ABSTRACT

After being online for 9 years, the publishers of Internet newspapers are more comfortable in constructing a visually appealing Web site and putting news content online according to their perceptions of what a news Web site should be (Lowrey, 1999). The technology developed for presenting information on the Web provides more dynamic ways in distributing news content online. However, whether their efforts in creating a Web site to distribute news information really match audiences’ expectation and receive positive response, and whether a specific approach to deliver news information really facilitates news retrieval from a user’s perspective remain questions mostly unanswered. A clear understanding of the factors that produce an effective news Web site is indispensable to improve news delivery and accessibility of news content on the Internet.