were promised that Golan Heights would be on the agenda.  The country, which was holding out,  supports groups oppossed to peace between Israel and Palestine.

Egypt and the United States have managed to coax the majority of Arab leaders to attend a peace conference in Annapolis, Md. next week. However, Syria continues to hold out. Syria is a key player in Middle Eastern politics and conflict. For, as the Middle Eastern saying goes: “There cannot be war without Egypt- but there cannot be peace without Syria.”

            And Syria is using this leverage to have its political goals heard. Before Syria joins ship, its government demands the conference address the issue of Golan Heights, Syrian land that has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Israel’s occupation of the area has made thousands of Syrians refugees in their own homeland and prompted violence in the region.

            The Bush administration said Friday that they were willing to discuss Golan Heights but not explicitly put it on the agenda. However, Syria wants it on paper. Arab League officials said they were optimistic about Syria’s attendance.

            Israeli officials are thrilled by the decision of 15 Arab nations to attend the conference, which may lead to the negotiations necessary to establish Israel and Palestine as two separate states.

See The New York Time’s full story.

As discussed in the blog on Nov. 7, members of Zoe’s Ark were arrested Oct. 25 for attempting to “rescue” African children from war-torn Sudan.  They planned to fly the children, who they alleged were orphans, from Sudan’s Darfur region to Europe, where the children would be put into foster care. However, U.N. officials report that most of the children were not orphans at all. Some of the children’s parents have said that the organization’s members told them their children would be taken to eastern Chad to be educated, but not to France.

            Zoe’s Ark members lied to Chadian parents and to Girjet, the Spanish air charter company hired to transport them. Group members told Girjet they were supported by the United Nation’s refugee agency, UNHCR, and the French President’s wife, Cecilia Sarkozy.  

            However, the UNHCR and French government have denied involvement in the humanitarian group’s plot to take 103 African children out of Chad.  In fact, French officials were undoubtedly angered by the situation, which has strained relations with its former colony, a country  that desperately needs European Union peacekeeping forces in its eastern region.

            Zoe’s Ark went so far as to place fake bandages on their heads and bodies after telling Girjet that the Chadian passengers needed “special surgical and medical attention.” Girjet also received e-mails from French doctors authorizing the children to travel.

The seven Girjet crew members, three French journalists and a Belgian pilot who were arrested with Zoe’s Ark have been released. The six group members remain in custody.

See the related Washington Post story.

Unbeknown to me, one can be a refugee in one’s own country, and it’s happening in Syria. Since the 1967 Middle East War, Syrians have been fleeing a neighborhood of their capital, Damascus, known as Golan Heights as Israelis have been pushing in.

            The influx of refugees has increased tensions amongst Syrians. Refugees in Artouz, a town 16 miles (25 kilometers) west of Damascus rioted Monday. The rioters, equipped with AK-47 rifles, burned shops, homes and cars and injured 15 people. One youth was killed in the riot before security arrived.

            Local residents told Reuters reporters that there has been a domestic feud for quite awhile, but gave no further detail. See the The New York Times story.

We’ve all seen the news lately. The Myanmar government junta severely limited human and political rights after demonstrations in the face of opposition from monks in late September. People fled the country, there were refugees.

            Citizens have been fleeing Myanmar to neighboring Thailand and Malaysia for many years since the military junta gained power in 1998. The Chin minority, a group heavily persecuted minority, have fled in large numbers, 2,300 to be exact, to the more prosperous Malaysia. Unfortunately, life hasn’t gotten much better for the refugees who have managed to remain in Malaysia.

            The Chin Human Rights Organization says Chin refugees in Malaysia face harassment, arrest, detention, caning and deportation. Malaysian police regularly arrest Chin asylum seekers for illegal entry.

            Malaysia is home to an estimated 46,000 refugees with little more than 36,000 registered with the H.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which gives them official status.

            The majority of these refugees come from Myanmar- 12,7000 are members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority and 12,000 are from other Myanmar ethnic groups, such as the Chins.

