Best News Website Design: Real Clear Politics

Have you ever checked out Real Clear Politics? I think it has the best news website design of all news websites. Every morning, while I’m having my coffee, I visit the site to catch up on the latest news, mostly regarding politics. In the evening, I usually pay a second visit to the site. I check out other news websites pretty frequently, too, but I don’t find them to be as comprehensive or as unbiased as Real Clear Politics, or RCP, for short. It’s nice to be able to get so much news from so many different sources - all in one place. It sure beats taking the time to find and read all the different news websites individually, and besides, I’d be sure to miss some tasty tidbits without some guidance. In addition to political news, RCP also provides economic news, sports, history, religion, science, and world wide news. Next time you’re hungry for the latest buzz, try Real Clear Politics. I think you’ll see why I think it’s the best news website design around.

The main focus with Real Clear Politics is US politics. If you’re a “political junkie,” you can get your fix with the site. You’ll find all sorts of information about elections, the different candidates, political groups, and even their supporters. The site is updated two or three times a day, so you can be sure to get the latest on US politics.

Part of the site is interactive, including the electoral college map for the 2012 presidential race. It shows a map of the country, along with which states are currently for which candidate: solid Obama, solid Romney, likely Obama, likely Romney, leans Obama, leans Romney, and toss-up states. Each state’s electoral votes are listed, and the states are color-coded. You can click on a specific state and change its standing, and the total EC count will reflect your changes for the candidates. It’s really fun to play with the interactive map!

It’s pretty difficult these days to find unbiased news sources. It seems that practically every newspaper, every TV network, every magazine, and every website has its own slant and political agenda. As a whole, Real Clear Politics provides unbiased news. I think their own writers lean conservative, but the links on the site to other news sources give a fair and balanced view, a good mixture of conservative, liberal, moderate, and neutral sources.

Do you get what I’m saying? The individual political articles might be biased, but the overall presentation isn’t. I’ll give you an example. There might be a link to an article from The Weekly Standard, something like “Why Obama is Bad for the Economy.” That might be followed with a link from Huffington Post with something like “Why Obama is Our Only Economic Hope.” Of course, extreme political partisans can pick and choose only those political articles that match their beliefs, if they wish. Personally, I think the only way to get a good idea of what’s really going on is to get news from a variety of sources.

The site has the best news website design I’ve seen. It’s varied, with political articles, links to other sources, political cartoons, opinion pieces, electoral maps, and all sorts of polls. There’s also a section for videos, which I really enjoy. When you browse through the political articles, the title and source are listed. You simply click on the link, and it takes you to the original article.

I’m sort of a tech dummy, so I appreciate how easy the site is to navigate, making it very user friendly. I also like the layout. It’s attractive, and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. Another part of the reason for why RCP has the best news website design, in my opinion, is the variety of sources they use. These often include the New York Times, the Washington Post, New Yorker, Washington Times, Bloomberg, DC Examiner, Boston Herald, Politico, OC Register, Forbes, Daily Caller, Fortune, Red State, The American Spectator, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Slate, New Hampshire Union-Leader, The New Republic, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more.

I also like the arrangement and the organization of the site. It uses bold headings to categorize topics. For example, right now there’s a heading for Afghanistan, with links to four articles. There’s a section for national conventions, with links to five articles. There are also sections for editorials, sports, market news, and world wide news.

Real Clear Politics polls are very popular. What I like is the fact that they use lots of different polls, and then they present an average of all the different polls combined. Some of the polls they use are Rasmussen, NBC/Wall Street Journal, Gallup, Politico, FOX News, Pew Research, Quinnipiac, Reuters/Ipsos, Democracy Corps, CNN/Opinion Research, Resurgent Republic, USA Today, PPD, McClatchy/Marist, CBS News/New York Times, Time, ABC News, Washington Post, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Associated Press/GfK, Mason-Dixon, and NPR.

Of course, with the 2012 presidential election looming, many of the Real Clear Politics polls are currently about Obama and Romney, but those aren’t the only ones offered. There are also polls about the right direction-wrong direction of the country, the president’s approval rating, and how people respond to current issues. Polls concerning senatorial and Congressional candidates are often included, too.

New poll results are posted just about every day, and the average posted reflects current shifts in the presidential campaigns. This is a good way to get a “feel” about how voters are thinking. The site also includes the latest Intrade odds on the 2012 presidential election.

The clips, like the news, come from a wide range of sources, including NBC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, ABC, and even local stations. Real Clear Politics video even provides some comic relief from time to time, with clips of Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, or Jay Leno. You can also find clips from political speeches, news events, and roundtable discussions and debates.

Real Clear Politics video section is easy to access. Some of the most popular videos are highlighted on the home page, and if you want to see more, all you have to do is click on the video tab at the top. It’s easy to scan through the thumbnails and decide exactly what you want to see. And, by the way, I’ve often gotten computer viruses with videos from other sources, but I’ve never had a problem with any Real Clear Politics video.

RCP isn’t just about US politics – world wide news is covered, too. For example, you might find articles about the war in Afghanistan, the Kremlin, Germany, the Euro, Syria, and/or Egypt. Of course, the ongoing friction between Iran and Israel are often examined, too. These articles sometimes explain how foreign events might impact the United States, but they don’t always take that path.

Foreign news articles presented on RCP might also be about world leaders. I’ve seen several pieces about Putin, and I think I learned more about him than I really wanted to know. You might also see articles about Syrian President Bashar Assad, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, or Romanian President Traian Basescu, just to give you a few examples.

If you’re searching for financial news online, you’ll like RCP. Economic news articles are provided, along with the latest reports from US equity indices, European equities, and Asia-Pacific equities, along with market reports from Dow-Jones, NASDAQ, S & P 500, and Russell 2000. If you want to check commodity prices and see what gold, silver, copper, crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, and heating oil are selling for, you can tell at a glance, along with whether the prices are rising or falling.

The financial news online provided by RCP includes some great sources. These include Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times, Ciovacco Capital, MSN Money, First Trust, MarketWatch, Pimco Asset Management, Fortune, Barron’s, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, Fiscal Times, and The Economist.

Real Clear Politics has something for everyone, and as I’ve already mentioned, I think it provides the best news website design. The variety of information is nothing short of amazing. Don’t stop with the home page – dig a little deeper. Enjoy learning little known historical facts, and get in on the debates in the comments sections of the news articles. Navigate all the different sections and pages, the graphs, the polls, and the blogs. Spend some time playing with the interactive map, and be sure to check out the videos. You might also enjoy reading about energy and the environment, along with religion. You can even read about books and authors! I think you’ll really enjoy the information and the best of the best news website design of Real Clear Politics.