tmz.com
The entertainment news website TMZ is well-known for its swift coverage of celebrity gossip and legal issues.
TMZ was founded in 2005 and became popular quickly for their quick headlines. In 2007, Newsweek named TMZ 'Breakout Blog of 2007.'
Website Design
The TMZ scheme is composed of red, black, and white colors with a stylized text logo. The aesthetic looks very tacky, but it is what the company has always used. Changing it would be confusing at this point.
The layout is clean and organized. The overall tone of the website communicates a tabloid vibe. However, despite the funky style of the pages, the website functions well. There is a small advertisement in the header which is barely noticeable.
The social buttons are at the top of the website, and they are easy to find. The website navigation is another good feature. Not only is the website organized, but the homepage is a great example of how entertainment websites should set up their breaking news. Beneath the header is a strategically placed lineup of popular news stories.
Content
The website TMZ is known for its coverage of Hollywood celebrities. It reports on their personal lives and their work in the entertainment industry. TMZ also covers sports and offers tours.
The website has a large number of photos and videos. The photos are often paparazzi-style shots without celebrities' knowledge. Sometimes they get candid shots of them in public, but in other moments it seems like they invade the privacy of people trying to live their lives. The videos section includes a lot of interviews - TMZ Newsroom is a part of them. This segment fuels controversial celebrity news with references for the basis of their claims. An unfortunate issue with the website's videos is that the closed captioning on them is incorrect.
TMZ Sports publishes news and coverage of sports-related events. Recently, on the front page of the sports section was a video of an altercation between women's college basketball teams. Other stories reported players in hot water or having relationships go sour.
The website also offers celebrity tours. When viewers click the tours button on the main menu, they are taken to a different website. The homepage contains a large bus with the TMZ logo on it and passengers smiling and waving with cameras in hand. The tours are throughout Hollywood, and ticket prices start at $50 per person for adults. For children accompanying their parents, the price is $29 per ticket. There is a large slideshow of celebrity encounters and interactions on this page as well.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop version of TMZ is very good. The website may look tacky, but it works well. There are few issues with the website. One of the only ones I could find after digging was incorrect closed captions on videos.
The TMZ mobile browser is well formatted and is optimized for mobile viewing. The browser collapses the sidebar that is on the website and sticks to only one column. The main menu is made slightly smaller, but the collapsing menu more than makes up for it. The font size is large and easily readable. There is one small advertisement that floats near the bottom of the webpage, but it is not very noticeable.
At the top of the mobile browser, TMZ prompts viewers to download their app. It has high ratings in the app store with a 4.78-star score. The app is formatted similarly to the mobile browser but appears cleaner and more streamlined.
Positives
The Positive aspects of TMZ are its ability to update their social media quickly and its ability to break news before other websites.
The website hosts few advertisements, which is always a plus in my book. There is a small header advertisement that is usually tailored to viewer interests. There are also a few ads in the sidebar. Overall, there are not many.
The website offers a great amount of content for readers to choose from. There is always new news to be found, as well as videos and photos of celebrities that readers may be interested in. It can be hard to decide which route to take, but ultimately it is up to the reader.
Negatives
Additionally, TMZ often publishes stories that are unverified and inaccurate.
Despite being one of the most popular entertainment news sources out there, TMZ has a few flaws. Firstly, their website design and color scheme look like they come from a tabloid. The layout feels unreliable, and some of the headlines are inappropriate. Additionally, not all of the stories on their site are verified or accurate- in fact, quite a few of them are completely fake.
I discovered that the closed captioning is often incorrect. I am unsure if they use software to transcribe the audio to text or if someone does so manually, but unfortunately, there were many errors. This makes it difficult for viewers with hearing impairments. Hopefully, TMZ will work on improving this feature in the future.
One potential downside of TMZ is the way some reporters act. Recently, the website has come under criticism for releasing news of a celebrity's death. Normally, this is not a problem, but in this case, TMZ released the information before the family was alerted. This caused them to receive devastating news from an entertainment news outlet.
Improvements Needed
Some people feel that TMZ's website design could use improvement. They say that the site's color scheme and overall appearance gives off a feeling of mistrust and dread, which is not what one would expect from a site that covers entertainment news. It seems like there is a bit of inconsistency in the way things are presented on this website- for example, some sections look very polished while others look more like tabloid gossip columns. Nevertheless, despite these criticisms, many people still find value in visiting TMZ on occasion.
One of the most important improvements that TMZ should make is to correct the closed captions on their videos. At first, I didn't realize the mistake, but the further I watched the TMZ Newsroom videos, the more I realized there was a problem. Fortunately, I was able to listen to the audio and understand what was being said in these interviews. However, for hearing-impaired individuals, this would not be accurate information because they would not be able to see or hear the closed captions. TMZ should remedy this mistake quickly. A quick review before posting would be very helpful.
TMZ's recent controversy over breaking news of a celebrity's death before their family is contacted by authorities has caused a dent in their reputation. This behavior needs to improve, and I hope that TMZ will show more respect in these situations in the future.
Summary
Many entertainment websites focus on celebrity drama, break-ups, and more. TMZ is one of these websites and it is quick to report news, frequently provides updates, and manages to get its hands on information no other websites can find.
However, there are also some negatives; for example, their reporting can be inaccurate, and they can sometimes publish unverified stories. Additionally, the website can be quite user-unfriendly, making it difficult to find what you're looking for.
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