            The Malaysia government views unregistered refugees as illegal immigrants and will persecute them accordingly. Meanwhile, those in Malaysia hope for a better future in Malaysia and change to come in Myanmar.

Read The Washington Post story.

Seventeen Europeans are being held in Chad under charges of abduction and fraud for trying to fly 103 African “orphans” to France. The accused, members of an Organization called Zoe’s Ark, say the children were orphans from Darfur. But local authorities say some of the children had parents. 

“Maybe they were acting outside of classical methods, but their sole goal was to save children from horror and death,” one of the lawyers, Gilbert Collard, told reporters in N’Djamena.

French President Nicolas Sarkozky increased tensions with Chad’s government and citizens (who engaged in protests shouting “Not in France!”) after saying he intended to bring the accused home.  The president flew to Chad to retrieve three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants among the 17 accused. But six French citizens remain in Chad, complaining that the charges misrepresent their intentions. They face up to 20 years in jail with hard labor if found guilty in Chad. And, obviously, they would receive lesser sentences if sentenced in Paris.

I believe in following the law and respecting a country’s autonomy. However, there is a much bigger issue: genocide. The international community is not doing enough to stop the genocide occurring in Darfur or to deal with the influx of refugees so individuals are taking matters in their on hands. Twenty years of hard labor for trying to provide a better life for Sudanese children? Something seems amiss.

For more, read The Washington Post Article.

The Huffington Post covers an amalgamation of topics: Politics, Media, Business, Entertainment, Living Now. The front portal offers very large photos, today it was of Hillary and Bill along with Gisele at the Victoria Secret fasion show. Blogs posts, videos, photos and entertainment stories are featured prominently across the page. The font is big and there are hundreds of comments. There are options for “Quick Read” and “Sign Up For the Daily Brief.”

            The layout of the Web site wasn’t too bad. The Web site incorporated a lot of things we’ve discussed as important for online news sites- interactivity, community, multimedia, and easy navigation.

            But, truthfully, I felt like the site was dumbing things down. Maybe I’m just used to ready the snotty New York Times. But, I like to keep my trashy entertainment news separate from the important stuff, and I don’t need enormous font and even bigger photos to be interested. I don’t want the Quick Read, I want the real story. I’d love to see less pictures of the zillion bloggers and more links to what’s going on in the world.

On top of that, the Huffington Post’s blog section confused me. All the bright colors, all the random topics. The combination of many different authors, many different topics and vague blog titles left me feeling overwhelmed. It was poorly organized. I mean, sure I could filter the blogs by the various topics: Living Now, Media, Entertainment, Business, Politics and Off the Bus. But, frankly, after looking at the blog portal, I didn’t want to.  Along with the all the authors, most of their blog posts head straight into quoting other people. I didn’t think I was the type to be intimidated by new thing, but all the unknown faces and quotes by unknowns was a turn-off. The blog portal of The Huffington Post site does offer a few saving graces for the confused first-time user, to the right it provides a bloggers index, top news, and top blog posts section, which could be helpful, if you can even find it.

Palestinian security forces clashed with militiamen Monday in Balata, the West Bank’s biggest refugee camp. This was President Mahmoud Abbas’s first major attempt at asserting his control over rebels in the area. The action occurred only days after the Palestinian Authority sent in a force of 300 police officers.

            Palestinian police withdrew Tuesday with 2 suspects in tow after 12 hours of fighting. One policeman and eight citizens were wounded in the gunfire.

            Palestinian police would previously not enter four refugee camps in Nablus, a city where militants hold a good deal of power. Abbas, supported by Nablus’s governor, Jamal Mohsein, and the Palestinian police, plans to change that both in the city and in the rest of the West Bank.

            President Abbas has been experiencing increasing international pressure, which includes a recent visit from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to bring peace to the West Bank. And clearly, he plans to do it by force. Not even the refugee camps are safe, ironic.