By Anindita Basu
When the front page of Emmy Online came up, I was very surprised.
The page was simple, with links to awards listings, publications,
local chapters, the rule book, entry forms and a job back. There weren't
any pictures of television stars. No sensationalistic headlines. There
weren't bright colors or flashy images to attract my attention-- just
links and buttons to go to these different topics.
I decided to try out the awards section. Surely I would find some
glamour there, but again, the pages were very underdetermined. There
were links by year and then by award name. The recipient of the award
was then listed. There was also an option to see every award presented
in a certain year or to search a database for awards or recipients
with various parameters.
The other pages were similarly dry, straightforward and informative.
The first time I had entered the site name, I had automatically typed
".com" instead of ".org," assuming that the Emmys
would of course be a .com since the awards ceremony has always struck
me as a commercialized event. The tone of the web page was strikingly
subdued and serious, however.
I actually found this site to be a bit comforting and refreshing.
While the design was fairly poor and there were a few broken links,
my cynical self was surprised by the lack of commercialism on the
site. The pages contained all of the basic information pertaining
to the Emmys, from the rules and entry forms to archives of awards
nominees and recipients. There were no celebrity bios or tidbits of
industry gossip. Maybe there is some depth to this award, after all?